Mum of baby born at 30 weeks eager to celebrate Mother's Day

Kerry Giebel gets ready to celebrate her first Mother's Day.

MOTHER'S LOVE: Proserpine's Kerry Giebel will celebrate her first Mother's Day with son Charlie Lucht, 10 months, on Sunday. Picture: Monique Preston

WHEN Kerry Giebel's son was born, she was so sick all she remembers about his birth is signing a form to say the doctors could take her baby out, and then waking up with a flat stomach.

Two days later she was well enough to meet little Charlie for the first time.

Until they took her to see him, Ms Giebel was under the mistaken belief her son had died in birth as she was so sick that she had not comprehended her partner Cory Lucht and hospital staff telling her that he was okay.

Their first meeting was an emotional one.

"The whole world stopped," Ms Giebel said.

"You can't stop staring. The first time they put him on me, other people were talking but I couldn't hear them."

Before Charlie's birth at just 30 weeks, Ms Giebel had turned up at Proserpine Hospital feeling unwell.

What she didn't know is she was suffering from eclampsia - something staff at the hospital diagnosed and acted on quickly, having her flown to Townsville Hospital.

Ms Giebel credits her Proserpine midwife and doctor with saving her's and Charlie's lives by picking up the problem.

After he was born weighing just 1.8kg, Charlie spent two months in hospital - three weeks in Townsville and the rest of the time in Mackay Base Hospital before finally being allowed to go home to Proserpine.

Ten months after that fateful day, Ms Giebel and Charlie are both doing well and are getting ready to celebrate their first Mother's Day on Sunday - something Ms Giebel is excited about.

"I haven't stopped smiling since he was born," she said.

"He gives a meaning to life.

"I'm just so excited to be a mum.

"When he says 'Mum' I get butterflies."

This Mother's Day will be extra special for Ms Giebel, not just for overcoming the problems when Charlie was born, but also because she had to fight harder than most to become pregnant in the first place.

Having trouble conceiving, Ms Giebel had to undergo hormone replacement in order to become pregnant.

"I was told I couldn't have children, so this is out of this world," Ms Giebel said of getting ready to celebrate her first Mother's Day.

"We tried for nearly two years to get him."

The best thing about being a mother, Ms Giebel said, was watching something you created grow into their own little person.

She also loves watching her son achieve all his firsts - his first tooth, his first word and his first smile, among them.

"The first smile is the best thing in the world," Ms Giebel said.