When Jamie and Jessica Clarke first met, they had an instant connection - and life moved quickly for the pair, seeing them get married, buy a house together and get two dogs in quick succession.
The next journey of their lives began the moment Jess' pregnancy test showed up positive. Jamie, who is from Greensland, and Jess, a Belfast girl, went through spreadsheets of baby girl names, preparing for the day they'd meet their first child.
Baby Clarke was expected on June 9 this year, but made an early entrance into the world, and was born on Saturday, February 25 at 12:48pm. Thea James Clarke weighed a tiny 1lb 8oz, but fought for 12 hours before she sadly passed away in the Ulster Hospital.
Read more: New bereavement suite to be built at South West Acute Hospital
Speaking to Belfast Live, in their Dundonald home, Jamie and Jess spoke about how their little girl made such a huge impact on their lives, and their mission to keep Thea's memory alive.
"We met in December 2017 on Tinder and had both been in longer term relationships which ended," Jamie said.
"I always joke and say 'with my first match on Tinder, I married', and it's been great ever since
"It's been quite a whirlwind and everything was very quick at the start. We lived together within six months and bought our own place within 18 months. We then got married, got two wee dogs and it progressed from there."
Jess said: "I found out that I was pregnant in September. It was weird because Jamie knew before me, he noticed I was sick, and fatigue. He told me to do a test, and it was positive. It was very early, around two weeks.
"It was quite surreal because when I took the test I showed Jamie and he actually asked if it was a coronavirus test or pregnancy test. We were happy and excited for the next step. We were ready for it.
"The first trimester wasn't enjoyable, I was in hospital for severe morning sickness. Our due date was June 9, so it was between Jamie's sister's birthday, and his grandpa's birthday, which was nice because it would be all about family. June is a busy month for us with family, so we were excited."
Jess continued: "Apart from the sickness, the pregnancy was normal. The day before Thea was born, and she was born very early, I had a bit of a headache but I thought it was because i was working on the computer. I didn't have any inkling that she would be born the next day.
"I had an early night and had phoned the midwives when I had the headache and was advised to do that, and to relax. About 5 in the morning, I didn't feel well. We were up and dressed and we knew we had to go to the Ulster Hospital.
"The girl examined me, and I was actually three centimetres. I couldn't believe it. That was around 10:30, and within an hour I was 10 centimetres dilated. Everything happened so fast.
"We knew we were having a girl and we had spreadsheets with baby girl names. We were ranking names, and had an app called Kinder, where you swipe left and right on baby names. The name Thea had been in our top ten, and then it made its way into our top five."
The pair say when Thea was born, they "knew something wasn't right" and that the "tone in the room quickly changed".
Although going through the unimaginable pain of losing Thea, Jamie and Jess have hailed the staff within the Ulster Hospital, for their dignity, and compassion during the darkest day of their lives.
"Thea was born at 12:48 on the afternoon February 25 and she passed away at exactly 1am on the Sunday," they added.
"You can't be positive about you're going through, but we were given so much reassurance and support from the hospital staff.
"We have both been through grief before, Jamie lost his grandpa, and I have lost my dad and my grandpa too. We know the stages of grief, and obviously this is different because it's our grief. Our first child."
Today, in Thea's memory, the family are hoping to raise £5,000 for the Ulster's Neonatal Unit. And after putting it out to friends and loved ones, they've already raised almost £3,000 and have support from the Belfast Giants.
Jamie said they have an "incredible group of people" to support them, people who dropped everything, left work, just to help them. He says they have been instrumental in their journey.
"With Thea not being here, we want to live for her. That is what keeps us going. If she was watching, she wouldn't want to see us falling to pieces. There are moments of that, where the facade crumbles or cracks, and there's nothing wrong with that. You have to allow grief to process as it needs to.
"The staff we had in the Ulster Hospital were next to none. We wouldn't be where we are today without them. We didn't leave the hospital until late Monday evening and the little things made a difference. We have a little frame with Thea's footprint in it, that the staff did for us.
"Even though there were times where we were with Thea, but she wasn't with us anymore, we got to make memories that we will cherish forever. It helps that it didn't feel like immediate loss."
Jamie continued: "The week we got home, on the Thursday night I hadn't been sleeping too well so I made a Just Giving page for the nurses. I felt like we needed to give back. It snowballed initially and we were able to give a cheque over for £2900 this week. My mum is in Carrickfergus and she had done a little community collection and ballot, where she raised £300.
"We have friends who are fairly close with the Belfast Giants and they provided a full current season game design jersey signed by the whole team, which is up for raffle online. The community of Carrick are holding a charity night on June 16 to help us raise money. It is going to the ward to allow them to buy what they need.
"We can't put into words how grateful we are to the people who have been there for us. It's great to have people when life is going good, but when it is bad, people who we don't know have been donating in memory of our Thea. We are blown away."
Please follow this link for the Just Giving page, and click here to get yourself invovled in the Belfast Giants raffle. For more information on the fundraiser in Carrickfergus this June, follow this link.
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