Baby best Christmas present
THERE is no Christmas present quite like a baby – as Upper Hutt couple Kylie and Steve Findlay found out.
Their son Oscar was born yesterday weighing 8lb 3oz (3.7kg) at Hutt Hospital. He’s too young to realise it but he will always be the best Christmas present they ever got. He is their first child.
‘‘We’re tired, but it’s really great to meet him after all this time,’’ Kylie said.
Oscar arrived a day later than predicted and they had prepared a festive-themed jumpsuit for him if he made a Christmas Day appearance.
The proud parents said they were a bit sorry for him to have the 25th as a birthday, but by coincidence their families have quite a few birthdays either side of Christmas.
‘‘I don’t know what it is about April,’’ Kylie said.
He was delivered by the same midwife who delivered her two brothers years ago – she had delayed a move to Australia especially for him.
‘‘I [also] went to school with her daughter, so there’s a big family connection,’’ Kylie said.
‘‘She wasn’t taking any more patients but when she heard we were having a baby she took us.’’
Oscar spent the first few hours of his life sleeping, but was given a bath.
‘‘He loved [it], he could stretch out like he never could before. Hopefully [sleeping] is a sign for the night.’’
Spending the holiday in the hospital had not been too bad. Orderlies had been playing bagpipes, there was a good Christmas meal and a special Christmas gift.
‘‘Some amazing people did all this knitting,’’ Kylie said. ‘‘Everyone who had a baby today got a bundle of really cute things to pick from.’’
Brothers and sisters for Oscar could be on the way, but not for a while. ‘‘If you’d asked me a few hours ago I’d have said I didn’t want to do this again but it’s pretty amazing,’’ she joked.
As well as Jesus, Oscar shares a birthday with some famous names – Sir Isaac Newton, actor Humphrey Bogart and English cricket captain Alastair Cook among them.