A premature baby who was critically ill in hospital last Christmas has beaten the odds and is enjoying his first Christmas at home with his family.
Peadar O’Boyle was born extremely prematurely and spent weeks on a ventilator and his first 111 days in hospital.
“Peadar is a warrior and superhero. This year we are so looking forward to the four of us being at home together,” says Ruth Levins.
Read More: Dad 'ecstatic' to have baby triplets home in Ireland after debacle costing thousands
“Unlike last Christmas, my husband Aidan and I will get to have Christmas Day at home with Peadar and our older son Malachy, like most families.”
“We won’t have to experience the guilt of having to leave Malachy to spend time with Peadar and the worry that when we leave Peadar he is alone in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) without his family.”
She said that, “Peadar was critically ill last Christmas and we had to take each hour as it came. We didn't know if he would survive or what type of life he could expect.”
He was born by emergency C-section at 24 weeks.
Ruth recalls that when she was pregnant with Malachy, at her 24 week scan, a doctor said: “24 weeks is a big milestone because babies can survive at 24 weeks.”
Those words came back to her when a high temperature, due to a urinary tract infection, triggered early labour. The couple was told there was about a 40% chance of their baby surviving.
“Every premature baby is so different because they are not robots. Looking back there were so many things said to us about Peadar, and he has proven a lot of doctors wrong so far,” she said.
Ruth and Aiden believe that the obstetrician giving steroids before delivery helped to strengthen Peadar's lungs and save his life.
Peadar weighed 730 grams, or one pound six ounces and Ruth said “he had to be ventilated as soon as he was born. You are supposed to be happy and holding and cuddling your baby and instead you are looking through an incubator with tubes and monitors and you are afraid to nearly touch him because he was born so prematurely and his skin was so thin.
“When I look back on those first few days and weeks, I feel like I was looking at a film, a horror film of something bad that happened to somebody else. It properly hasn’t registered yet that it happened to us.”
In his first five months Peadar came through being ventilated for five weeks, bleeds on his brain, meningitis and he also had hydrocephalus.
To mark his first birthday earlier this month the family had a big celebration.
This Christmas is light years away from last year.
“We are doing all the normal things that we, and most families, take for granted.
“We have been to see Santa and we will spend Christmas with friends and family and are looking forward to being together on Christmas Day.
“Peadar has had to fight from the first minute he was born. He has a strong personality and always has a huge smile.
“He goes at his pace but like all babies there is an inbuilt need to explore and learn about the world.”
Peadar does have challenges as a result of his extreme prematurity and has been linked in with occupational therapy and physiotherapy to help him meet his milestones.
For other parents facing tough times with their sick baby, Ruth and Aidan said, “be kind to yourself, keep your strength for your baby and for you and, as clichéd as it sounds, take each day as it comes. Take help when people offer and try and talk about what you're going through.”
READ NEXT :
Dowdall moans about prison and wants medication for 'serious spinal issues'
Davy Fitzgerald opens up about becoming a father again in his 50s
How to watch Santa fly over Ireland on Christmas Eve with live sleigh tracker
Scissor Sister Charlotte Mulhall refused temporary Christmas prison release
Gardaí investigate claims of paedophile ring targeting teenage girls in care
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
