Arriving at her 24-week checkup Tara Hunter and her partner, Luke Henry had no inkling they would be leaving in an ambulance.
The Dawesville mum was told her cervix was open almost 16 weeks before her due date.
Rushed to King Edward Memorial Hospital she was ordered to stay on bed rest not knowing how long she would be there before the baby was born.
It was 11 days later on December 3 that Grace Henry arrived, weighing only 870 grams.
"I was pretty anxious and scared with all the unknowns," Tara said.
"The delivery was pretty terrifying because we just did not know which way it was going to go.
"But she cried when she came, which was a really good sign she was a little fighter."
Three days passed before the couple got to hold Grace, an experience Tara said was nerve-wracking in itself because she was so small and hooked up to several machines keeping her alive.
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"She has got chronic lung disease so she spent 10 weeks on a CPAP machine, which was put on the highest setting it can go," she said.
"Then she spent three weeks on high flow oxygen, which took three attempts for Grace to come off.
"She had three blood transfusions, she also had feed intolerances and dropped to about 700 grams.
"The whole journey has been filled with anxiety and stress."
After travelling from Dawesville to the hospital for four months, often visiting Grace for more than 12 hours every day, Tara said she could finally see a possibility of her home soon.
"To begin with, it feels like they are never going to get better and that they are never going to come home," she said.
"When you first arrive at the neonatal unit other parents say it will get easier but you never believe them to start with.
"Now I am at that point where I can say to other parents, they do get better, they do eventually progress, and they do come home.
"My due date would have been this Sunday and the doctors say it is around the baby's due date that they come home so I am hoping it will only be another two weeks before Grace can come home."
There are an estimated 15 million babies born too soon every year. To find out more visit, Tiny Sparks.
