Alice was our first child, and was born in the middle of a cold Canberra winter. I was 17 and Mark was 24, and we had only been married for three months when she was born, one month premature. To say that having a baby is a life-changing event is an understatement, especially at such a young age. I had gone from being a school girl to a married Mum within the space of a few short months. Yet having a child was exactly what I wanted to do and Alice was much loved by not only her Dad and I, but also our parents and siblings. She was the first grandchild on both sides of the family.