CUMMING — Preeti Lall and Puneet Khokhar didn’t ring in the new year at a party, though they probably didn’t mind that too much.

Instead, the Cumming couple welcomed their first child, daughter Riya Khokhar, at 1:30 a.m. Jan. 1 in Northside Hospital-Forsyth.

Riya arrived weighing 7 pounds and 15 ounces, and her father said both mother and baby are doing well.

“She’s doing fine,” Khokhar said.  “We just had our first pediatrician visit. Apparently, we’ll have to take her in a month’s time, but no problems at all.”

According to Khokhar, Riya had some competition for the title. The couple later learned of the honor from hospital staff.

“There was a baby who was born just 15 minutes before midnight, and I think there were only two or three couples in the hospital that night,” he said.

In fact, Riya nearly had a different holiday for her birthday.

“In our initial scans, she was due around Christmas Eve, but the due date was on the 28th and kind of got pushed back another three days,” Khokhar said. “We were hoping for a Christmas baby, but we wanted whatever was best for her.”

Extended family, including some relatives from England, is visiting and helping the couple during their stay.

“This was all from my wife’s side,” he said. “The family came over to be with the baby, and they’ll be here another month.”

In a statement released by the hospital, Lall said it is “really special being a mother.”

“There's no feeling like this. This is the best,” she said.