Our boy was so tiny my ring fitted around his arm

BLUE-EYED baby Madison Gallagher will soon be taking his first faltering steps... and like every new milestone in this little boy's life, it will be a gigantic achievement.

Everything from the first time this determined little man grasped his mum's finger to his first cheeky smile has come as another happy miracle for the Gallagher family.

When Madison was born at just 23 weeks (a week before the current legal limit for abortion) and weighing just 1lb 6oz, his mum and dad faced the prospect he wouldn't survive.

But he fought hard to live - and now he has just celebrated his first birthday. Mum Antonia, 23, says he is living proof that babies born at 24 weeks CAN survive and lead full lives, and she was shocked that MPs did not change the abortion cut-off date.

"I was driving to the shops when it came on the news and I heard the decision," says Antonia. "I was so shocked, I nearly crashed the car. I was sure that they would change it.

"I looked at Madison and had tears in my eyes at the thought of babies like him losing their lives.

"He may have been small when he was born and we were told he wouldn't live, but he's perfect."

Antonia and husband Paul, 28, feared they would never be able to have children and, after an operation to remove cysts from Antonia's ovaries, she was put on the waiting list for IVF treatment.

But just a month later, the former travel agent from Derry, Northern Ireland, started feeling sick at work and a test revealed she was pregnant.

"We were stunned, shocked, but deliriously happy," she explains.

By 23 weeks, following a second scan, the couple were excitedly choosing names when Antonia felt sharp pains in her stomach.

After a few hours they were getting worse, so Paul took her to hospital for checks.

There, doctors revealed the shocking news that she'd gone into premature labour.

Antonia was terrified, especially when she was told there was little chance of her precious baby surviving. From his tiny size on the scans, doctors felt she might only be 22 weeks pregnant.

Antonia was given drugs to stop the labour and steroids to boost the baby's lungs. The couple were also asked if they wanted their baby resuscitated.

"We were shocked because our baby was already such a huge part of our lives. If there was any chance of him surviving, no matter how slim, he deserved to be given it," says Antonia.

Five days later, she went into fullblown labour. Madison was born at 8.31pm on March 13, 2007, and taken straight into the baby-care unit at Altnagelvin Hospital, Londonderry.

"We barely got a glimpse of him, and just prayed that they were doing all they could to save him," explains Paul.

The couple decided to name their son after Madison Square Garden in New York, where all the greatest fighters box.

Boxing fan Paul knew his son would have to fight if he was to defy the odds he'd been given.

A nurse explained that he had stopped breathing but staff had managed to resuscitate him.

"She showed us a picture and I wept at how beautiful he was. I had assumed that babies born before 24 weeks would not be fully developed, but Madison was perfect. His head was the size of a golf ball and his little eyes were scrunched shut and he had a wonderful shock of thick dark hair."

The tot was so small that Paul was able to slip his wedding band over his tiny arm and shoulder. Again, doctors warned that his chances were slim and they should prepare for the worst, so they called the priest who had married them to the hospital.

Antonia recalls: "I rubbed his tiny hand throughout the service and watched as his little fist clenched and moved. He grasped my finger and I was shocked at the strength something so tiny could have. It was a good sign."

The couple spent every day at their son's incubator as he fought infection after infection and endured 23 blood transfusions.

"We got to know his little personality well. He couldn't open his eyes, but I could tell from his hands if he was comfortable and when he was in pain. His little fists were so expressive and his eyes would flicker like he was trying to open them. Anyone who says a baby at that age can't feel pain or emotion is wrong."

Antonia spent hours talking to their son as his tiny hand clasped her finger. "He knew we were there and that comforted him, there's no doubt," says Paul. Finally, on Day 15 Madison opened one eye. Two days later he opened both. "We were cheering. We knew how much he was fighting," said Antonia.

When he was three weeks old, she finally got to hold him for the first time. Six nurses lifted the tot's mattress from his incubator and into his mother's arms.

"I was overwhelmed and overjoyed at the same time. It was a moment I will never forget."

At five weeks Madison suffered a major setback and doctors said he was struggling to breathe. The couple were warned he might not make it through the night and kept a vigil at his bedside. But by morning his oxygen levels had recovered. Once again, Madison had defied the odds.