On Father's Day last year, Ashlee Eager had just sat down to watch a family movie on the couch with her son and partner, when all of a sudden, she felt a strange sensation.
The Queensland mum-of-two and high school teacher was 23 weeks pregnant with her second child.
"My waters broke without warning," Ashlee tells 9Honey Parenting, as she and partner Ben Walsh rushed to Brisbane from their home in Fassifern Valley, over an hour-and-a-half away.
"The drive to the hospital was hard and terrifying for us both. I could feel contractions starting but l didn't want it to be true. The whole time I just kept coming up with as many other possible reasons for the pain."
"As we drove, we just kept talking to our little girl, telling her to hang on and that she would be okay."
It's not a conversation you ever want to have
When the couple arrived at Mater Mothers' Hospital South Brisbane, they were taken straight through to the Pregnancy Assessment Centre. Ashlee's pregnancy was already considered high-risk as she suffers from both diabetes and a blood clotting condition.
While the ultrasound confirmed their baby girl had a heartbeat, unfortunately, Ashlee had an infection and her baby was in fetal distress, so the team talked the couple through their options.
'40 per cent chance'
"They said they could do a caesarean but it would be very risky for me and also for her because she was so tiny and may sustain injuries being pulled out", Ashlee explains. "Or I could try and deliver her naturally, but there was still a chance she won't make it as it would be so traumatic for her."
At that point, Ashlee was also given medication to try and help the baby's lungs grow.
"We were also told we have two options if she comes out alive. 'You can ask us to save her and resuscitate her or ventilate her – or you can hold her and say goodbye'."
The overwhelmed couple was also informed there their baby had a 40 per cent chance of surviving.
"It's not a conversation you ever want to have," Ashlee admits. "But Ben and I looked at each other and said, if she wants to fight and she makes it, please give her the chance. We will fight with her."
'An emotional rollercoaster'
Little Moira "came out kicking" and trying to breathe on September 5, weighing just 546g. She is the smallest and most premature baby born at the hospital this year.
Over the past 16 weeks of her NICU journey, Moira has had several issues including brain bleeds, high sugar, Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and ear infections.
And while she still requires respiratory support, Moira now weighs just over 2kg and should be home with mum, dad and big brother around December 30 - her due date.
Ashlee, 34, describes the experience in NICU as "an emotional rollercoaster".
"There are good days, when you walk in and the numbers are good. There was the day she opened her beautiful eyes for the first time and the first time I got to hold her.
"But then there are the bad days, when the numbers aren't good and the doctors are hovering."
The worst thing though you face in NICU, according to Ashlee, is seeing the other families that don't get to take their baby home.
"You see that 40 per cent statistic play out in real life, those parents whose babies dont make it," she says through tears. "Those are by far the worst days, because I can't imagine what they feel at that point."
'So grateful'
"The nurses and social workers in NICU are angels," she adds. "On those really bad days they support you as best they can and on those good days they are cheering with you. The entire team do everything they can to get us through."
Mater Director of Neonatology Dr Pita Birch said survival rates of babies as young as 22 weeks gestation had dramatically improved in the past decade as a result of new, life-changing technologies and treatments.
"Ten years ago, it was rare for the Mater to provide neonatal intensive care to babies born at 23 weeks and we wouldn't always provide it at 24 weeks either," he said.
"Now, we are providing intensive care for a large number of babies born at 23 weeks, like little Moira, and almost all babies born at 24 weeks."
Christmas this year will be "bittersweet" for Ashlee's family.
"Although it will be tough that Moira is still in hospital, we are so grateful to have her and so is her 11-year-old brother Lestat," she reveals.
"We call her our rainbow baby. I suffered two miscarriages before falling pregnant with her, so we are happy to have our baby girl."
Ashlee's advice for other mothers who may be at the beginning of their NICU journey is to take "all the help you are offered".
"Don't hesitate," she asserts. "It's a long road. You feel like you should be able to muscle, but this is not a normal journey for any mother."
"The doctors at Mater not only work miracles medically, but the care they continue to show Moira and my little family has made something that is incomprehensible bearable."
Source: honey.nine.com.au
