Pregnant, with cancer. Women struggle to heal for two.

MINNEAPOLIS — With a black tweed hat on her bald head and a purple blouse stretched over her big belly, Lisa Peterson Bender leans forward in the clinic chair, the better to see the ultrasound images of her unborn daughter.

Up on the screen, the tiny girl opens her mouth, furls her fingers and kicks her legs in vibrant 3-D as a technician confirms that, for now, all appears well with the baby being carried by a woman who has cancer.