Little Hudson McCann’s first birthday triggered mixed emotions for his parents Kellie and James McCann. But it will certainly be a very special Mother’s Day on Sunday.

The Mackay couple are proud of their happy, cheeky and mischievous son and also very grateful he overcame such incredible odds after what was a terrifying birth ordeal.

Kellie was 34 weeks and five days pregnant on April 16 last year when she noticed decreased foetal movement.

“From all the snacks I craved and all my appointments, my pregnancy was completely normal; everything was going to plan,” she said.

“Hudson was quite the active baby in the womb which is why not feeling him moving that day was quite scary.

“I was at work and went home feeling unwell. Later that afternoon I hesitated to call the hospital labour ward to get checked out, but eventually I went in – it was a mother’s instinct something wasn’t right some would say.”

Kellie rushed into the operating theatre for an emergency caesarean when monitoring indicated a strong foetal heartbeat couldn’t be detected.

In what his mother remembers as an absolute whirlwind, Hudson James McCann was delivered prematurely by emergency caesarean at 6.55pm. He weighed just 2.45kg (5lb, 4 oz) and wasn’t breathing and had no heartbeat.

“James and I were both very scared that we were going to lose our baby boy,” Kellie said.

“A day that was meant to be one of the happiest of new parents’ lives was definitely a terrifying one for us.”

The tiny baby had to resuscitated by the midwife and surgical team and had sustained a moderate hypoxic brain injury. He required urgent specialist treatment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Townsville and was flown 400km north by the Royal Flying Doctors early the next morning accompanied by his distressed father James.

Due to blood loss in her surgery, Kellie was unable to be transferred to be with her son until two days later.

“Hudson’s prognosis was very unclear for probably the first week due to him being put on a cooling mat and then he needed an MRI to determine the extent of the inflammation on his brain due to the hypoxic event,” she said.

Kellie didn’t hold her newborn son until he was five days old. The family spent seven days in the NICU and another five days in the Special Care Nursery (SCU) in Townsville.

Eleven days after his traumatic birth, Hudson and Kellie were transferred back to Mackay Base Hospital where he had to spend another 14 days in the SCN.

They visited their son two to three times a day and once Hudson was properly breastfeeding, every three hours. He was discharged from hospital on 10 May, ironically two days before Mother’s Day and 12 days before his original due date.

Kellie describes Hudson as a very happy little boy who is meeting all his milestones for his corrected age.

“His physio and occupational therapists are gobsmacked by just how well he has come along with his growing and developing,” Kellie said.

“He is such a busy, inquisitive and curious child. He is cheeky and an absolute pleasure to parent.”

It has been an eye-opening journey for the McCann family, one which had demonstrated how resilient they are and how “tough and durable babies actually are”.

“A big thank you to all of the staff involved in the delivery and care of Hudson that night, especially the ones involved in his resuscitation,” Kellie said.

“Their quick-thinking and actions saved our boy’s life and we are forever grateful.”