By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
Every Dec. 31, as the giant ball slowly inches its way down in the middle of Times Square in New York City, people across the country begin the countdown to the new year.
But, for two of Hillsborough’s newest residents, this annual ritual will also signify the countdown to their birthdays.
Esther and Christina Vas were born on Jan. 1 at 5:10 a.m. and 5:11 a.m., respectively, making them the first babies and first twins to be born at the Somerset County Medical Center in 2008. Esther weighed 4 pounds, 9 ounces and Christina was 4 pounds, 6 ounces.
”The whole world will be celebrating their birthdays every year,” said their mother, Dora Visky, of Bloomingdale Drive.
Ms. Visky said she and her husband, Gyorgy Vas, had been discussing where to enjoy a special New Year’s Eve lunch while on the way to the hospital for a routine ultrasound Dec. 31.
Lunch plans, however, were not meant to be, because, at her appointment, Ms. Visky said her obstetrician, Dr. Alyssa Horowitz, of Branchburg, determined that one of the twins had not gained much weight over the previous three weeks.
Dr. Horowitz told her they wanted to induce delivery, more than three weeks before her due date of Jan. 18, Ms. Visky said.
”The doctor had already said there was not much time left before I would give birth,” she said. “So we induced the delivery as soon as possible.”
Despite the early birth, Ms. Visky said that both her daughters are in good health.
”There have been no major problems and the girls are almost back to their birth weights,” Ms. Visky said.
According to Ms. Visky, she and her husband, who are both originally from Hungary, chose names for their daughters based on their meaning and how they would compare to names used in Hungary.
She said the name Esther means “star,” while the name Christina means “Christian woman.”
Esther and Christina’s middle names, Katalin and Maria, respectively, are the names of their grandparents.
”We had to make sure the names worked in Hungarian,” Ms. Visky said.
Ms. Visky said that she and her husband, who both work for Johnson & Johnson, will be spending another week at home together with the twins before Mr. Vas returns to work. She said they will spend the time relaxing with their daughters.
”We came home on Friday, and we just want to settle down and unpack everything from the hospital,” she said.
Still, despite the lack of party celebrations this year, Ms. Visky said she plans to tell her daughters that the annual fireworks and festivities of the new year are also a celebration of their births.
”It will be a joint celebration each year, and I plan to tell them all about that,” she said.
