AS proud Sarah Lawson enjoys a hug with eight-month-old son Harry Smart, she has to pinch herself that it’s real.

The battling baby developed a rare fetal condition so deadly it kills more than 50% of babies before they are born, or soon after birth.

Harry was diagnosed with fetal hydrops - which caused large amounts of fluid to build up in his body - at a routine scan mid-way through his mother’s pregnancy.

To save him, he had to be delivered 11 weeks early to avoid the fluid crushing his vital organs and doctors faced a race against time to find out what was causing it.

After ruling out various childhood cancers, at one month old they discovered he had a ruptured bowel and was rushed to theatre, where surgeons spent six hours battling to repair it.

Devastated Miss Lawson and fiance, Callum Smart, 30, were told the rupture was so bad it “looked like an explosion had happened in his stomach”.

Now after a “miracle” fight for life - including 96 days in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit - Harry finally came off oxygen two weeks ago, marking an end to his eight month ordeal.

Miss Lawson, who suffered a miscarriage at 16 weeks only a year earlier, was constantly told by doctors that her son was “critical” and “they were doing everything they can” to save him.

But the 22-year-old, from Alford, Aberdeenshire, said: “He was really struggling to breathe and when they said he was on 99% oxygen and it only went up to 100%, we just thought, ‘he’s not going to survive’. It was really scary.

“But now you wouldn’t know he had been so ill. He’s perfect in every way. We are really lucky to still have him”.

Miss Lawson had become concerned when she felt her unborn baby’s movements slow down 25 weeks into her pregnancy.

The reason for this was that Harry’s abdomen was filling up with fluid, which risked crushing his tiny heart and lungs.

He had non-immune fetal hydrops, a life-threatening condition defined as an abnormal collection of fluid in at least two different fetal organ spaces.

It is estimated that more than half of all unborn babies who have it die in the womb.

As a result, Miss Lawson was monitored twice a week for a month but, at her final scan the fluid had spread, and the next day Harry was delivered by emergency caesarean section on January 15.

He was nearly three months premature and, owing to the amount of fluid in his body, weighed 3lb 14oz.

Struggling to breathe, he was whisked to intensive care and put on full life support to keep him alive. At this point, medics had no idea what was causing the fluid build-up and were testing for everything from leukaemia to liver disease.

He was also given medication and catheterised to allow his body to expel the dangerous levels of fluids.

But it was not until he was a month old they discovered the underlying cause was a ruptured bowel, and he was rushed into theatre for a six-hour operation to save him.

Miss Lawson said: “The way they described it to us was that it was like an explosion had happened in his stomach and they had to put it back together. We were just really shocked.

“They can’t say for sure, but they think the rupture happened before he was born and that’s what’s caused the fluid to build up in his stomach.

“But when he was born, they didn’t know what was causing it and they were testing for all the cancers and worst things you could think of. It was heart-breaking.”

Now against all odds, Harry is meeting his developmental milestones and is already on to his next challenge - learning to sit up on his own.

The “happy, chunky baby” has astounded medics and his parents with his incredible resilience after they feared he might not live more than a few days.

Miss Lawson, a nursery nurse, said: “He was like a balloon when he was born.

They said he was a good weight, but it was because of all the fluid. It was so scary. We kept on being told he’s really critical and they’re doing everything they can.

“Now, you would never know he had been so ill.

“He’s so happy and smiles and laughs at everyone.

“He’s a little miracle - and a fighter.”

Harry also suffered chronic lung disease and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a common problem in premature babies which causes abnormal blood vessels to form in the retina.

Miss Lawson said: “That was another big worry. They warned us that it would either get better or get worse and that he could go blind.”

His mother, who had to wait four weeks to hold her baby for the first time, is now sharing her story for the first time to give hope to other families whose babies are being cared for in hospital.

She said: “We were always thinking the worst, especially for the first few days - they were really bad and we didn’t think he was going to survive.

“It was a long, difficult journey. But there is always hope and miracles do happen, just like Harry. He is our world and perfect in every way.

“The staff in the neonatal unit are all Superheros - they saved our child.”
Harry was finally allowed home on on Easter Sunday after 96 days in the neonatal unit, where he spent more than a month on full life support.

He also needed several blood transfusions to boost his iron levels, was tube fed and was on home oxygen until just two weeks ago.

“He’s just amazing,” said Miss Lawson. “It’s been a very long journey. It was hard seeing your own baby that ill. It was just awful, we couldn’t do anything except sit by his beside watching him.

“We are so lucky to still have him.”

Now as he looks forward to his first birthday - a day his parents feared they would never see - they plan to mark the day by fundraising for the neonatal unit, to thank the staff for saving their son.

Miss Lawson said: “If it wasn’t for them, Harry wouldn’t be here.”