"In June of 2008, my husband and I decided we wanted to try and have another baby..."

We loved Chloe so much we felt as though we had more than enough love to give another child. In September we made the decision to come off birth control and start the process. Then on October 10, 2008, as I sat in the bathroom of a old friends house, our dream became a reality! I was pregnant!!! Buster was overjoyed, as was my family.

I made the OB/GYN appointment for a week later, and at that appointment they scheduled me for an ultrasound. Three days later as I lay on the table awaiting the happy moment when I would get to see my child for the first time, I was given surprising news. "Congratulations Erin, it's twins" "WHAT!?" I was in complete shock! I even asked her to check again! I was shocked, scared, and excited all at the same time. Even though we knew it would be hard we prepared ourselves to be the parents of newborn twins. Over the next few months we had so much fun thinking of names and dreaming of how cute they would be walking around together. Wondering if they would have their own special language.

On December 15, 2008, Buster and I went to the first specialist appointment. We were both like two kids on Christmas Eve, the anticipation was almost unbearable! We were finally going to see our babies again! The ultrasound started like all the others I have had in the past, but a few minutes in I knew something wasn't quite right. After a few more minutes of the tech looking around (avoiding a certain area all together) she excused herself from the room. When she returned she had a doctor with her. The doctor then informed Buster and I that one of the babies had failed to thrive. We had lost a child.....we made it to the car before we broke down. Sobbing and clinging to each other, thinking and screaming, "WHY!" It was the worst pain I had ever felt.

Over the next few months my pregnancy was anything but normal, low fluids and restricted growth plagued my beautiful daughter. We were again referred to the specialist in the middle of February 2009. After two weekly visits, on Friday March 13th, we were told that they were sending us over to Northside Atlanta to speak with a NICU doctor. It was on that day my husband and I were told our daughter would die...that there was no reason to deliver now due to her being underweight and only 24 weeks gestation. The doctor kept telling us about how our daughter wouldn't be able to survive and since my womb had become toxic, which they had no answer for, it would be best if we just let "nature take its course".

The next few weeks were horrible, I was terribly sick, we tried everything from Metamucil to a warm bath to stop the pain I was in. Finally after two weeks of unbearable pain I went to the ER. March 26, 2009 the doctors finally figured out why I was sick, I had HELLP syndrome. After getting a blood pressure of 238/182 the doctor got everything together for me to be taken to Northside Atlanta for an emergency C-section. The ride down in the ambulance was actually calming, I had a reason for everything that had been going on and with Addison kicking me like a soccer player, I was hopeful she would be fine. It wasn't until the doctor asked me if I even wanted them to do any life saving measures on my daughter that I started to freak out some.Then seeing the fear on my husband and mother's face I couldn't help but feel the danger my daughter and I were both in. As I lay on the operating table being prepped for surgery, I broke down, begging the doctors to keep her in, telling them she was too small to fight, but that I could. I was reassured by what seemed like an angel(NICU nurse) that there was an entire team of doctors and nurses just waiting to take care of my daughter. My last lucid memory was a silent prayer, "Please hold her in your arms, Lord please don't take my daughter!"

My little miracle, Addison Grace Turner was born on March 27, 2009 at 7:01 am, weighing 13 ounces and 9 3/4 inches long. I wasn't able to visit her for 12 hours after her birth, which were the toughest and LONGEST 12 hours EVER, or so I thought. I wasn't prepared for the moment I saw her for the first time. She didn't look real, she was smaller than most of Chloe's dolls and she had more tubes and wires hooked up to her than I had ever seen. The next 3 1/2 months consisted of blood and platelet transfusions, several extremely scary infections and a diagnosis that I was never expecting. Our daughter was diagnosed with a disease called Cytomegalovirus, CMV for short. It explained why we had lost the first child and why she had failed to thrive and grow in the womb. We where given every worse case scenario they could think of, including being blind and deaf, being severely mentally and physically handicapped and death.

I watched my daughter fight like hell each and everyday, refusing to give up. I saw my oldest daughter cry because not only was she unable to bring her baby sister home, but her mom was gone all the time too. It was the best and worst 3 1/2 months of our lives, but it was going to get better much, much better. On July 12, 2009, my daughter was released from the hospital. Not only had she survived she was off the charts!

Over the last seven months my daughter has continued to fight everyday and has surprised the doctors at every turn. Today Addison is struggling with gross and fine motor skills, but she is completely tube and wire free!!! She gives kisses, lights up when her daddy walks in the room and stares at her big sister like she knows something the rest of us don't. Our journey is just beginning, full of firsts, laughs and unforgettable memories.

- Submitted by her mother, Erin