Bliss overflows for miracle baby
Published: January 19, 2006
THEY were beginning to think they would never be parents.
And when the contractions kicked in on Tuesday night, 11 weeks early, they were expecting the worst.
But after seven stillborns Townsville couple Rebecca McColl, 28, and Shaun Flanagan have celebrated the arrival of Brandon Phillip Andrew James Flanagan.
Weighing just 1.16kg (2lb 9oz), he is about the size of a Powerade bottle.
Ms McColl suffers from an incompetent cervix, which highly increases the likelihood of stillborn, miscarriage and premature births.
Mr Flanagan said he was on tenterhooks throughout the entire pregnancy and delivery.
“It was touch and go all through the pregnancy,” he said.
“It’s just been a continuous uphill battle and we’ve been through a lot of pain.
“When she went into labour early I was scared and I was horrified, expecting the worst.
“Becky and I have been trying for a baby for the past three years and now we’ve finally got our miracle baby.”
Just to check he’s real, Mr Flanagan said he couldn’t help himself from continuously visiting his tiny son, who is still attached to breathing equipment at Townsville Hospital.
“I often walk past where he is and peer in to see he’s doing OK,” he said.
“He’s doing as good as he possibly could and with every minute that goes by I know he’s getting better.”
Emotions have been running high over the past 24 hours for Mr Flanagan and he said that would continue for a long time to come.
“There were a couple of tears shed (on Tuesday night) and more today,” he said.
“We’re still in disbelief and can’t quite get our heads around the fact that we’re now parents.”
Proud grandma Robbie Chivers could barely contain her emotions when expressing her joy at the successful birth.
“It’s just starting to hit Rebecca now that she has a living baby in the hospital because we’ve waited so long for this,” she said.
“We’re still trying to come to terms with it.
“There’s still a sparkle in our eyes whenever we think about it.
“I feel total and complete overwhelming love for the three of them.”
Mr Flanagan said a collective sigh of relief would be felt by many relatives and family friends across Australia.
“Everyone knows how long we’ve been trying for a baby so I think they’re going to be very happy,” he said.
“They’ve all been hanging on by the end of their nails through the pregnancy so it will be great to present our son to them and let everyone know he’s safe.”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: