"It was a normal Wednesday at work, struggling through the day with back pain.. but for some reason, this felt different. I decided to finish up work an hour early and went to get some dinner at Tao Cafe with my partner - thankfully he was home as he normally is over 8 hours away for weeks at a time, but the rain had sent him home early! We headed home to bed but at 4 am, I woke to extreme pain with what I thought was braxton hicks. After an hour, I decided to call the maternity ward at my local hospital and they told me to head in to be checked. At only 25 weeks, I was calm and the thought of giving birth this early did not even cross my mind. After an hour's wait, the nurse checked me and the look on her face said it all. I was told to stay calm and very still & an ambulance was on the way to get me to take me to King Edward Memorial Hospital... I was fully dilated and our girl was ready to make her entrance into the world. I had been in labour for 24 hours and didn't even realise.

20 hours later, our princess arrived. 100 days early. A tiny little 809g baby, crying and flapping her arms around. The next 24 hours were a blur. I don't think I took in what was happening. I discharged myself from the hospital - all I wanted was my bed. I went home and slept like I had never slept before... but when I woke up, reality set in. The panic, the fear, the unknown. Walking into the NICU and seeing our little girl with clear eyes.. it was the scariest moment of my life.

98 days we spent in the NICU. ROP, PDA, CLD. Grade 2 Brain Bleed and a last-minute, VERY big scare with late-onset Group B Streptococcus & Cellulitis (the 2 am drive to the hospital after being called to say "get to the hospital ASAP, we are suspecting meningococcal" was probably the scariest drive I have ever made). 98 long days of driving an hour each way back n forth to the hospital. 98 RAT tests in a row to get into the hospital. 98 days of late-night phone calls to check on our girl and forever being scared of what we would be told.

But then it happened.. after all the discussions of "when you finally get to go home...", "it won't be long", "few more days and she'll be home with you"... We got the call "do you want to take her home tomorrow?" YES WE DO!! But then an even bigger surprise happened... We made our way to the hospital for our usual evening visit to say goodnight, knowing we were taking her home the following day, it was one of the easiest drives we had made. We walked into the NICU, saw our favourite nurse and the decision was made... "You can take her home tonight".

2 days before her due date. She did it! We did it! Our miracle has been home for nearly 3 months and every second of every day is our favourite when we are with our girl!"