Emma and Stephen Collier from Wickham, welcomed their third child a baby girl called Iris who was born on Christmas Day at home arriving ten days late.
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00:00 So Stephen, tell me about little Iris.
00:05 Well, Iris was due on the 15th of December, however, we waited and waited for her.
00:13 Well, we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, so we waited and waited for the baby.
00:18 We're getting closer and closer to Christmas and then about 2 o'clock on Christmas morning,
00:24 I got woken up to be told that she was coming today.
00:30 She hung around, but she wanted to be special, so she was born on Christmas Day at 11am.
00:38 Tell me how mum and Iris are doing.
00:41 Amazing. Emma's, yeah, it's her third baby, our third baby.
00:46 She's super brave and really strong and we've been up and out and visited family
00:52 and we were doing really well and baby's doing really, really well.
00:57 So what has the reaction been like to having a Christmas baby from friends and family?
01:06 Yeah, she seems to be a bit of a celebrity, so everyone wants to see her
01:10 and we obviously naturally see a little family this time of year,
01:14 but everyone's just really been waiting for us to do the rounds and have a hold of a little baby.
01:20 Yeah, everyone's very excited.
01:23 So what was the weight of Iris?
01:25 8lbs 10.
01:28 And do you have a message for any of the staff and the midwives?
01:35 Just a big thank you to Becky and Amy who were here in the morning.
01:39 They were amazing. They couldn't have asked for anyone better.
01:45 They were really kind and caring and patient with me
01:50 and knew all the right things to say with me and Emma.
01:54 Yeah, it was really special having a home birth on Christmas Day
01:59 because obviously when baby came we had to still do Christmas Day.
02:05 It was nice to be here to be able to make the dinner, do the Christmas presents
02:09 and we wouldn't have been able to do that if they weren't available to be here to do the birth at home
02:15 and to have the resources available there for that to be possible.
02:21 So just thank you to them and thank you to the hospital.
02:25 And how did Iris' brothers take to her?
02:31 Really sweet, yeah. They have been doting and really sweet
02:36 and this is their favourite Christmas present.
02:39 They both really wanted a little sister.
02:43 So yeah, they've been really, really happy and they've been really, really caring towards her.
02:48 So were the boys around for the birth as well?
02:52 They went to their aunties, an uncle who just lived 10 minutes down the road in Fairham
03:00 and then they went to their uncles, another uncle, an auntie over in Waterloo, Phil.
03:07 So they had a surprise, those family members had a surprise visit on Christmas morning
03:13 as my in-laws, Emma's parents, stayed here for the night of Christmas Eve
03:17 so they were able to drive them around and visiting people until the baby was ready to meet them.
03:26 Yeah.
03:27 Well congratulations.
03:28 Thank you very much.
03:30 So I understand Iris was a home birth?
03:34 Yes, a home birth on Christmas Day which was particularly handy
03:38 because there was lots to do being Christmas Day.
03:41 Luckily we'd done a lot of prep work for the dinner the night before
03:44 but there was still the dishwasher to be done, potatoes to be peeled, parsnips
03:51 and I was able to do that whilst Emma was in labour because it's nice to keep busy
03:57 rather than feeling like a spare part whilst the wife's in labour.
04:00 So yeah, a lot of the preparation was done and the kitchen cleaned etc. during the labour
04:06 so that as soon as the midwives were happy the baby was healthy and safe and had left
04:11 we could do the presents for the boys and get the dinner going.
04:14 With my mother-in-law I didn't do it, I had a lot of help.
04:18 Oh wow, and then Emma after having a bit of rest came down and joined Iris for Christmas dinner?
04:23 Yes, she went and rested whilst dinner was being made and then was woken up to a full Christmas dinner
04:28 with crackers and pudding and so quite a strange set of events for one day.
04:35 Well well done to you.
04:37 Thank you.