As a first time mother, I thought everything was going smoothly. My pregnancy had been pretty easy. No morning sickness. Not even nausea. I went in for a routine checkup at 35 weeks. My doctor was concerned I had high protein in my urine. Thankfully I didn't google it. She scheduled me for a sonogram the next day.

It was a late Friday afternoon appointment. My husband was with me. The sonographer didn't let on that anything was wrong. She estimated the baby weighted 4 pounds.

Our doctor came and told us our baby girl hadn't grown for three weeks. It was like she was surviving on bread and butter. We were in shock. They needed to take her out right away so she could grow outside the womb.

She was delivered via cesarean just 3 hours later.

It was a roller coaster of mixed emotions; I had to digest quickly. I wasn't prepared mentally to be meeting my baby that day - five weeks before her due date. I wasn't prepared for her to weigh just under 3 pounds. She was tiny for even a 35 weeker. No one told me I would hold her for 10 minutes and then not be able to see her again for 24 hours. My husband would leave me to go visit our baby girl while I had to stay in the hospital room post operation. He would come back and tell me how beautiful she was. I wanted to hold my baby. See my baby girl. Nothing could have prepared me for that. Nothing. I know I am lucky though. I know many mommas don't even get that.

Her stay at the NICU was relatively uneventful. She had a healthy set of lungs. She never had to be on a ventilator. We never had any scares. She just struggled with weight gain. The nurses and staff were wonderful. The whole time there was a blur. She came home on her one month birthday weighing just 4 pounds.

We had to get a different car seat to send her home in, one that could accommodate her tiny frame. The nurses warned me: DO NOT LET HER CRY. She would burn too many calories. As a first time momma, this was so scary. Burning too many calories from just crying!?

She struggled and still does struggle with growing gaining weight at age six. But somehow she is a completely normal, smart healthy girl. I am unbelievably grateful for the care I received from my doctor and her NICU stay. My story could easily be a very different one. One I don't like to think about.