'We're lucky to have him': Miracle baby home for Christmas

Harry Shaw has made it home in time for Christmas after his mum was having up to 24 seizures a day while she was pregnant with him.

Miracle Harry is home in time to celebrate Christmas with the family. Picture: Denise Keelan

NEWBORN baby Harry Shaw made it home in time for Christmas after his mum was having up to 24 seizures a day while she was pregnant with him.

Angie Shaw was diagnosed with epilepsy three years ago, but under the control of her medication she hadn't had a seizure for over a year and a half.

"But then we fell pregnant," she said.

"We were on the pill and taking precautions because my epilepsy medication is so dangerous to a growing baby."

Angie was airlifted from Kingaroy to the Gold Coast University Hospital in October, where she was due to stay until she could deliver Harry at 37 weeks.

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"Because I kept having seizures they did a few growth scans to make sure I hadn't harmed the placenta, and to make sure it hadn't separated during any falls," she said.

"The doctors wanted to keep a close eye on it because they didn't want me to have a seizure and then have a c-section while I was seizing because that would be very dangerous."

The doctors continued Harry's growth scans every two days, and at 33 weeks he stopped growing.

"Two of the arteries in the placenta stopped working," Angie said.

"The neurologist, the doctors, the midwives and a whole big team at the Gold Coast University Hospital met up and they came back to me and said, 'it looks like you're going to be having this baby sooner rather than later'."

Angie was booked in for a c-section the following day, and Harry was born at 33 weeks on 11.07am on October 30, weighing just 3lb 13 ounces.

"He was breathing fine, and never needed any assistance.

"But he does have a heart murmur, so we have to see a children's cardiologist in Brisbane in January," Angie said.

On December 16, Harry's due date, he came home.

"He got flown home to Kingaroy once he was two kilograms," Angie said.

"But then he had to get flown to Toowoomba because he went downhill very quickly and couldn't breathe."

"We're not sure at this stage if the heart murmur is something we will need to worry about or not," the mother of five said.

"He has to be fed a different way but he'll grow out of that, and he's perfect to us."

MIRACLE BABY: Harry meets Santa Claus with mum, dad, brother and two sisters. Picture: Denise Keelan

Harry is home again now with his mum, dad and four older siblings.

"I haven't had a seizure since I had him," Angie said.

"They changed all my medication back to what I was originally on, and I need to be 12 months seizure-free to get my licence back."

October 28, two days before Harry was born, was the last time Angie had a seizure.

"I was still having multiple seizures a few times a week up until then."

Angie said Harry was a perfect baby boy.

"We've got to use an adjusted age for his first two years, he will need to see a speech pathologist and a physio because he was born in the breach position, and he will need extra immunisations because he was premature," she said.

"He's just very precious and we keep a close eye on him.

"And I've also got lots of little helpers who are absolutely smitten," Angie said of Harry's siblings.

But now that their little bundle of joy is home, Angie said the pregnancy - despite its many complications - seemed like a blur.

'It felt like the world's quickest pregnancy - I found out at 14 weeks and had him at 33," she laughed.

"We're really lucky to have him."

Originally published as 'We're lucky to have him': Miracle baby home for Christmas