Double celebration at maternity unit
Rosalind Griffiths
After a gap of at least eight years the Gilbert Bain Hospital has a Christmas baby – and a Christmas Eve baby too.
Both are bouncing boys, each with a shock of black hair, weighing almost exactly the same and both arriving earlier than their due date of 5th January.
The Christmas Day baby is Findlay James, six pounds one ounce, born to Angela Gifford and Gavin McVey of Lerwick. He arrived at 8.55am on Tuesday, 11 days early.
Angela said: “It was a surprise when my waters broke. We planned to have the family over for Christmas dinner.”
He was very good and slept all the time, she said, but in appearance took after his dad. Gavin added: “He’s got more hair than I have.”
The couple, who took Findlay home from hospital yesterday to join big sister Alyssa and brother Christopher, said they were delighted with the maternity department’s private rooms with en-suite bathrooms. “It’s a really good service,” Gavin said.
Christmas Eve baby Maksymilian Orlowski, who weighed in at six pounds exactly, missed the British Christmas Day by two hours. However, in Poland, where his parents Joanna and Krzysztof hail from, Christmas Eve is the day of celebration.
The couple, who live in Cunningsburgh, are thrilled with their first child although his arrival caught them by surprise. Joanna, already well-known at the hospital where she works in the supplies department, said: “It was a shock when my waters broke. We were planning to have Christmas Eve with Krzysztof’s brother.”
The similarities between the births did not unduly faze the nursing staff, however. “Coincidences happen here all the time,” one of them said.
Eleanor Black
Congratulations to both sets of parents! How fitting that two nationalities are represented at a time when our Europe is rapidly becoming more cosmopolitan. May both babies & their respective parents continue to flourish & prosper in 2013.