On 4-8-08, at 28 weeks pregnant, I went to the ER with horrible stomach pains. On 4-12-08 I had emergency surgery. It turns out I had been born with a malrotated bowel, which until then I did not know about or had had any problems with. A portion of my bowel had twisted on itself causing a bowel obstruction. That portion of bowel was dying and very close to exploding which would have killed me and my baby. The surgeons removed the obstruction and sewed the remaining bowel together. A few days later I was released from the hospital. Unfortunatly, on 4-20-08 I once again developed stomach pains. By the time I got to the emergency room I was screaming in pain. I had another CAT scan which showed a perforation where the bowel had been reconnected. I was rushed into another emergency surgery. The second surgery was more extensive, they had to remove scar tissue from the first surgery and then clean out my "dirty" abdominal cavity. The second surgery left me with an ileostomy. My small intestine sticks out of my tummy and leaves waste in a bag, rather than the waste continuing through the colon and out the rear. In the future, I may have another surgery to reconnect the large and small intestine. I hated having to have surgery, medication, and radiation exposure while pregnant, but it was a life or death situation. I was given Indocin after each surgery to stop preterm labor, and steroids to mature my babys lungs. I had low amniotic fluid after the surgeries so I had NSTs and fluid checks twice a week. I lost a lot of weight, so I also had growth ultrasounds to make sure my baby was still growing. My baby did wonderfully through the whole ordeal. I had a easy labor and deliever and my daughter Alyssa Grace was born healthy and beautiful at 36 weeks. I am blessed and thank God that my daughter and I are alive.