Eleven weeks early and a fighter from the start

From the very start of my pregnancy, I knew that my little one would come before her due date, maybe a week or two early.

Never in my wildest imaginings did I think she would be ELEVEN weeks early!

It was Tuesday, March 3, 2009. I woke up with the most intensive heartburn I had ever felt in my life and I got sick as soon as I made it to the bathroom. I had experienced some pretty bad morning sickness, but nothing like this.

I told myself I HAD to go to work and just grin and bear it. So I did. The whole way to work was unbearable and as soon as I got there, I got sick again. I opted to lay down in our lounge for a while and see if it would pass, popped some Maalox chewables and fell asleep.

One hour later I woke up and it was still bad, so I called my doc. She instructed me to head to the nearest ER and get checked out. Well, I had my darling fiance drive me (we just so happen to work together!).

He took me to the hospital local to where we work and every person who did a test asked if I was maybe pregnant. They ultimately sent me home and told me to take Ibuprofen (which is something you are to AVOID when preg)... I was less than happy.

I went home, got into comfy clothes, popped more Maalox, and went to sleep. I woke up that evening feeling a bit better, but the pain came back full force by late that night and I once again got sick.

I knew something was not right and jolted my fiance awake telling him I HAD to get to a hospital.

We arrived at the ER of a different hospital than the one we'd visited before at around 11 p.m. They immediately sent me to their OB floor and got me hooked up to a fetal monitor. Once they knew the baby was ok they got around to asking what was wrong with ME.

I was given a magical concoction of Maalox and Lidocane and I was all better! Ready to go!

Not so fast, they wanted to make sure my little one's heart rate was ok because she had a couple decellerations where her heart rate would drop drastically and then come right back up.

At around 3 a.m. they decided to send me to the big city hospital by ambulance purely for "observation" they told me. I was totally calm, sent the man home to sleep a bit, and had no worries about the observation needing to happen. I felt fine after all, and my little stinker was as active as she usually was.

By 8 a.m. they were rushing me to the maternal fetal doctor to get to the bottom of this decelleration of her heart and that is when he told me I was going to be a mom within the next hour or so.

My dear fiance made it literally JUST in time. He was pulling into the parking lot when I texted him "emergency, come fast" and walked into the room just in time to see me whisked away.

I had a c-section and our little Harper Olivia came out screaming and hollering!

Born at only 2 pounds 5 ounces, our little stinker had to be placed in a giraffe omnibed to simulate still being in her mommy's tummy.

She had a VERY rough start and the docs and nurses told us later on that they didn't think she was going to make it.

At first, all I could see was her little nose because of all the machines and gadgets and I only got to hold her for about 15 seconds that night and then not again for about 2 1/2 weeks.

We were there every single day, and sometimes I would stay until the wee hours of the morning.

I knew she knew I was there rooting her on, wanting her to come home. She hit some bumps along the way but was able to come home on April 28, 2009 weighing in at just under 5 pounds. We were MORE than ready to have her home and to end our daily trips back and forth to the hospital.

She is happy and healthy now at 7 months and weighs in at 12 pounds. What she lacks in size, she makes up for in cuteness!!!