Oprah holds baby Vincent in the delivery room.

 
During the past 20 years, Oprah has met thousands of memorable guests and shared many unforgettable firsts on television. One "first" she's never forgotten is the first baby born on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Back in 1989, Vincent and Denise invited Oprah into the delivery room to witness the birth of their son, baby Vincent. Oprah held the newborn in her arms moments after he was born, and that was the last time she saw him...until today!

Vincent and Oprah

 
Oprah is happy to report that Vincent, The Oprah Show's firstborn, is an honor student with a 3.9 grade point average who enjoys playing football and chess.

Vincent guesses that he's watched the video of his birth about "a million times." Even though he has pictures and a tape to prove it, Vincent says his friends at school don't believe him!

"Every time I tell them they're like, 'Oh, you weren't born on The Oprah Winfrey Show.' I have to go and give them the picture, and even then, they say it's a cardboard cutout of you!" Vincent tells Oprah.
Cheryl, before

 
One day in 2004, Cheryl realized she was in trouble. As a 45-year-old who weighed 263 pounds, she was a prime target for heart attack, stroke and diabetes. "I was extremely self-conscious and was feeling very sorry for myself," she says. "I was living my boring life in black-and-white."

Then, she saw Wynonna Judd talking openly about her own weight struggles on The Oprah Show. Cheryl was so moved, she felt compelled to e-mail the show to say how Wynonna inspired her. "Her courage and bravery that day gave me the strength to find the real Cheryl," she wrote. "That day, I committed to change my diet and start to exercise. Oprah, you and Wynonna showed me that life is not a spectator sport."
Cheryl now

 
After almost two years of committed lifestyle changes, Cheryl has lost more than 100 pounds. She's run five half-marathons and just completed her very first full marathon in Hawaii!

Cheryl was able to finish this "20 miles of hope and six miles of truth" that she calls "the most amazing thing I've done" with the help of her husband and an online community of runners, called the Maniacs.

And what comes around goes around. When Wynonna learned of how she had inspired Cheryl, she sent Cheryl her own note.

"I'm so proud of you," Wynonna wrote. "I can tell you've had a major transformation in many ways, and you are awesome. You're truly inspiring me as well. The day I saw your pictures, I was embarking upon a continuation of my own journey, and your story has encouraged me."

Queen Latifah kicks butts.

 
Rapper, singer and actress Queen Latifah says she had a lifesaving epiphany while watching The Oprah Winfrey Show.

At the time, Queen was trying to shake a heavy smoking habit. "[I was] really mentally struggling with it—physically struggling with it," she says.

Then she saw Dr. Mehmet Oz's show-and-tell inside a human body. Along with hearts, brains, livers and five pounds of pure fat, Dr. Oz also highlighted the difference between healthy lungs and cancerous lungs.

"It definitely was frightening to me," Queen says. "It was from then on that I definitely knew I had to figure out some way to put the pack down."

With the help of The Ashram, a California health retreat, Queen got healthier and learned ways to kick those butts. "I made a list of all the reasons I wanted to quit smoking and the reasons that I wanted to continue to smoke," she says. "The list of reasons that I wanted to quit was so much longer than the reasons to smoke."

Thanks in part to Dr. Oz, Queen can now call herself a "nonsmoker"!
Tristan

 
Tristan, a private first class in the U.S. Army, was stationed in Iraq in September 2003 when one day, a peaceful Iraqi protest turned violent and chaotic. Without warning, a grenade exploded right in front of him.

Tristan says he saw blood on his pants and tasted blood in his mouth. Then, he put his hand to neck and saw blood spraying onto his hand. Tristan remembers sticking his finger inside his throat "up to his knuckle" to stop the bleeding. After undergoing emergency surgery in a makeshift hospital, Tristan was moved to a hospital in Germany for further treatment.

A week later, Tristan says he noticed that the wound on his neck had swollen up to the size of a golf ball. "The doctors told me that it was probably just part of the healing process, but I knew that there was something more there," he says.

While in the hospital, Tristan flipped on the television. The only show "not in German is Oprah," he says. As his roommate slept, Tristan watched an episode about outrageous medical mistakes.

One incident in particular, "about doctors who leave surgical equipment inside of their patients on accident," caught Tristan's attention, he says.
Tristan

 
Tristan says after watching that show, he was positive something was lodged in his neck. "I didn't know if it was an infection or they might have left something in me," he says. "But I just knew something was wrong, and I needed them to check it out."

He shared this theory with doctors at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. When one of the doctors opened the wound, they found a piece of gauze nine inches long, Tristan says. Because of the location of the wound, Tristan says, a blood infection caused by that gauze could have been lethal.

"The doctors said it was a good thing I watched Oprah that day because it probably saved my life."

Ryan and Oprah

 
Oprah's Favorite Things 2005 was extra special because the audience was full of real-life heroes: courageous Hurricane Katrina relief volunteers.

One of the heroes in attendance was Ryan, who had begun his own relief drive, collecting items in his garage. Ryan wanted to deliver the goods to the Gulf himself, but did not have the money to make the trip south.

Ryan did, however, have two tickets to see his beloved Chicago White Sox play in their first World Series in 88 years. A die-hard fan who says he's "watched probably every single White Sox game for the past five years," Ryan sold his tickets to pay for his trip to the Gulf region. The White Sox went on to win the Series.

"When I weighed the option of having a great time at this game while there were hundreds of thousands of people in the Gulf that were suffering, it seemed like an easy decision to me," Ryan says.

Mark, Scott and Ryan

 
Many people were touched by Ryan's story, including two very special people: Mark Buehrle and Scott Podsednik from the 2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox! Mark and Scott want to show their appreciation for what Ryan gave up to help those in need.

First, these Sox reps give Ryan a White Sox jersey—with his name on it! "It's not over—it gets better," Mark says. "We'd like you to wear that on opening day! We'd like you to come out and throw the first pitch at opening day!

Mark and Scott have more news for Ryan—before opening day, Ryan and a guest will be flown to White Sox spring training in Tucson—to work out with the team!

Ryan is also now an official part of the White Sox family. Scott presents Ryan with the organization's Roland Hemond Award, which recognizes those who give of themselves for the benefit of others. "As a recipient of this award, the White Sox are going to fly you and a guest to the 2006 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh," Scott says.

And as a coup de grace, the White Sox are going to pay for Ryan's season tickets this season!