A dangerous illness which struck a young Australian woman visiting New Zealand has resulted in the delivery of her baby at just 25 weeks.
Brodie Soster told Daily Mail she was "dying" to hold her baby, who weighed only 510 grams after the premature birth in Christchurch on October 5.
The 34-year-old travelled from Brisbane to visit family, and said she experienced "excruciating heartburn" two days into her trip.
"The pain kept me awake, but I have a military mindset and wanted to fight the pain," she told the Daily Mail Australia.
Prior to this, her pregnancy had been healthy, with no complications.
Only 25 weeks into the pregnancy, she joked on the phone with husband Scott Stevens about "finally getting pregnancy symptoms".
The symptoms did not go away, so her aunt encouraged her to visit a local GP four days later.
"If I didn't go back to the doctor then we would have both been dead today."
Protein was found in Soster's urine, and she was quickly flown to Christchurch to receive medical treatment at the hospital.
"There were a lot of different scenarios going around so I didn't have a scan until Sunday afternoon," she said.
Finally it was diagnosed as HELLP syndrome, a form of pre-eclampsia which is dangerous for an expectant mother and her child if not treated immediately, her sister-in-law Louise Stevens said.
Doctors told Soster her baby had not grown for at least two weeks because of the syndrome.
A dose of steroids was applied in order to give the baby more time to grow before an emergency c-section could take place.
Just 48 hours later Soster underwent the procedure, which saved baby Billie Ava Stevens.
Partner Scott Stevens, along with both their parents, rushed to Christchurch Hospital to be by Soster's side.
"Scott is besotted with her, after the operation he wouldn't come and see me because he wanted to be with her," Soster said.
It's been a tough period for the couple that has taken both emotional and financial toll.
While Billie Ava Stevens has put on 250g since her birth, the new parents won't be able to take her home to Brisbane until March next year.
To lessen the burden, Steven's sister Louise Stevens has started a gofundme campaign.
The campaign has raised over $20,000 in less than a week.
The money will help Soster and Stevens with medical expenses and living costs.
"We just want to thank everyone, it has blown us away," Soster said.
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