Nearly three months after Kelsey Townsend gave birth to her fourth child, the 32-year-old Wisconsin woman was finally face to face with her.
Lucy, now bright and alert, gave him a smile.
“Hi. I love you. I love you so much. Yes, I missed you,” Kelsey Townsend told him.
Townsend was in a medical coma induced by COVID-19 when she gave birth to Lucy by cesarean section on November 4, not long after she arrived at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. He ended up spending 75 days for life and lung support. He finally met Lucy on January 27 – the day Kelsey was discharged from Madison University Hospital.
“We were instantly connected when we met. He gave me a big smile and looked at me as if he knew exactly who I was and that made me feel so happy, ”said the Poynette woman, Wisconsin.
Dr. Jennifer Krupp, a specialist in maternal fetal medicine and medical director for women and newborns for the SSM Health Wisconsin region, said it was rare for the hospital to deliver a child to a mother so sick with COVID-19.
Kelsey Townsend’s oxygen saturation was very low when she arrived at the hospital – so low that a fetus’ brain and other organs could be damaged – and her skin was gray and blue, Dr. Thomas Littlefield said in an e-mail. mail Wednesday so her baby would be delivered as soon as possible.
Doctors thought Townsend might need a double lung transplant in late December. But then it started to improve – so much so that it was moved from the intensive care unit, a ventilator was removed in mid-January and removed from the transplant waiting list.
Townsend’s husband, Derek Townsend, described the experience as a “big roller coaster.”
“There were many, many nights when I received phone calls late at night and early in the morning, and the doctors informed me that they did everything they could to support Kelsey and that it was difficult for them to stabilize. , “he said.” So many times I thought we would lose her. “
Derek Townsend says that even his daughter seemed to notice that someone was missing when his wife was still hospitalized.
“In the last three months with Lucy, you know, her head is always moving and she’s always looking. And I told Kelsey that I think he’s constantly looking for her, “he said.
The pair contracted COVID-19 despite taking precautions, Derek Townsend said. As he got better, his wife got worse. Then they went to the hospital.
“Family is everything to me,” said Kelsey Townsend. “So I have everything I need to live right here and come home. There was no doubt that I would not. ”