The magnificent Nicole Melton. Nicole is mom to Sophia (6), Allie (4), Ethan (22 months) and is currently 15 weeks pregnant with her fourth. Nicole and her husband were just dating when she conceived Sophia and during her pregnancy her husband was deployed to Iraq. At 27 weeks Nicole began to experience some very intense gastro pain. She couldn't alleviate it and made a point of mentioning it at her appointment already scheduled for the next day. She was scheduled to have her glucose test but couldn't keep the liquid down. They began testing her and she was quickly diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome. As she struggled to wrap her head around what was happening and how she could keep her liver enzymes down it was determined she needed to deliver emergently. She was put under general anesthesia and Sophia was delivered via cesarean at 27 weeks weighing just 2 pounds. Nicole struggled to connect to with her daughter when she was finally wheeled into the NICU to see her and wasn't certain if she tell her husband and distract him from his deployment. He was given 2 weeks of leave during which they were able to be together with their daughter in hospital and decided to get married. Sophia spent two months in NICU before coming home and is a very healthy 6 year old today. Due to concerns with uterine tearing, it was determined that Nicole would need to deliver any future babies via cesarean at 36 weeks gestation. Having not been awake for Sophia's birth she was nervous going into Allie's but things went well throughout pregnancy and delivery. Ethan's pregnancy and birth were without complication as well. Nicole had always hoped to have natural vaginal deliveries so never being able to experience labor or birth the way she'd imagined it was very difficult to deal with for quite some time. She was able to pump for Sophia's first month of life, nurse Allie for about 6 months and is still breastfeeding Ethan today. She is hoping to nurse through this pregnancy and hopefully tandem feed when this new baby arrives. Nicole chose to participate in this movement in hopes of spreading awareness and advocacy for HELLP syndrome. We hope she's able to continue to heal and celebrate her amazing journey through motherhood.