A north-east woman got the best present she could have wished for yesterday when she gave birth to her first child on Christmas Day.
Baby Olivia Jane Dutton arrived in the world at 3.05am.
Her mum, Emma Macdonald-Dutton, 28, went through a gruelling 15-hour labour at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.
But she said it was all worth the wait.
She said she had a feeling that her baby – who was 10 days overdue and weighed in at just under 9lb 11oz – was waiting for Christmas Day to make her big entrance.
Mrs Macdonald-Dutton, a nursery nurse from Inverurie, said she tried everything to speed-up the process – eating spicy curries, going for long walks and drinking pineapple juice – but nothing worked.
“I had an inkling she would be born on Christmas Day,” she said. “She just wouldn’t budge.”
Mrs Macdonald-Dutton was induced at noon on Christmas Eve, but had to wait until the early hours of yesterday morning for her daughter to arrive. She had originally planned a water birth, but the plan changed as she progressed through labour.
Her proud husband, Graham, was there to give encouragement.
As she recovered yesterday morning, Mrs Macdonald-Dutton said she was delighted to have a little girl.
“We left it as a surprise. Everyone thought we were going to have a boy.”
And she revealed that her daughter would always get two sets of presents on Christmas Day. “One lot will have birthday paper on, and the other will have Christmas paper.”
Although exhausted, the new mum said it was difficult to sleep when all she wanted to do was spend time with her baby.
“It’s so hard to doze off when all I want to do is gaze at her,” she said.
“This is the best Christmas present I could have asked for. Nothing is going to be better than this.”
At Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, a 9lb baby boy was born to Alness woman Weronika Orenczak and her partner Matthew Murdoch, at 5.09am.
Staff at the hospital said both mother and baby were doing well.
There was also a Christmas Day arrival in Moray.
Lorna Smith, 31, gave birth to a 7lb 7oz daughter at Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin, at 2.30am.
Both mum and daughter – who has yet to be named – left the hospital at 11am yesterday and returned home to Buckie.
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