Scottish parents get gift of Christmas Day babies

Admin and accounts administrator Samantha Lyon, 21, from Bellahouston, Scotland, with her new born baby boy. Picture: Hemedia

Holly Affleck’s unscheduled festive arrival at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital helped parents Marie and David agree on a name.

The 7lb 7oz girl was born two and a half weeks early at 2:38am.

Mr Affleck, 38, an offshore field service worker from Blackburn in Aberdeenshire, said: “It was the only name we could agree on. I’ve still got the bruises to prove it. Her two brothers weren’t named until three weeks after they were born. This is quite an achievement for us.”

Holly Affleck with mother Marie. Picture: Hemedia

Mrs Affleck, 33, said: “It was a big surprise. We weren’t expecting her that early.

“It’s been really nice though, although we hadn’t thought about the date.”

Her husband added: “We had an unexpected but very lovely delivery come to us overnight.

“We originally thought we’d get Christmas out of the way, but Holly decided to come early.

“She was actually due to be born in January. We don’t mind as it’s worked out really well for us. I think we’ll just have our Christmas Day on Boxing Day instead. I’m sure the boys won’t mind too much

“Our eldest, Jacob, seven, was hoping for a little sister as his younger brother Joseph, four, terrorises him all the time.”

In Glasgow, Samantha Lyon’s first child was born at 7am – three and a half weeks early.

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Ricco weighed 6lb 5oz on delivery at the city’s Southern General Hospital.

Ms Lyon, 21, an admin worker, said: “It’s come as a bit of a surprise because I wasn’t expecting him to be here until 18 January. I haven’t slept at all since the 23rd, so I’m a bit exhausted. He was a lot of hard work, but it was worth every second of it to finally have him in my arms.

“This is definitely the best Christmas present I could have asked for. He’s our wee Christmas miracle. The nurses have been great in making sure that he was OK, though I don’t think we’ll get to go home until we’ve both had a bit of sleep.

“He’s my first child and hopefully the last. It was very difficult to go through all the pain during the pregnancy. I was constantly in and out of hospital this year.”

Ms Lyon said she started having contractions on Christmas Eve, but her partner, Stephen Petrucci, did not take her to hospital until 10pm.

She said: “I wouldn’t say I was rushed to hospital because Stephen was a bit busy playing Fifa on his Xbox when I started to really feel the contractions.”

Among Scotland’s first Christmas arrivals was 8lb 4oz

Amelia-Grace, born at 12:54am at St John’s Hospital in Livingston to Stephanie Healy, 20, from Broxburn in West Lothian.

Clara, born to Jennifer Laird at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, weighing 7lb 6oz, followed at 1:26am.

The first Christmas baby at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was an as-yet unnamed boy weighing 6lb 8oz, born at 2:29am, to Shirine, 29, and Hameed Musthafa, 38, from Edinburgh.

Another Aberdeen new mum had predicted she would give birth on Christmas Day after her baby did not arrive – as hoped – on her own birthday last

Sunday.

Millie, 6lb 3oz, was born at 3:41am at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital to Michelle Yule, 27, and partner Michael Paterson, 28.

Ms Yule said: “I thought she was going to be born on my birthday but then after that I thought she was going to come on Christmas Day.”

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