When I became pregnant with our third daughter, although I was of advanced maternal age (36) I had no intention of doing the suggested prenatal testing for Down syndrome. We did have the level two ultrasound, but only so we could get a glimpse of our baby and find out her gender. We were all very excited to welcome her and all testing proved that she was fine, no signs of Down syndrome or any other flags for other abnormalities. At 28 weeks along, my husband and I went on a bike ride and our world was changed forever. I began to feel dizzy so I started to slow down when something in my abdomen felt like it unzipped. I immediately fell to the ground and told my husband to call 911. I was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital. They did a quick assessment of me and I could tell something was horribly wrong. They could not find a heartbeat on my daughter Josie and I was not doing well at all. They took me into surgery immediately for a C-section. I started to feel cold and was in and out of consciousness. I woke up two days later in the ICU unit. Many doctors came in to see me and speak to me. The first thing I saw was a pink sign hanging near my bed that read, "It’s a girl!" 2 lbs 13 oz, 15 inches long. I was so relieved that we both made it through. I later learned that I suffered a rupture of an arterial splenic aneurysm. I was transfused over 46 units of blood. I lost my spleen, part of my pancreas and part of my colon. This was extremely rare and has a very high fatality rate among mother and child. We found out four days later that our little girl had Down syndrome. It didn't matter to us; we were just so happy that we were both still here. Josie spent the next three months at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis getting bigger and stronger. One surgeon in particular came in to tell us that when they did the C-section, Josie was lying on my Aorta, which is what ultimately saved my life. Her little body was slowing down the bleeding inside me. He said, “We all agree, you should have named her Angel, she saved your life.” Today, Josie is a happy healthy six-year-old who brightens our world every day and brings smiles to so many. She was meant to be here with us, and we are thankful every day for our little Angel!