Baby of the week: Grangemouth tot Oliver Messer

Mum Karen Boyle is 28 and dad Saul Messer is 29. They are both civil servants. Oliver has a big brother, Jack who is four. The family live in Grangemouth.

Mum said her pregnancy was difficult as she was anxious having had pre-eclampsia in her previous pregnancy. At around 26 weeks she started showing signs of the condition and by 30 weeks she was hospitalised a few times and started on medications before Oliver was born eight weeks early.

Mum said: “Pre-eclampsia is a serious illness that can be fatal and knowing the signs is so important. Having Oliver was my second emergency c-section. This was scary, but more so because he was premature. It was amazing how loud he cried as we weren’t sure if he would. Saul was there with me, he was a great support.”

When it came to Oliver’s name, big brother Jack was telling everyone for weeks that his new baby brother was going to be Oliver. Mum and dad weren’t sure, but decided it felt like the right name after all. Noah was their second choice so they chose it as his middle name.

Oliver is the sweetest baby with the most amazing smiles. Mum says he is obsessed with his brother and always has been. Oliver’s proud grandparents are Gran Karen McMillan and Papa Stephen Boyle. His Great Grans are Margaret Hurley and Betty Messer.

Mum would like to thank her consultant Dr Cope for her prenatal care and for delivering Oliver safely, as well as the doctors, nurses and all the staff in the neonatal unit for caring for Oliver for five weeks and beyond.

*If you’ve recently had a new addition to the family and would like them to feature as our baby of the week then get in touch. All you need to do is send us an email with your name, daytime contact number and baby's date of birth to [email protected]. Please note, babies should be less than six months old at the time of entering.