PITTSBURGH — A young couple expecting their first baby decided to take one last child-free vacation to the Bahamas before their daughter’s due date, but the baby girl had a different plan in mind.
Not only did the baby girl crash the vacation, but her arrival also made for a memorable and expensive addition to the trip.
“We figured let’s do a little babymoon, a four-day trip what could go wrong?” said mom, Kellee Gnipp.
Kellee Gnipp and her husband Adam had never been to the Bahamas, so with Kellee seven months pregnant, they decided why not go now, as their last child-free relaxing vacation.
“We were there for a day and a half whenever I noticed some bleeding, so I called my doctor and she said to go to the hospital,” Gnipp said.
Kellee, not worried, thought she would be back on the beach in a few hours. Instead, she would be in labor by herself without her husband Adam due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Hours went by, about 12 hours, [then] they ran some more test still no talks of labor,” said Gnipp.
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Gnipp explained after feeling a slight pain in her back the nurse told her, “This baby is coming right now.”
At 1:26 p.m., just one hour after Kellee felt that slight pain in her back, baby girl Kenni Jo was born 11 weeks early, only weighing 3 pounds, 9 ounces.
“She immediately had to be taken to a NICU at another hospital in the Bahamas,” Gnipp said.
The new parents knew they had to get their daughter home, so they began making calls, but neither expected that a ticket home would cost so much.
“46,000 dollars out of pocket,” said Gnipp.
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The three would have to be flown on a private plane with medics back to Pittsburgh not to mention the additional hospital fees.
“We maxed out every credit card we have,” Gnipp said.
Once the cost was paid, they arrived at West Penn hospital, and on day five, Kellee was finally able to hold her daughter for the first time.
“It was the most amazing experience of my life,” Gnipp said.
Baby girl Kenni is one week old today—healthy and strong – but will remain in the NICU for the next eight weeks.
Mom and dad have begun a GoFundMe to help offset some of the expenses; click here to donate.
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