‘Party-lover’ Islay arrives in the world just after the bells

A LEITH couple are convinced they could have a party-lover on their hands given the timing of their first child’s birth in the midst of Hogmanay celebrations.

Engaged pair Sarah Gray, 21, and Ross Davidson, 25, had not been expecting daughter Islay Gray to be born until January 23.

Instead, the child became the first new baby to arrive across Edinburgh and the Lothians for 2013 following ten hours of labour that ended just 22 minutes after the New Year bells.

Ross, originally from Kirkcaldy, said the first signs that his daughter would be born far earlier than expected came when his fiancée’s waters broke on December 29. They caught a taxi straight to Royal Edinburgh Infirmary where Islay was born at 12:22am yesterday weighing 5lbs 9oz.

Her father joked that he had asked Sarah to push all the harder after the stroke of midnight. The couple could hear fireworks in the background during the final minutes of labour.

Ross said: “She shouldn’t have been born until about 2am. But as soon as the bells came, Islay must have heard the fireworks.”