My pregnancy was horrible from beginning to end. I have an autoimmune disease called ulcerative colitis. The disease has times of remission and flares. The pregnancy sent me into a terrible "flare." I was so sick with this disease during my pregnancy that I was hospitalized twice. Through heavy doses of steroids and other horrible medications, I went into remission around my 4 months into my pregnancy. However, during my 7th month, I started to develop pre-eclampsia.

Finally, on Friday, August 5, 2005, I started bleeding. After a trip to the emergency room, and an ultrasound, they kept me in the hospital all weekend. They couldn't figure out why I was bleeding. The ultrasound wasn't showing any trauma.

They sent me home Sunday with a plan of bed rest. Monday afternoon I started gushing blood. I went straight to the emergency room where my doctor met me and said the baby had to come by Cesarean section right away.

Olivia Elise came into the world August, 8, 2005, at 9:01 p.m. She weighed 3 pounds, 4 ounces and was 16 inches long. She was tiny and spent four weeks in the NICU. However, she didn't have to have oxygen, and was never tube fed.

She is extremely strong and feisty. To date, Olivia has not had any medical issues. We are grateful and blessed with a miracle preemie baby! She will be 1 year old tomorrow.