We often hear about babies that are born on Christmas Day. For Peter and Stephanie Erasmus, it didn’t happen just once. It happened twice, four years later. Thank you to Stephanie for sharing her story with Stay at Home Mum. If you would like your own story featured on the Stay at Home Mum page, please send your unique story to [email protected].

A Christmas Story (Times Two)

It was December and what promised to be a hot summer in 2006. My husband and I were only starting on our journey of parenthood. I was pregnant with our first child and was due to give birth in early January. Trying to keep cool and comfortable on Christmas Eve was challenging and we had our family over and were planning a huge Christmas day get together the next day. At 7am on Christmas Day I awoke feeling rather uncomfortable but hadn’t had any typical signs of being in labour. The contraction like pains were also irregular, but after a shower and some more pains, my husband took me to hospital.

A very short while later and with no time for any epidural to be administered, my beautiful daughter Cayleigh came screaming and flailing into this world at 10:15am. She was such a Christmas blessing and was the first Christmas baby at that hospital (beating the baby of the lady who had been labouring for 14 hours!). Needless to say I missed out on the Christmas feast that was being cooked up at our house but I came home with the best gift of all.

Four years later and a continent away, I found myself pregnant with our second child – a boy. Ironically, this baby’s due date was similar to my daughter – 4 January. My dear mom flew in from South Africa to support us at this momentous time. The obstetrician we were seeing was concerned that my second labour would be as quick or quicker than my first and wanted me to be vigilant for any signs of labour.

Unbelievably and to our amazement, I started feeling unwell and experiencing symptoms of labour at 3:15am on Christmas morning. Without hesitation this time, we left our daughter in my mum’s capable care and rushed to drive the 45 minutes to the hospital. Phoning ahead, I was told to go directly to the delivery room on arrival and when the midwife examined me I was already 7cm’s dilated. This time around, I didn’t even consider any drugs and our healthy, handsome baby boy was born at 5:18am. Davian was also the first Christmas baby at that hospital!

After a few hours rest, the nursing sister came to ask me if I felt up to a quick interview and a couple of photos for The Sunday Times. Imagine their surprise when they learnt that we had two Christmas day babies, born four years apart! Cayleigh and Davian were featured the very next day and we have received a number of interview requests over the years.

Cayleigh and Davian are celebrating their 8th and 4th birthdays this year and have also become the proud siblings of a cute little brother. We are thankful everyday that our children are healthy and happy individuals, and thank God for blessing us with them, especially on this extra special day.

Thank you so much to Stephanie for sharing her story.

Please, share your thoughts in the comments below and if you would like to share your story about the life as a parent, please email [email protected]. We look forward to reading them.