BABIES ‘Alfie is our first child – our long-awaited miracle’

Baby’s name: Alfred William Ford. Date and place of birth: October 31 at 4.18am at the University Hospital of Wales. Weight: 5lb. Parents: Mum Rebecca Pugh, 29, and dad Robert Ford, 32, from Taffs Well, Cardiff. Mum’s story: “Alfie is our first child, our long-awaited miracle. After trying without success for two years, we finally saw those little lines on a pregnancy test that we had so longed to see.

“With the help of the NHS we found out on April 1 that we had successfully conceived, the best day of our lives.

“It was also found early on that I had a bicornuate uterus, this led to Alfie laying in the ‘Frank breech’ position for the majority of the pregnancy and therefore a C-section was deemed the safest option of delivery.

“We were given a date for an elective C-section, November 21,; however, Alfie was too keen to meet us and his adoring family.

“At 12.20am on October 31 my waters broke while in bed.

“Robert rushed me to the hospital and by 4.18am Alfie had joined us, a moment we will never ever forget.

“This was a very rushed series of events as it was found I had begun to dilate and Alfie was bottom first.

“I went from a ward bed with monitors strapped to my belly and a button in hand to monitor movement – with Robert, mum and my sister by my side – to being rushed into theatre in a wheelchair while the midwife threw Rob the protective clothing to put on in the corridor!

“The words ‘you will meet your baby in the next few hours’ are words we will never forget and when that moment came and he was placed on my chest, I cried tears of overwhelming love and relief while Rob held my hand and we just stared at our beautiful perfect boy.

“Throughout the pregnancy I was very nauseous and I recall being violently sick before an important meeting at work and feeling very ill throughout it.

“We decided on Alfred quite early on in the pregnancy. Its meaning is wise and we hoped this would help our son in his future. We also call him Alfie.

“He is funny and endearing and makes us smile everyday of our lives. He is beginning to have his own little personality and is so clever. Due to low blood sugars and not much energy to feed, for the first part of Alfie’s life we were waking him every two hours then every three hours to feed him.

“Alfie stuck with this three-hourly feeding; however, he is now sleeping for six to seven hours most nights.

“Alfie has changed our world and has made us the happiest people in the world.

“Being parents is the best feeling I have ever felt and I feel like my life is complete.

“Having a baby has made us realise the importance of family and the unconditional love you have that will never go away.

“Alfie is proof that miracles do happen, we will this year celebrate his first birthday and our first Mother’s Day and Father’s Day – all days we feared we would never get to see and we are so thankful every day.”