A mom from Dublin, Ireland, has shared the moment she met her newborn baby for the first time—36 hours after his premature birth.
Alice Varley (@alicevarley) posted a short clip on TikTok cradling her tiny son, Liam, who was born a few days before Christmas at 31 weeks.
Looking up at his mom, Varley wrote in her caption: “I’m convinced his eyes are saying, ‘We made it.’”
In early December, Varley told Newsweek that she began experiencing severe migraines, rib pain and extreme fatigue.
Multiple visits to maternity triage didn’t raise alarm bells—until a routine midwife appointment told Varley and partner Alex Beck that their baby was measuring small. Days later, Varley was admitted to the hospital for further investigation.
Eventually, a consultant told the couple that their baby would need to be born before Christmas as the pregnancy wasn’t going to be viable for much longer.
“We were in shock,” Varley told Newsweek. “We had a low-risk pregnancy until we didn’t suddenly. The medical teams were amazing, allowed us time to call our families and then brought us to a private room separate to the maternity wards.”
That Wednesday night, Varley was given steroids to help mature Liam’s lungs and magnesium sulfate to protect both of their brains. Doctors hoped to delay delivery just long enough for those medications to take effect.
“Thankfully, Liam was a little fighter and his heartbeat stayed strong the entire time,” Varley said.
Varley and Beck leaned on each other and focused on staying calm for the birth.
“Giving birth at 31 weeks is never on anyone’s birth plan,” she said. “I had a huge sense of relief that we were in hospital and had two days to mentally prepare. I’m proud of how we supported each other as a couple and really worked together.”
Although her due date wasn’t until February 15, Liam arrived a few days before Christmas. He was tiny but stable, and immediately admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Varley, however, had to remain in the hospital’s high dependency unit due to pre-eclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication that can lead to seizures.
Her treatment required continuous magnesium infusions, meaning she couldn’t leave her unit for over a day.
For the first 24 hours, Varley was only able to see Liam through photos and videos Alex had sent.
“I was able to look at his incubator briefly in a wheelchair for 10 minutes after 24 hours, but I probably didn’t hold, touch or see him with his eyes open until 36 hours after his birth,” Varley told Newsweek.
Meeting him for the first time was an overwhelming experience for the new mom.
“Pure, raw emotion of the entire week flooded me,” Varley said. “Getting us both safely to that point was what it was all for. I just wanted to make sure that this perfect, tiny, little baby knew how much he was loved and could hear and feel the familiarity of my voice and presence.”
The moment Varley met her baby has gone viral on TikTok, amassing 1.9 million views, leaving users in tears.
“I’m actually crying cause he’s so precious and sigh the way he looks at you with that little smile,” one user wrote.
“The look in his eyes melts my heart,” another added.
Now seven months old—five months corrected—Liam is thriving. Varley explained that it was tough in the beginning, but he started to make real progress in March.
“He is a cheeky, fun and chilled baby boy, he loves people and will give anyone a smile who gives him attention,” she said. “The worry is still there, we don’t look at milestones and know Liam will develop in his own time.”
The post Tearful Moment Mom Meets Premature Baby 36 Hours After Birth: ‘We Made It’ appeared first on Newsweek.
