Our family was so excited to find out we were having another baby in the fall of 2014 and over the moon to find out it was a girl. My pregnancy with big brother Blake, 6 years old, was very smooth and at term. This pregnancy followed suit up until approximately 24 weeks. I seemed to gain more weight with this pregnancy and my feet were swollen significantly sooner than with my first pregnancy. My blood pressure was always normal at my doctor visits, and no real problems had been identified until the day that I went in for a checkup for pain in my upper stomach. Over the weekend (at 27 ½ weeks) I was having severe pain that would come and go throughout the day. I tried pain medicine and an antacid, but neither one of those would completely take away the pain. Also, my legs and ankles were very swollen and taunt. I decided on that Monday morning to make a doctor’s appointment. I made it for the afternoon because I wanted to be at work for important meetings. I drove to the doctor that afternoon and I stepped on the scales and saw that I had gained 12 pounds in a week and a half. I knew the weight gain was not a good sign. The nurse then checked my blood pressure and looked at me. I asked “Was it okay?” She said “It is REALLY high; I am going to get another cuff”. She returned with another cuff and got the same reading, a really high blood pressure. She asked me to lie on the examination table and relax while I waited on the physician. The physician came in and said that I needed to be transported via EMS to the hospital and they may have to deliver the baby today. I cannot even describe the feeling I had when he spoke those earth shattering words. I started sobbing and immediately called my husband and mother to tell them. On that day, I was 27 6/7 weeks and I knew it was too early for my baby girl to be delivered. I was transported to Catawba Valley Medical Center, also my place of employment, and immediately placed on Magnesium as a seizure precaution for high blood pressure. I was also given IV blood pressure medications in order to stabilize my blood pressure. In addition to multiple laboratory draws, I also was given steroids to help with the lung development of our baby girl. That evening, we were presented with “the plan”. The plan was: to stay in the hospital on bed rest, barring no decline in my health, until at least 34 weeks. The thought of spending seven weeks on bed rest was unimaginable, but I knew I would have to do what was best for my baby. And by the way, my husband and I still had no name for this precious girl at this point. I told my husband the second day I was in the hospital that we needed to decide on a name for our baby in case she did indeed come early. We decided on Harper Claire Thacker. Another two days went by with: blood pressures that would sky rocket upon me standing up beside the bed, feeling horrible from the magnesium, and being completely bored from sitting in the hospital bed. One early morning, the pain came back. I was given a high powered pain medication and the pain temporarily went away. The decision was made to perform a c-section because my lab work also came back concerning. Around 9:30 on the morning of July 28th, I had a c-section under general anesthesia, and gave birth to Harper Claire Thacker. She was 2 lbs 5 oz of pure perfection and 13 inches long. She was immediately transferred to the Level III Nursery, the department in which I am employed in the hospital. I did not see Harper until later that evening. She was already on CPAP and off the ventilator when I came up to the nursery. The next 10 ½ weeks were bittersweet as we visited our baby girl in the hospital. We saw her grow every day, and we helped with her care. Since she was a patient in the department I worked in, I knew all of the nurses and was able to find comfort in talking with them. She received excellent care and was discharged at around 39 weeks with no complications. Harper Claire Thacker is five months old now and tips the scale at 11 pounds. She loves to smile and watch everything going on around her. She is above her adjusted age in development also. It is extremely important for hospitals and families to be invested in the March of Dimes for special reasons such as Harper Claire Thacker. Our family supports this organization and their efforts to improve the health of babies.