A COBARGO couple have welcomed their first son into a family of eight daughters.
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At 4.07am on May 3, Anthony Craig O’Meara was born to dairy farmers Julie and Craig O’Meara at the Bega District Hospital, weighing 9.4 pounds and being 54cm.
Anthony was due on May 12, and arriving early meant he was born the day after Prince William and his wife Catherine’s daughter - the new princess!
The eight sisters Anthony will have to look after him are Sophie, Ruby, Ivy, Fiona, Evelyn, Vanessa, Naomi and Diana.
The oldest – Sophie – is 12 years old, and the youngest – Diana – is two.
Ms O’Meara said there were a few surprised family members and hospital midwives who all expected her to have another girl!
The newborn’s Christian name comes from his grandfather, and his middle name from his father.
While they have many daughters, Mr O’Meara said they didn’t mind if Anthony was to be a girl or a boy.
“It didn’t matter to us as we’ve always had children just to have children,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I’m a very lucky man, I’m a very blessed man.”
While Ms O’Meara herself is one of seven children and Mr O’Meara is one of four, they never intended to have a large family and “it just happened”.
They weren’t sure how many more they would have.
“If we get the opportunity to have another one, we will take it,” Mr O’Meara said.
The O’Mearas’ daughter Fiona was very excited when she attended her new brother’s birth along with two of her sisters.
Afterwards, Mr O’Meara said he asked Fiona what she thought, and she replied that she got three things.
“It was gross, it was awesome, and I almost cried,” she said.
The O’Mearas run a dairy farm, Salvation Jerseys, the same one on which Mr O’Meara grew up.
Their son is the fifth generation of Mr O’Meara’s family to live on that farm.
Mr O’Meara had no plans to raise Anthony as the successor to Salvation Jerseys.
“I’m certainly not saying now I’ve got a son to run my farm,” he said.
“But if any one of [my children] wanted to take it on, I’d probably encourage them.”
The O’Meara children are all home schooled, which their mother said works well and their farm is the perfect place to raise a family.
The O’Mearas thanked the nurses and staff at Bega Hospital for their care during Anthony’s birth.
“We wouldn’t want to have a child in Sydney, we’d much rather have a child in Bega because the nurses here are much more involved,” Mr O’Meara said.
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