She might only be a few days old, but Molly Dowden has already made her mark on the world.
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The newborn arrived in dramatic fashion on Sunday, December 15.
Her Ulladulla parents Nici Sweaney and Tom Dowden had planned to welcome the little girl at Moruya Hospital.
The closure of the Princes Highway due to the bushfires caused some nerves but the pair was relieved when it reopened before little Molly made her arrival - or so they thought.
Nici went into labour at 39 weeks on Saturday night and after making their way south, the couple was stopped at around 10pm near East Lynne by the RFS Basin View Brigade.
Concerns a roadside fire-damaged tree was about to fall saw the highway closed once again.
"By this stage I was having contractions every three minutes and at first I thought they would let us through but it was decided it was too dangerous," Nici said.
Ulladulla police soon arrived and while there was talk of taking the couple in the back of the car, it was still deemed unsafe. RFS crew quickly called an ambulance from Milton.
"It was at this point I knew we weren't getting through," Nici said.
While a crew of firies standing around the car wasn't how Nici imagined her labour, she said a few familiar faces eased her nerves.
"One fireman recognised my partner as Tom plays music in a few local venues and another fireman lived on the same street as my partner before we moved in together," she said.
"I recognised one of the ambulance officers as he had tended to me a couple of years ago when I badly burnt my thumb. Such a small world and I love the sense of community we have down here."
The couple was taken to Milton Hospital before being driven to Shoalhaven Hospital.
Senior constable Adam Hunt from Ulladulla Police Station jumped behind the wheel of the ambulance, allowing paramedics to be with Nici. Milton GP Meike Flore accompanied the pair to the hospital.
While she said she could still see the funny side of things, Nici laughed that she was "keeping her legs closed by this point".
"We'd been on the road for about three hours by this point but I still thought it was kind of funny - I remember thinking 'you couldn't write a better script'," she said.
By the time she got to Nowra however, Nici endured a more difficult birth than her first two, something she attributes to an unfamiliar environment and caregivers, and stress and dehydration.
"I remember thinking 'you couldn't write a better script'."
- Nici Sweaney
Finally, at 6.30am on Sunday, December 15, after 10 hours of labour and 220 kilometres on the road, Molly arrived.
"She came out in one push and it was just my partner and I in the room," Nici said.
"I felt her head and we called out to a midwife who still had to put her glove on to catch her."
The trio returned home to Ulladulla at lunchtime on the same day, much to the delight of Molly's besotted older brother and sister.
While it was a definite no there towards the end of her labour, Nici said now that Molly is here safe and sound, she won't rule out adding a fourth down the track.
"I'm very glad that wasn't my first birth experience though because it would probably be a firm no otherwise," she laughed.
Nici thanked all the emergency services personnel who assisted, Senior Constable Adam Hunt who also delivered the couple's car back to her parents house at 1am, staff at Milton Hospital, and Dr Flore for accompanying her on her journey to Nowra, and staying to settle her into Shoalhaven Hospital.