Samantha James & Michael Argue, Peterlee

My baby boy Alvie was born at 11.52 on 14th February 2015 weighing 7lb 10oz. What a beautiful valentines present I was given. After a horrific 130plus hours worth of labour, numerous trips to the maternity ward he was brought into this world by the staff at north tees hospital. All seemed perfect once he was here, the memory of pain was forgotten in an instant but was due to be replaced with a different kind of pain. A heart wrenching pain that I will never ever forget. From the moment he was born I was struggling to feed him, he would shake and shudder so I kept him close in case he was cold. 5 and a half hours after he was born we asked a doctor to take a look at him. His colour was changing and his chest was collapsing while trying to breath. Alvie was whipped from me and transferred from the ward to the neo natal unit. I was allowed to visit him within the hour. The feeling of fear running through me while I went into the unit was immense, seeing all those tiny babies in cots getting assistance then there was Alvie, all 7lb 10oz him. I kept telling myself he shouldn’t be there, it’s for premature babies only, my baby was born at 38 weeks. Although he was the biggest baby by far in the unit he was extremely poorly, his lungs hadn’t matured during pregnancy and he had contracted sepsis. He was started on oxygen and antibiotics and after 3 days came out of the incubator, I was then allowed to cuddle and hold him and most of all feed him myself. Every day he became stronger and stronger. He was only in the unit for a short amount of time but the staff were fantastic! I had to stay in hospital to have 2 blood transfusions and was offered a place in the transitional bedroom. Allowing me to care for and feed my child. After a stay of a week we were allowed to take him home. We had appointments and check ups to follow but 8 month on we have a happy and healthy little boy. If it wasn’t for the staff I very much doubt we would have had this fantastic ending.