10:10am Friday 2nd January 2009
She might not have been born in a manger, but the arrival of little Caitlin Sum-Tschee Li made this a Christmas her parents will never forget.
Baby Caitlin made her debut in the world on Christmas Day, the perfect present for Kevin and Hong Ying Li.
She is the first child for the couple from Clarendon Road in Borehamwood.
Mrs Li’s waters broke at 2am on the night before Christmas and they had a quick journey to Watford General Hospital.
Caitlin was born at 7.09pm weighing a healthy 8lb. She was one of only two Christmas births at the hospital this year.
“We’re over the moon,” said Mr Li, 30, a systems administrator for the Guardian national newspaper.
“This is the best Christmas present of all. She’s so perfect, we can’t hope for anything more.”
It seems Caitlin is made for celebrating. It is a Chinese tradition to have a party when the baby is a month old. This year, that will coincide with Chinese New Year.
Mr Li said he was sure next Christmas they would have a big party. “Hopefully she’ll get two presents from everybody rather than one,” he said.
Caitlin’s middle name means a heart of kindness in Chinese.
Mrs Li, 28, whose family are from Shenyang, in northern China, has been showing off her new daughter to relatives via the internet.
“We’re going to visit them later in the year,”
she said. “Caitlin is the first grandchild of the family.”
She had been due to give birth on Boxing Day, but the couple, who were married on December 18, 2005, thought their daughter might arrive on their anniversary.
Mr Li added: “Instead she’s a Christmas baby — a Christmas miracle. I’ve forgotten all the other Chrismases before now.”
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