During my 31st week of pregnancy the doctor told me I was gaining too much weight. I was gaining 5 to 9 pounds a week. Soon after at my next visit at 32 weeks the doctor said that my face looked swollen and he decided to check me for preeclampsia.

That night I went in to the hospital for chest pain. Within a few hours I was sent by ambulance to a hospital that had a NICU. My blood pressure was very high so I was to be induced. But soon after my blood pressure went higher and the headache started.

I was rushed into the OR within minutes and the baby was born in less than five minutes. I was unable to hear his first cry because I was under general anesthesia.

When I did wake up I was told that my baby boy was on a ventilator and working hard to deal with the stress of being so early. He weighed 3 pounds, 1 ounce and was 15.5 inches.

During the next 79 days he was on a ventilator multiple times, had many surgeries, received more IVs than I could count and had pneumonia three times. When he finally did come home it was on an apnea monitor and many medications. He only weighed 5 pounds when he did come home. It took three years but he finally caught up with kids his age and became healthy.