SAN FRANCISCO -- Recent research reveals that not just the elderly are at risk for strokes; it's estimated that every month in the Bay Area at least two newborns will have a stroke, often with devastating consequences.

Emma Jabs seemed perfectly normal at age eight months when she suffered a medical complication that changed the trajectory of her young life.

"I was holding Emma and all of sudden her right arm started twitching really, really fast," remembers her mother, Carrie Jabs.

"She was throwing up and dry heaving a lot," adds her father Michael.

In the hospital, Emma received an unexpected diagnosis:

"I could not believe that a baby -- my baby -- had had a stroke," explains the girl's mother. Her husband had the same reaction: "I didn't even know it was possible for a stroke for children. Total disbelief."

UC San Francisco pediatric stroke specialist Heather Fullerton discussed Emma's case, showing KTVU Channel 2 an MRI that revealed a huge black hole where part of Emma's brain used to be.

"[The damage caused] pretty significant deficit of both her arm and her leg," says Dr. Fullerton.

"The whole right side of her body was pretty much paralyzed after the stroke," says Carrie Jabs. "We thought that was going to be it. I was pretty sure she wasn't going to make it out of the hospital."

But three years later, Emma has recovered a remarkable amount of use on her right side. Her success since the stroke can be credited to her own determination and spirit, plus her parents' resolve.

Pediatric stroke had been misdiagnosed for decades as cerebral palsy until new medical imaging disproved assumptions that strokes only hit old people.

"Around the time of birth, the incidence is actually very close to what it would be in a very elderly person; about one in four thousand," explains Dr. Fullerton.

Fullerton is one of five specialists in North America in what is often a discouraging practice.

"In general it's only about a third of children who will actually recover and two thirds will be left with some sort of deficit," says Dr. Fullerton.

Doctors say the good news is that young children's brains are more moldable than those of adults. The bad news is that there's much less research on pediatric stroke recovery, leading parents like Emmas's to take some unusual steps.

The Jabs family has tried botox injections to relax Emma's clenched muscles they want to give emma her own stem-cell rich cord blood saved from birth, hoping to regrow brain cells.

Dr. Fullerton understands their open mindedness in treatment: "I can definitely see why they're willing to try things like that because we have so little to offer."

Doctors can't even say why some of Emma's blood vessels were so twisted and diseased. The cause could be genetic or something else.

"In some children they can develop a blood vessel disease related to a viral infection," says Dr. Fullerton.

Surprisingly, stroke is a top ten killer of children. About a third of survivors will have repeat and even more devastating strokes as well as serious, long-term cognitive problems.

"Children's stroke is rare, but because it affects people at such a young age and can leave them with significant lifetime disabilities. It's actually quite important," says Dr. Fullerton

The Jabs say they struggle with guilt.

"Maybe we could've gotten her to the hospital earlier; they could've administered drugs. Maybe the damage wouldn't have been as extensive as it was. I don't know," says Carrie Jabs

But doctors say adult stroke drugs have not been tried in young children because of the risk. They also say that there it is nothing parents can do to minimize strokes. So the Jabs marvel at each of Emma's small advances and cling to hope.

"That's really what it is it gives you a lot of hope; that little step. Baby steps, you know," says Michael Jabs.

"I hope Emma doesn't remember this time in her life. I hope she just stays happy and healthy and never has another stroke ever, ever again," agrees Emma's mother Carrie.

But doctors say there's no way to predict their young daughter's future. For now, hope and Emma's positive signs of progress are all the family has.