It is hard to predict the exact date of your child's birth.

As the clock struck 12 and the nation ushered in Singapore's 47th birthday, some parents also welcomed their little bundles of joy and celebrated their status as the first National Day babies of 2012.

Three babies were born minutes apart to share the same birthday as Singapore, reported the Lianhe Wanbao.

Two of them, both boys, made their entrance into the world exactly at midnight.

Muhd Hilmi Aqil was born at Parkway East Hospital, while Benjamin Ong was born at Raffles Hospital.

The third baby, Elysia Poh, was supposed to be delivered last night. Her mother had checked into Kandang Kerbau Hospital (KKH) at about 2pm on Wednesday.

Mr Edwin Poh, 29, told the paper that at 9pm yesterday, the couple had joked about how their baby might be waiting to be born on August 9 as a National Day baby.

Around 11.30pm, Mdm Bong Shieh Lian, 32, started to feel intense labour pains. Baby Elysia was born two minutes past midnight and weighed 3.1 kg.

As Mr Poh was involved in the National Day Parade, he returned to work this afternoon but was granted leave by his superiors to be with his family.

To congratulate the Poh family, KKH upgraded Mdm Bong from a class B1 ward to a class A1 ward and presented them with a $100 pharmacy voucher.

Muhd Hilmi's parents received a hamper of baby products as a congratulatory token from Parkway East Hospital.

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