My children mean the world to me and I am blessed to be able to raise them. My first pregnancy went off without a hitch. I did eventually have to have a Cesarean Section, which resulted in a beautiful baby girl, Jordyn Alizabeth, weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 21 1/4 inches long.

I recovered quickly from my C-section, so when I got pregnant again when my daughter was 3 years and 8 months, I chose to have a repeat C-section (I teach and I wanted to try and make it back to work before the new school year started). This pregnancy was normal too with no complications. When I entered the hospital on July 31, 2001 at 5:30 a.m., I was excited. My family was so supportive and even Jordyn was at the hospital to welcome the new baby.

I went into the surgery room and had to wait 45 minutes for my doctor to show up. When the doctor arrived, I was given my epidural and laid on the operating table. Everything seemed to be going fine, but then all of a sudden, I began having a hard time breathing. They first told me I just needed to relax and I was just feeling pressure. Eventually, I began to feel better and soon our new baby was born. Madisyn Ashleigh weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 1/14 inches in length. She was fine and soon I was taken to the recovery room.

Normally you wait in recovery for one hour, but they could not get my temperature up, so I stayed there for two and a half hours before I was released to my room. I began to feel better, especially seeing Jordyn interact with her new baby sister. I had made it through the day and night. It was the next morning when everything hit rock bottom.

The doctor came in and examined my incision and everything looked fine. I felt fine while I was lying down. He gave me permission to get up and take a bath and start walking around. The nurse came in and she and my husband helped me up to take a bath. I was moving around slowly but fine. Finally, I was standing in front of a mirror brushing my teeth when I took a step back to call for my husband and passed out. My husband, who thankfully is a firefighter, responded quickly for help. Apparently, I had a seizure. I woke up to my husband's voice saying, Please, come back to me! I looked at him and said, Where have I gone?

I was rushed to different floors where a variety of tests were performed on me and then was sent to the intensive care unit waiting for the report. Finally, I was diagnosed as having bilateral pulmonary embolism (blood clots in my lungs). They say it was a result of my C-section. From that moment, my life changed. I was not able to breastfeed my daughter because I was immediately put on blood thinning medication. I had to stay in the hospital for over a week and went home still taking my blood thinning medication and monitoring my blood levels every two days. Me and my husband were advised not to have any more children, so my husband went out and immediately had a vasectomy.

I was on my medication for three months and finally my lung scan showed clear and I was released from taking my medication. But, to me and my husband's surprise, we are pregnant again (my baby is only six and a half months). We didn't know if I was going to be able to carry this pregnancy, but my doctor has classified me as high risk and I've been put back on blood thinning medication that will not leak to the baby. My doctor believes that since I never had problems carrying my babies and we know what complications I have had, we can take preventive measures. I hope the outcome will be a blessed event.