def pre_process_tags(paragraph_element):
    """
    Convert initial italics-tagged text to markdown bold
    and convert the rest of a paragraph's I tags to markdown italics.
    """
    first_tag = paragraph_element.find("I")
    if first_tag:
        bold_content = first_tag.text
        first_tag.replaceWith("**{}**".format(bold_content))
    for element in paragraph_element.find_all("I"):
        i_content = element.text
        element.replaceWith("*{}*".format(i_content))
    return paragraph_element