The surprise birth of a healthy bouncing baby boy on Christmas Day was the best Christmas gift in the world for a young San Fernando couple.
Celeste Ahay, 21, a student, and Matthew Cooper, 21, an auto technician, were the proud parents of one of the first of two babies to be born at the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday.
Her baby was born a few minutes before 2.30 pm while the second second baby, also a boy, entered the world at 5.49 am.
Ahay, who is studying criminology at Costaatt, was supposed to give birth to her first baby on January 4, but according to her, God had other plans. She was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday and her labour was induced sometime later that day.
“I never wanted to have to have a Christmas baby, because I don’t like the idea of him getting one gift for birthday and Christmas. People will just say happy birthday and Merry Christmas. But it is a blessing, a wonderful day to be born, so I am happy,” Ahay said.
Cooper said his baby was his Christmas gift.
“With regards to having a Christmas baby, in my little short 21 years of being in T&T, this is one of the gloomiest Christmas I have seen in the country so far and having my son born on this day, it has brightened up my Christmas, the New Year to come.”
The couple has not decided on a first name, but his middle name will be Matthias and his surname Ahay-Cooper.
Thanking the medical staff for taking good care of them, Ahay said: “You would have think that because it is Christmas and they have to work on Christmas, which is a horrible day to be working on, it would have been bad. But they were all very nice. Kudos to the team of doctors and team of midwives for helping me along the process.”
Ahay was hoping that doctors discharged them yesterday so they could spend Christmas at home. The mother of the second baby declined to be interviewed.
Unlike previous years, where companies would distribute hampers to the mothers of Christmas babies, hospital staff, confirmed that no arragement was made for that to be done this year.