Baby of the week: Banknock tot Finn McAlinden

Mum Melissa Grant is 29, while dad Michael McAlinden is 46. Finn has four siblings – brothers Kaiden, 15; Riley, 13; Kieran, 14 and sister Sienna, nine. The family live in Banknock.

Mum said her pregnancy was great. She was taken into hospital to be induced two weeks early as he was weighing on the heavier side and she had previous should dystopia. She was induced on January 5, but Finn was determined to stay put. On the Sunday she had her waters broken in the morning and Finn was born that afternoon.

When it came to his checks after he was born the midwife noticed something wasn’t quite right. Finn’s colour was off and he started to become unresponsive and floppy. He was taken to the neonatal unit and given oxygen. Mum said: “The next day things had worsened and he needed more oxygen and was showing signs of infection. He was placed on antibiotics but they didn’t seem to work. As the days went by we had doctors coming in through the night to see him and try to stablise him but nothing seemed to work. The hospital then contacted Glasgow hospital and were able to come up with a treatment plan and get him stabilised. He was put on stronger antibiotics whihc managed to stablise him. He was tested for meningitis but it all came back negative so they put it down to suspected sepsis. He also has respiratory distress syndrome and persistent pulmonary hypertension of a newborn, so he has been through the mill and back but managed to fight and come out the other side.”

Finn spent 11 days in hospital before being allowed to go home.

Mum said: “We will be forever grateful to all the doctors and nurses who stayed by his bedside 24/7 and helped him push through and go on to live such a happy healthy life. He’s truly an amazing little fighter.

"We honestly can’t thank them enough. It’s just something we never expected at all and we were the happiest parents alive the day we got to take Finn home.

"He’s such a happy little boy and is fussed over by everyone he comes across. His personality shines bright, he’s always smiling and laughing and loves his walks with mummy and daddy.

"Every time you walk into the room his eyes light up and his big smile shines. He’s truly our little miracle.”

Dad picked Finn’s name as it’s Irish and all the boys have Irish names. His middle name is after his grandad John.

Mum added: “He is so loved by everyone in the family but gets extra spoiled by his amazing Auntie Lisa, Uncle Colin and grandad John.”