From the beginning, my pregnancy was irregular. I was swelling and bleeding two months into my pregnancy and my midwife said it was normal. Just about once a week my mother and I were calling the doctor to tell her that my feet were swelling when I got up in the morning after sleeping with them up all night long. Still she said the same thing. This went on until I was around 25 weeks pregnant.

I went in for a normal checkup and she said everything looked fine. We went through the swelling again and she said it was just weight that I did not have before. That was Monday, May 28, 2001. I went about my normal business the whole week not feeling so great and then came the big day!

I went with my sister to a friend's house to visit and I had swollen really badly the night before. So badly that I could not put my shoes on my feet and I could not even bend my fingers! We left our friend's house and headed to my mother's work to meet her for lunch. We got there and she gave us very disturbing news. My baby's grandmother was really sick and she had to go and stay with her for the night. As she was telling this story, I sat down and kind of faded in and out on listening to what she had to say. My mother is a nurse and so is my cousin. They both took one look at me and said, What is going on? They took my blood pressure and it was 180/108 very high. So we called the doctor on call. She told me to come in. None of us knew what lay ahead.

My mother left and went to be with her friend, my baby's Grammy. I went to the hospital thinking it would be just a quick checkup. I got there and they said they were going to admit me and that I should call my mother. If my labs came back irregular then I would have to be transported to Portland, the biggest hospital in Maine for high-risk babies and pregnancy. They did not even wait until my labs came back before they decided I had to go. Still I was not scared. They finally reached my mother and told her to meet me at the hospital because they could not wait for her. I figured they would give me medications and send me on my way.

I ended up having ultrasounds every day until Monday, June 4. Then they decided that I was on the verge of kidney and liver failure and seizing because of my blood pressure. They decided to do an emergency Cesarean Section! I was very scared because in my mind, I knew babies who were born at 26 weeks who did not survive. And to top it all off, my baby had stopped growing at 23 weeks. I thought my baby would never make it and that it did not even have a chance.

The minute my mom got to the hospital they took me in to prepare me and gave me a spinal tap. They brought my mom in and told her what was going on and she stayed beside me at all times along with the anesthetic doctor. The doctor who was performing the surgery asked why I was feeling every move he was making and why it was hurting. They wanted to put me to sleep because I felt them cutting me! My poor mother was watching not knowing if her daughter and her grandchild were going to make it out of this alive. Luckily, I did.

I had a beautiful little girl at 7:59 at night and she weighed 1 pound, 7 ounces and was 12 inches long. She stayed in the NICUfor two and a half months. One week before my original due date, I got to take her home with me.

She is now 6 pounds and 3 1/2 months old. She has no lasting side effects and no major health problems. And that is how my little miracle, Mackenzi Hope Melanson, came into the world on June 4, 2001!