A mother who battled Covid in hospital while pregnant is celebrating her baby boy’s first birthday.
During her time in ICU the situation was so severe Mechelle Smith was scared her unborn child’s life would end before it began, as well as the risk to her own.
“When I was getting put on the ventilator, they were saying that if I had to get a C-section I probably wouldn’t survive it,” she told STV News.
“I know they’ve got to prepare you for that sort of thing, but I was just so lucky to make it through.”
Mechelle SmithAfter 18 days, Mechelle was able to leave hospital to be with her husband William, and her three children, Lucy, ten, nine-year-old Emily and one-year-old Jessica at their home in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire.
She was anxious about returning to hospital for the birth but, one year on, little baby Billy is “happy and healthy”.
“The first few months of his life I was so worried that, you know, Covid and the ventilator and things, would have had some sort of impact on him,” Mechelle said.
STV News“I’m just so absolutely blessed and so happy with him.
“I feel like I’ve got to pinch myself sometimes at how lucky we’ve been through everything, but it just feels so unbelievable that he’s here and he’s so healthy and I’ve got all my family around us.”
On Friday, the family gathered to celebrate Billy’s first birthday.
“They’ve got us and we’ve got them and I’m just eternally grateful for everything that was done for me,” Mechelle said.
STV NewsWhile in intensive care, doctors treated Mechelle for pneumonia, pleurisy and blood clots and was placed in an induced coma.
To thank the staff that cared for her, she and her family are raising cash to help others in the ward where she spent eight days in a coma.
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