The Quick 10: Babies on the Brain

Because my husband and I are expecting our first little _flosser, you might say I've had babies on the brain lately. While every other pregnant woman in the world is poring over What to Expect When You're Expecting, I'm absorbing tons of useless trivia that probably isn't going to serve me very well in the labor and delivery room. Here are a few of those tidbits.

1. Canada is the only country that can account for birth records for almost four centuries (they started in 1621). It's the first country to keep a systematic archive of such things, despite the fact that other countries have been established for much longer.

4. Speaking of presidents, the first baby to be born in the White House was James Madison Randolph. Nope, he wasn't an heir of Madison "“ he was Thomas Jefferson's grandson.

5. Twins don't necessarily have to be born together.

The longest time span between twin births started on November 11, 1995. One twin was born that day and the other was born 84 days later "“ February 2, 1996. That would be a great story to tell when you got older "“ no one would believe that you were a twin with a birthday in a totally different year than your counterpart!

6. On average, a baby needs changed once an hour for the first two months of its life (how often it needs changed and how often you end up changing it are probably two different things).

8. The first baby hospital in the U.S. didn't open until 1887. The New York-based facility had just eight beds.

9. It usually takes babies some time to grow teeth, but sometimes they come out with a tooth or two already formed. However, the youngest baby to grow teeth had eight of them when he was born six weeks early in 1970.

10. The first official daycare opened in Paris in 1844. That's pretty progressive!

Any baby tidbits you care to share? I'm all ears! And if you're looking for more, most of these were gleaned from Fairy Kisses and Stork Bites by Kenneth and Karen Brown. It's a fun read for the trivia-inclined.