SKIP ODONNELL/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
Louisa Corinne Grant just couldn’t wait to make her grand entrance into the world. My second child and first daughter was born on January 3, 2013, at 8:21 p.m., surprising me and my wife Kerry by arriving at 35 weeks of gestation, about a month before her expected due date.
Kerry had experienced an exceedingly normal pregnancy and exhibited none of the warning signs or risk factors for premature birth. At some point during her pregnancy, however, a complicated cascade of signaling and chemical crosstalk short-circuited. Something among the gene- and protein-driven pathways designed to keep Louisa wrapped in the warmth of her mother’s womb for a full 40 weeks went haywire. And the molecular confusion caused baby Louisa to depart from in utero comfort ...
