While others were celebrating with a champagne toast, Dawn Kapustka and Nathan Smallwood celebrated with the birth of their son, Tristan Dee Kapustka.

Exactly 18 minutes after midnight, Tristan, measuring 19 inches and weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces, became the first baby born in Forsyth County in 2009.

For Tristan's mother, having Forsyth's first New Year's Day baby didn't seem so special at first.

"It's just another day really," said Kapustka, who was originally due Jan. 5. "But yeah, I was a little excited."

Tristan is the third child for the couple, who will be celebrating their children's birthdays every couple of weeks. Ethan will be 4 on Jan.13 and Makayla turns 2 on Feb. 7.

Smallwood described all three of his children as "Gerber" babies.

Tristan's siblings, Kapustka said, "know he's coming, but they haven't seen him yet."

"They're jealous, very jealous," she said. "It'll be different when I get home."

Having a Jan. 1 birthday is unique, but Tristan's parents were excited for other reasons.

"I was happy it was a boy," Kapustka said.

Though she comes from a large family with two brothers and two sisters, Kapustka said Tristan likely will be her last child.

Tristan's middle name was in honor of Smallwood's grandfather, who he said he never had the chance to meet.

"It took us a while to actually pick it, because we couldn't decide," Kapustka said.

Tristan was the 486th baby born at the Northside Hospital-Forsyth Women's Center, which opened in August. Prior to the women's center, it had been more than 25 years since the last scheduled delivery in the county.

The hospital had expected to deliver between 1,500 and 2,000 babies in its first year.

"If we had 486 in just the first four months, it's quite possible that we may actually meet our goal," said Melissa Sugg, manager of women's services. "We are very excited about the success of our women's center since we've opened and the birth of our first baby of the new year.

"We look forward to continued success in 2009."

The second baby born in Forsyth was Ariijah Scott-Aiken, born at 7:02 a.m. at Emory Johns Creek Hospital.

Sonia Fair and Anthony Scott of Lawrenceville are the parents of the 5-pound, 13-ounce girl.

"Our staff is always very excited about the first baby of the year, it's a special time and a wonderful start to 2009," said Sherida Winter, director of women's services at the Johns Creek hospital.