When your baby is born prematurely, "you don't really know you're out of the woods until you get home".
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The time Tegan Vogel and Jesse Johnston spent beside their daughter Isabella's incubator last year was "full-on".
"She was 10 weeks earlier than we expected, so everything about her start was different to how I would have envisioned my first time being a mum," Ms Vogel said.
"We got flown from Albury to Melbourne and then she had four or five weeks in Melbourne, and then four weeks in Wodonga as well - nearly a nine-week hospital stay for her."
Mr Johnston said the staff at the Mercy Hospital for Women's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were "phenomenal" and made the experience easier.
"They help and explain things to you," he said.
"They told us with 28 weeks, they're 90 per cent confident they can survive a child at that weight and age, so you just hold on and you have to stay positive as much as you can.
"In those first three weeks when we could only have 15-minute holds ... it's pretty unreal."
Today, Isabella is one of the happiest toddlers you will come across, with a smile that radiates joy.
She will join her parents at a walk in Melbourne tomorrow, an annual fundraiser for Life's Little Treasures Foundation, a charity dedicated to supporting the families of babies born sick, or prior to 37 weeks' gestation.
"They're aiming to raise $350,000 and that's to provide families in the NICU with things like care packages," Ms Vogel said.
"We arrived at Issy's little incubator and received a blanket, books, prem nappies and clothing, and it was really nice.
"People we'd met through the NICU in Melbourne had shared the event.
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"We decided to go because she's a little bit older now and it's close to our hearts - we know what the families are going through."
The beginning of tomorrow's five-kilometre walk will be emotional, with a ceremony to remember the babies who didn't make it.
"We'll be feeling very grateful that we have Issy there with us and she's thriving," Ms Vogel said.
"Leaning on family and speaking to other parents was probably our saving grace.
"Talk about it and reach out to people who have been in similar circumstances."
Walk for Prems is in its 10th year and has raised nearly $2 million.
If you want to support Tegan's fundraising, visit https://bit.ly/2BHJD4u.
