On June 12, 1998, I went into to premature labor. I went to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, OR. I stayed overnight there, but they wanted to transfer me because they didn't have the equipment or the skills for caring for a premature baby. I was airlifted to Oregon Health Science University (three hours away driving time). It was very scary and I hyperventilated and passed out. The next thing I remember was looking down at a river from the helicopter. I was terrified! Doctors and paramedics met the helicopter, and they rushed me into the hospital. My family was on their way up there. I sat in the room all by myself, scared to death. My boyfriend and my stepmom came around 9:00 p.m., and I felt better with them there.

I was having contractions every two minutes for four days. The doctors tried to stop the labor and ended up filling my lungs with magnesium. They stopped the magnesium on Sunday, and induced my labor because there was no way for him to stay. On Monday around 8:30 p.m., I went to have an emergency C-section. I was terrified, and there was so many thoughts going through my mind.

At 9:06 p.m. on June 15, 1998, I had my son. He weighed only 1 pound, 14 1/2 ounces. I remember when they brought him to me in the recovery room and he squeezed my finger. At that point, I knew everything was going to be okay. I didn't get to see him for three days after he was born. The first time I held him, he was 1 week old and it was right before he went into his first surgery to fix the murmur in his heart. He was so little. He had three more surgeries because of his digestive problems. He was on a ventilator for two months. He came home on October 15, 1998. He is doing everything a little baby should be doing. He is definitely a little miracle.