Due to COVID-19, a Chicago mom had to wait one week before seeing her newborn baby. Ashley Kappa gave birth a little earlier than expected. Her premature baby had to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Before giving birth, the mom-to-be went on a roller coaster ride of challenges with her husband. Kappa tested positive for COVID-19 and had preeclampsia (high blood pressure in pregnant women).
Although it was a challenging ride, everything is well now.
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First, the wedding
During the first months of 2020, Ashley and his now-husband Andrew thought that they were going to have a grand wedding.
They planned for the big day of their lives, only to have it canceled twice due to COVID-19.
Even if they no longer had the grand wedding that the couple initially planned to have, they instead had a simple courthouse wedding.
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Surprise! A baby is on the way.
Although having a baby was part of the couple's plan, they intended to try for kids at the end of the year.
A few weeks after getting married, the Chicago mom discovered that she is pregnant. Because of this, the couple planned to have a doula delivery in December.
However, one month before the delivery, the Chicago mom had preeclampsia, a condition where pregnant women experience high blood pressure.
When they went to the hospital, the couple was once again welcomed by another set of surprises.
Chicago mom was COVID-19 positive.
Due to the preeclampsia, Ashle had to deliver her baby a month earlier. However, bad news came along with it - that Chicago mom was also COVID-19 positive.
Because of this, there was no assurance if Andrew could be in the delivery room when the baby arrives.
Baby delivery
After being born, the Chicago mom's newborn baby was immediately brought to the NICU.
Because the mom tested positive, she had to remain in quarantine and was not allowed to see her baby girl.
The hospital, however, thought of a way for parents suffering from coronavirus to get a chance to see their babies. An iPad is provided to them.
Ashley said in an interview with CBS, "We could call the NICU at any time and FaceTime with her."
Seeing the baby after a week
For six days, the couple had to settle with videoconferencing, but even though they had to go through all of those hardships, the couple said they will not change anything.
Ashley said, "Every fear that we had came true, and everything ended up being OK."
