Somewhere in CNN’s headquarters this morning, they were desperately trying to figure out how they could put together a Baby Panda countdown clock without knowing exactly when the baby would be born.
The National Zoo tweeted earlier today that panda Mei Xiang’s water had broken, and delivery could follow within a few hours.
Panda team has confirmed that Mei Xiang's water broke. Hoping for healthy cub. May take a few hours. #PandaStory #WeSaveSpecies
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo News team assemble!
— Simon Audisho (@SimonAudisho) August 22, 2015
.@WTOP call Ron Burgundy! @NationalZoo Panda is giving birth
— Mary Beth Albright (@MaryBeth) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo @FOX4 pic.twitter.com/UQUrCbCQBm
— Brandon Colston (@bcburgers) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo pic.twitter.com/PdRjiupviQ
— Mike Moreno (@michaelmor3no) August 22, 2015
And just a few hours later, the cub was born.
Panda cub born at 5:34pm live on panda cam. Video and pix to come. #PandaStory #WeSaveSpecies
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) August 22, 2015
We’re guessing the baby panda will garner more news coverage than the Planned Parenthood videos and today’s #ProtestPP events combined, but fall far short of the trophy killing of beloved lion Cecil.
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@NationalZoo
???????????— SLO News (@slonews) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo ❤???
— Peter Rickert (@1parickert) August 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/billwright/status/635194254848073728
@NationalZoo Go Mei Go!! Brings us a healthy panda cub. ????
— OʟᴅSᴄʜᴏᴏʟPᴀɴᴅᴀ? (@Judy80sforever) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo you got 900 cameras, 55 vets, 600 volunteers and NO animals in the Zoo, good luck Mei….
— Badri Radhakrishnan ???⚾️? (@radbcc) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo #PandaStory Pray for the delivery of a healthy cub. ✨?✨?✨
— Paragon (@evans_iii) August 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/dcswamprat/status/635197548576276480
@NationalZoo Prayers for beautiful Mei and cub, and the panda team, too.
— Debby Ballard (@pandafn1) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo My brother said he's almost as nervous about Mei's pregnancy as he is about his wife's and got in trouble. Hope it's worth it!
— Jayelle Has a Plan for That ????️???? (@GreenEyedLilo) August 22, 2015
@NationalZoo it's about time, knock it out today to not spoil @BaoBaoPanda 's birthday tomorrow!
— S Jordan Tomaszewski (@stevetomski) August 22, 2015
It’s nice to finally see a story that transcends politics, isn’t it?
https://twitter.com/ASturtlelove/status/635203732301565952
@NationalZoo @BaoBaoPanda when a panda cub is born in your zoo, that makes them an American citizen right? No going back to China?
— Christian Pezzuti (@pezzutichristi1) August 22, 2015
@pezzutichristi1 @NationalZoo I suppose it's dual American/Chinese citizenship. I will be headed to China in a couple years.
— Bao Bao (@BaoBaoPanda) August 22, 2015
Is this true? Is Bao Bao being deported? This is worse than the Iran deal.
@BaoBaoPanda @NationalZoo that's just not right…
— Christian Pezzuti (@pezzutichristi1) August 22, 2015