Bonnie has a blood disorder that causes her blood to clot more quickly than normal. At 19, a sinus infection caused her to have a blood clot on the brain, she says. It was something the couple considered before trying to have a baby. And Bonnie was on medication. But this July day in the doctor's office, the sonogram shows the blood thinners aren't working well enough.
Clots fill the placenta.
And Kaylie, still unborn, is undernourished and weak. Doctors tell Keith and Bonnie their baby must be born now. Weighing only 14 ounces, Kaylie has no weight to lose. And gains that would be negligible for a normal baby are urgent for her. Encased in what used to be called an incubator, she lies on a gel-filled mattress designed to feel as much like mom's womb as possible.