AN ALLOA baby has defied the odds to be reunited with his mum and brother, after spending the first four months of his life in hospital.

Finola Bracken had identical twins, Flynn and Teddy, in January, when they were born at only 27-weeks-old.

As they were so young, the tots had to be moved from the hospital in Larbert to Edinburgh, to be cared for in the city's neonatal unit.

What followed was a tough few months, which saw Flynn undergo five operations and battle sepsis four times.

And despite mum Finola saying she was told to expect the worst, she welcomed her eldest son home for the first time last week.

She said: “He had a lot of health problems, he had a bowel perforation and stoma when he was a week old.

“He’s had eye surgery twice, he’s had a surgical line fitted and he’s had sepsis four times.

“And he wasn’t meant to make it … but he did."

Teddy also had a few health conditions, including a bowel problem and blood transfusion, but was discharged after 93 days.

However, his sibling spent a total of 17 weeks in the unit and Finola said he was the oldest baby there.

And for the 29-year-old, Flynn’s recovery has been a bit of a “miracle”.

She said: “When he had sepsis in February, it was sort of the full of February … I was told four times that he was going to die.

“It’s horrible, but you just need to not believe it.

“He went absolutely massive because of the sepsis – like, so swollen – and it just gradually kind of got better.”

The twins showed their fighting power before they were even born.

Finola had to undergo a procedure for twin-twin transfusion syndrome at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow in November. This occurs when identical twins share a placenta and is caused by abnormal connecting blood vessels, which can lead to an imbalanced blood flow.

Finola said without the procedure twins don't make it, but that survival rates are not always good.

She added: “If it’s successful, you’ve got a 40 per cent chance of both twins surviving and I think it’s a 60-odd or 70-odd chance of one twin surviving."

The busy mum, who has had great support from family and friends, is now thoroughly enjoying having her hands full with both twins.

And, since Flynn came home on Thursday, she plans on making the most of their time together with days out.

“It’s great, it’s really good," she said. “I was just so happy – I was crying driving down the motorway.”

Finola, whose boys received treatment at NHS Forth Valley, Simpsons Neonatal Unit Edinburgh and Royal Hospital for Sick Children, also paid tribute to the health service.

And she would like people to keep neonatal causes at the forefront of their minds for any charitable donations.

She said: “You never know if you’ll be in this situation.

"If you have children born very early then it will be Edinburgh they’ll go to, or if they’re born a bit later it’ll be Forth Valley.

“People often criticise the NHS but, for me, they’ve been completely faultless. They really have.

“As soon as any problems were found, it was just fixed straight away.”