Miracle Leeds six month old baby 'thriving' despite being born ten weeks after mum's waters broke

A miracle Leeds six month old baby is 'thriving' against all the odds - after being born ten weeks after his mum's waters broke.
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Mum Lauren Middleton, 24, stood up to go to the toilet while 26 weeks pregnant and felt a gush of water, before realising her waters had broken.

After being rushed to the LGI for an examination, it became clear the waters had broken around little Archie Hopper, who weighed just over 1lb at the time.

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As the neo-natal unit was shut in the LGI, Lauren was taken to Sheffield Jessops hospital in the early hours of the morning - with a packup of food and essentials by a 'fantastic nurse' from Leeds.

Archie is said to be 'thriving' at six months oldArchie is said to be 'thriving' at six months old
Archie is said to be 'thriving' at six months old

Lauren, from Tinshill, Leeds, said: "The embrace team came to collect me and they transported me down to Jessops at 3am.

"It took us 40 minutes to get there.

"While at Jessops they explained that they will try keep me pregnant until 34 weeks and then possibly induce me.

"The thought of being induced 8 weeks after the incident was amazing.

Archie and his sister RubyArchie and his sister Ruby
Archie and his sister Ruby
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"I was discharged from Jessops after 3 days and was returned home, .

"I had to attend day unit 2 times a week (Tuesday and Thursday) to check the baby and the check my infection levels.

"I also saw my consultant once every 2 weeks who scanned me and who let me know baby's progress."

As Lauren got to 34 weeks, she was still holding out strong and doctors decided to leave her until 37 weeks for a full term baby.

Archie with his dad LiamArchie with his dad Liam
Archie with his dad Liam
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Lauren, who also has a four-year-old daughter named Ruby, praised the work of the day unit team.

She added: "Every time I visited the day unit or maternity assessment, I was always greeted by smiley faces and a lot of compassion.

"Not once have I ever felt like I was a burden to them, they always made me feel so welcome and even kept Ruby entertained while I was admitted sometimes."

At 35 weeks, Lauren started contracting at home and was transferred to St James's hospital where a bed was made available.

Archie, Lauren and RubyArchie, Lauren and Ruby
Archie, Lauren and Ruby
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Lauren, who shared the birth with partner Liam Hopper, continued: "Midnight stuck and they took me to a delivery suite to put the hormone drip in.

"The contractions came thick and fast after that.

"The student midwife who was looking after me also looked after me in the LGI and she was fantastic she will make a brilliant fully qualified midwife."

At 9.08pm, Lauren gave birth to Archie Hopper, weighing 6lb 4oz.

She said: "He quickly started to make grunting noises so we didn't have very long with him until he went to neo-natal intensive care.

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"It has become apparent he was struggling with his oxygen and he is currently on a machine called CPAP, which helps his breathing be more controlled and helps his lungs fill up with more air.

"He's also tube fed as he's working very hard.

"He's just been diagnosed with pneumonia but they intensive care doctors and nurses are doing everything they can to help him."

Six months on, Lauren told the Yorkshire Evening Post that little Archie is 'thriving'.

She said the family are huge supporters of the NHS and hope to do some fundraising in the coming months.

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Lauren said: "He has started eating pureed food now and he is loving trying new things.

"He is trying to crawl too.

"Archie has had a couple of set backs with a bout of pneumonia just before Christmas but overcame them really quickly and got back to his smiley self.

"Ruby has adapted to being a big sister and she absolutely loves the job."

The family were due to go on a caravan holiday next week, but sadly had to cancel due to the coronavirus outbreak.

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Lauren added: "We have a huge garden and have been having plenty of fun in the paddling pool."

Lauren said the family are massive supporters of the NHS and neo natal units in Leeds.

She added: "We are hoping to do some sort of fundraising event once all this is over.

"His first Christmas was lovely and he even got to visit santa for the first time.

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"In this house he has to be a massive Leeds United fan and suits the kit so well.

"Archie overall is the happiest smiley boy and were still so so grateful for all the hard work the neo natal team and the maternity team did for us."

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