Pregnancy during the Pandemic

Katie Botello had a more eventful pregnancy and delivery experience than anticipated. In December, she tested positive for COVID while pregnant with her daughter Jordan. “It was hard to tell what was COVID and what was my pregnancy,” said Botello.

Before COVID, the doctors told her that baby was small and never meeting her growth marks. Botello always felt sick but it took finding protein in her ear to get a diagnosis. This is a sign of pre-eclampsia, which can cause high blood pressure during pregnancy and be dangerous for the health of the mother.

In March, at 35 weeks, Botello was admitted to the hospital on full bed rest. She had a bad headache, which is a symptom of pre-eclampsia. The doctor said the pregnancy was getting dangerous and induced Botello.

Botello’s husband, Sonny, was called to the hospital and they did a standard COVID test on both. Katie’s test was positive, again, 90 days after her first diagnosis. They went into a c-section to make the birth faster and allow Sonny to stay.

“They pulled her out I didn’t get to see her, hold her, touch her. They put her in an incubator because she was so small,” said Katie Botello. Doctors told her she would not be able to see Jordan for 10 days due to her positive test.

A few hours after delivery, a call from Infectious Diseases confirmed that Katie was not contagious and her test only showed signs of traces of COVID from her earlier infection.

Now the Botellos are patiently waiting for their baby to finish full bottles on her own to come home.

The new parents take turns going into the NICU to see her. They can’t go in together because of pandemic restrictions.

“We’re making sure to stay safe and to keep her safe but we’re also getting anxious to bring her home,” said Sonny Botello. The pregnancy and delivery experience was far from normal, but it will be a story they will get to tell Jordan for the rest of her life.