Houston mother finally meets newborn son after battling COVID for over a month
HOUSTON -- A Houston-area mother just met her newborn son last week after spending more than a month in the hospital battling COVID-19. Half of that time was spent in a medically-induced coma.
When Chequile Pettaway found out she was first pregnant with baby Karter, she was excited.
"Everything was going well up until the ninth month," said Pettaway.
She tested positive for COVID-19 a week before her baby's delivery date.
"I was scared for my child," said Pettaway. "I didn't want him to get infected by it."
On Aug. 1, the soon-to-be mother of four was admitted into the hospital. The very next day, she gave birth to Karter. Then two days later, she was placed in a medically-induced coma to try to stabilize her organs. It lasted about three weeks.
"I never got to hold him. It was sad because I never got to bond with my son," Pettaway said as she reminisced on her dreadful journey back to health.
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Fast forward to Sept. 21, and Pettaway was now out of the hospital and finally got to hold and kiss her baby.
"I started crying happy tears because I missed him. It was a good day that day," she said.
Pettaway said she was not vaccinated and if she learned anything from this, she said it was to have listened to the doctors and gotten the shot.
"I didn't want to get vaccinated while pregnant. I didn't know how that was going to affect him," she said.
Now, she's urging everyone to get the vaccine.
Pettaway has a long road to recovery ahead. Since her release from the ICU, she has been going to rehab in Sugar Land to learn how to walk again and use her arms.
"My kids are my motivation to get better," she said.
Pettaway's sister set up a GoFundMe page for donations to go toward the cost of rehab.
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