Miracle mum Lia shares Tiani's story:

My daughter Tiani was born at 27+5 weeks, weighing only 828grams.

During my pregnancy, everything had been fairly normal, until one day at work - I couldn’t help but notice the lack of movement inside my tummy. It was something I couldn’t ignore, so I left work early and headed to the hospital to be checked over. My sister met me there, while my partner was on his way from work.

I was monitored for a short while before being rushed in to have an emergency C-section. The whole thing felt like an out of body experience, a team of nurses and doctors rushed in and announced that we needed to deliver NOW. I couldn’t grasp that this was happening to me. My partner was still on his way from work, and all I could do was try to stay calm as they rushed me into theatres. I still couldn’t believe it. No way this was actually happening. I couldn’t help but wonder if I would get to meet my baby, I silently prayed that everything would be ok.

As they were preparing me for surgery, things had changed yet again, and they told me I would need to be put under for the operation. This really scared me, and I honestly wondered if I would wake up with my baby or if this would all just be a dream.

I woke up in recovery, I was freezing, and it was nighttime. I called the nurse over and the first thing I asked was if I had had a girl or a boy – I quickly rephrased and asked if my baby was ok. The nurse told me that my baby was down in the NICU with her dad.

They took me down to meet her. I had never seen a baby so tiny; she was in her incubator, and we could only touch her through the arm holes. Her legs were the same size as my fingers, her skin was almost seeing through. She could fit cuffed in my palms like a small bird. I couldn’t see her face properly because she had breathing tubes, feeding tubes, a beanie strapped around her head. She couldn’t open her eyes properly. The rest of her body was covered in cords as well. I still couldn’t believe it.

Within her first week of life, head ultrasounds diagnosed Grade 3 Intraventricular Haemorrhage on the left, and Grade 4 IVH on the right side of her brain. After a few weeks, we were transferred to a hospital closer to home where we spent the next two and a half months. After 96 days in the NICU, we were finally discharged. Tiani was able to be discharged without oxygen or any ongoing medications.

Fast forward to today, we have a strong, healthy, clever, and cheeky 3-year-old who is always keeping us on our toes. Tiani has continued to make incredible progress with her growth and development, and never fails to make us proud. We are absolutely blessed to have her and are so lucky that she is ours.