Tech. Sgt. William J. McNamara, 95th Reconnaissance Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, and his wife, Darice, hold their son Liam Thomas, who arrived at 1:13 a.m. Saturday weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Liam is the first baby born in a U.S. military facility in Europe in 2005. (Lynne Neveu / Courtesy of U.S. Air Force)
A lot of people attending New Year’s Eve parties Friday night probably felt a little queasy at some point in the evening, but for Darice McNamara, it wasn’t cocktails and hors d’oeuvres that sent her home early.
Winding down the last moments of 2004 with friends at about 10 p.m. at RAF Lakenheath, England, the expectant mother bowed out of the party because she was starting to feel labor pains. By the time her friends in England were toasting midnight, she was at a nearby medical center giving birth to the first baby born in 2005 at a U.S. military facility in Europe.
Barely more than an hour after arriving at the hospital, at 1:13 a.m. Saturday, McNamara gave birth to little Liam Thomas, the third child and first son for Darice and her husband, Tech. Sgt. William J. McNamara, who works with the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, England.
Darice said Saturday that her new son came so fast there was no time to mark the moment the new year began.
“It was totally lost on my behalf,” she said.
The newest McNamara made an effort to see as much of 2005 as possible: not only did he show up just an hour after it started, but also more than two weeks before his due date, Darice said.
The new mother said she could tell that 6-pound, 14-ounce Liam wasn’t going to wait until mid-January to make an appearance, though she’s not sorry he showed up early.
“I was just getting to the point where I was miserable,” she said.
She thought he might be born before he was due. “But I didn’t think it would be last night,” she said. “He just couldn’t wait.”
Both Darice, 32, and William, 34, said it didn’t occur to them before the morning that they might have had the first American child born at a European base. If medical staff mentioned it early during the delivery, neither of them noticed.
“I think I was more in shock than listening to what anyone was saying,” Darice said.
Joining sisters Marissa, 7, and Meghan, 4, Liam was one of three children born at the 48th Medical Group medical center at Lakenheath in a 16-hour period around New Year’s Eve. A baby was also born at 8 p.m. on Friday night and another at about noon Saturday. A total of 553 children were delivered at the hospital in 2004, a hospital spokeswoman said.
