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2008 Welcomes First Baby In Tampa

Eric Hausmann/NEWS CHANNEL 8

The first baby of 2008 in Tampa Bay is Michael Daniel Pierce, Jr, 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Pierce was born at Tampa General Hospital at 12:01 a.m. to Miranda Cyrus of Plant City and Michael Daniel Pierce.

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By LINDSAY PETERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 1, 2008

Updated: 01/01/2008 01:13 pm

TAMPA - The race began about 11:30 p.m. Monday with two women in labor at Tampa General Hospital.

In one room, midwife Sally Soucy cheered her patient on. 'C'mon we can do this. We can do this."

Down the hall, obstetrician Cathy Lynch coaxed hers to keep pushing. "I knew we had competition in the other room," she said. "We were trying to get a healthy baby out."

Then Lynch heard the cheers from down the hall.

At 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Miranda Cyrus, 21, of Plant City, gave birth to the first baby of 2008 in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, Michael David Pierce, 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

About four minutes later, Lynch's patient, Dayana Eid of Bolivia, held her 8-pound daughter Danara.

Of course, it didn't matter who won. "The only thing important to me is that my baby is healthy," said 29-year-old Eid, through a hospital interpreter. It was her first.

It was, however, important to Soucy and Lynch that the first baby was born at TGH. About 11 p.m. Monday, Soucy said, nurses started checking with the other hospitals in the area, as they do every year. They called Morton Plant Mease, St. Joseph's, Brandon Regional and others asking "What do ya got?"

There were a couple of contenders, but by 11:30 they knew the first mother would be Cyrus or Eid.

About 10:30 a.m. today, a pale but placid Cyrus sat in front of a half dozen television cameras. Her pink bundle slept cradled in her arms, wearing a yellow knit hat and swaddled in a yellow blanket embroidered with "Tampa General Hospital, 1st Baby of 2008."

"I just hope that he has a great life," she said when asked about her aspirations for Michael. "I'll give him everything I can."

Cyrus, who said she's a distant cousin of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, said it would be OK if her little boy grew up to be a country star, too -- "as long as he don't sing "I Want My Mullet Back.' "

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