Beautiful moment mother meets her premature child 36 hours after his birth

Image credit: TikTok Screengrab via Alice Varley 

A video went viral after a mother shared a beautiful moment where she met her premature son 36 hours after his birth at 31 weeks.

According to Newsweek, Alice Varley, a mother from Dublin, was due to give birth to her little boy on 15th February earlier this year, however she had begun to experience severe migraines, rib pain and extreme fatigue in early December last year, where eventually a routine appointment discovered her baby was measuring small. After being admitted to hospital for further investigation, a consultant told the mother and her partner Alex Beck that the baby would have to be born before Christmas, as the pregnancy would soon no longer be viable.

"We were in shock," Varley told Newsweek. "We had a low-risk pregnancy until we didn't suddenly. The medical teams were amazing, allowed us time to call our families and then brought us to a private room separate to the maternity wards."

Varley was given some medication to help with her baby’s lungs and for both of their brains, where doctors tried to delay the birth in order for the medications to take effect. Thankfully, Vardy say’s her baby fought and little Liam was born at 31 weeks, just a few days before Christmas.

"Thankfully, Liam was a little fighter and his heartbeat stayed strong the entire time," Varley said.

"Giving birth at 31 weeks is never on anyone's birth plan," she said. "I had a huge sense of relief that we were in hospital and had two days to mentally prepare. I'm proud of how we supported each other as a couple and really worked together."

However, Varley had to stay in a high dependency unit due to pre-eclampsia and another serious condition that could cause seizures. This meant she could not leave the unit for at least a day whilst she continued to receive regular magnesium infusions. Baby Liam was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), so Vardy was unable to meet her baby, only seeing him through videos and pictures from her partner Alex.

"I was able to look at his incubator briefly in a wheelchair for 10 minutes after 24 hours, but I probably didn't hold, touch or see him with his eyes open until 36 hours after his birth," Varley told Newsweek.

Varley eventually got to meet her little body 36 hours after his birth, a beautiful moment that was shared in a video that Vardy had posted on TikTok, which she captioned with "I'm convinced his eyes are saying, 'We made it.'"

@alicevarley He was so tiny back then 🥹🥹🥹 I’m convinced his eyes are saying ‘we made it’, I will never forget this moment. I dragged myself to the NICU from the maternity ward to leave 5mls of colestrum and a doctor said ‘you can hold him if you want, I’ll help with the wires’. Baby Liam was asleep and as soon as I held him, he opened his eyes and looked straight at me ❤️ It was so unexpected and not how I imagining holding for first baby for the first time but it was perfect. #newborn #preemie #pregnant #babyboy ♬ My Love Mine All Mine - Mitski

"Pure, raw emotion of the entire week flooded me," Varley said. "Getting us both safely to that point was what it was all for. I just wanted to make sure that this perfect, tiny, little baby knew how much he was loved and could hear and feel the familiarity of my voice and presence."

Her video soon went viral gathering 1.9 million views and drawing some emotional responses from viewers.

"I'm actually crying cause he's so precious and sigh the way he looks at you with that little smile," one user wrote.

"The look in his eyes melts my heart," another added.

Varley has shared that Liam is now thriving at 7 months old, albeit having a more challenging start.

"He is a cheeky, fun and chilled baby boy, he loves people and will give anyone a smile who gives him attention," she said. "The worry is still there, we don't look at milestones and know Liam will develop in his own time."

Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented, saying: “What a beautiful and precious moment between mother and child. There is so much love between them and thank you Ms Varley for sharing this special moment. We are delighted that baby Liam is now doing well and wish all the best for this little family.”