But shortly after giving birth for the fifth time, Kelli tragically passed away from a rare complication due to childbirth.
Last week, Tyler changed her profile picture on Facebook as she prepared to give birth again. A day after that, she passed away.
“The amniotic fluid got into Kelli’s bloodstream [and] she was losing blood more than she could take in,” Julie Roach, Tyler’s mother, explained. “I think the last words my granddaughter said — she said — were, ‘I’m about to faint.’”
An amniotic fluid embolism is a “dangerous and life-threatening complication,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. It can happen when someone delivers a baby or shortly after they give birth.
The reason it can be deadly is because it is “very difficult to diagnose because the symptoms can be similar to other serious complications during childbirth.”
The website for the Cleveland Clinic says this is why “for reasons that are mostly unknown, some people have a severe allergic response to amniotic fluid mixing with their blood.” This can lead to cardiac arrest, uncontrolled breathing, or lung failure.
“She would come around for a minute or so and she would code again,” Roach recalled her daughter’s final moments.
Tyler was giving birth to her daughter Jalie at the time. It is not yet known whether Jalie will have any long-term health complications because of her traumatic birth. The family won’t know “until she grows up some more.”
“Jalie won’t get to know her mom in person. but she’s gonna know her mom. We have pictures, we have recordings that we’re going to play over and over,” Roach said.
The family set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with the unexpected medical costs and everyday costs for the upkeep of the newborn and family as they go through this traumatic time. The fundraiser was started a week ago, and has raised three times the amount it had set out to raise.
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