Parenting magazines tend to gush that each childbirth is a miracle of nature — never mind that all 6.7 billion people came into this world in about the same way. But the births of some babies yesterday were something to behold.

Hailey Jo Hauer of Minnesota, Xander Jace Riniker of Iowa, and Maggie May Jones of Washington came into the world during a symmetrical confluence of time: the eighth minute of the eighth hour of the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the millennium.

And for good measure, Hailey Jo and Xander each weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces; Maggie Mae was a little over 8 pounds.

They have some celebrity company: "American Idol" alumnus and recording artist Clay Aiken said on his Web site that his new son was born yesterday at 8:08 a.m. in North Carolina.

Lindsey Hauer thought staff at Lake Region Hospital in Minnesota were joking when they told her the time of her daughter's birth. Then she got a call from the birthing suite noting Hailey Jo's weight.

In Tacoma, Maggie's beaming father said: "Kinda crazy, isn't it?"

"It wasn't even scheduled to happen this way," said Dan Jones of Gig Harbor, Wash. "But when it's time, it's time."

Xander, born at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the eighth grandchild for his mother's parents. His 2-year-old brother, Kael, also has an unusual birth date: 4/5/06.

The Associated Press and McClatchy-Tribune News Service contributed to this report.