But things didn’t go according to plan.

The Kurri woman gave birth to son Tyrecce in the back of an ambulance on the Newcastle Link Road on April 22, 2015 – the day after the superstorm.

Tyrecce arrived 14 weeks early and weighed just 1070 grams, but is doing extremely well as he approaches his first birthday.

Ms Hooker said she had been having pains all day, and went to Kurri Hospital around 1pm. She was soon found to be three centimetres dilated.

With the main road to Maitland closed due to flooding at Testers Hollow, she was taken by ambulance to John Hunter Hospital around 6pm.

Approaching the Edgeworth exit, Ms Hooker sat up and felt a pop – and her little boy had entered the world.

“He was in cardiac arrest, and a paramedic worked on him for about 10 minutes,” she said.

“Then he gave a big scream and I put out my finger, and he grabbed it and held on.”

Tyrecce spent about nine weeks in John Hunter’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and another fortnight in special care at Maitland Hospital before he arrived home on July 5 – 10 days before his due date.

“He was like a little Coke can with arms,” Ms Hooker said.

“But nothing has stopped him – he’s passed all his health checks. The doctors can’t believe he’s the same baby.”