Elsa and Victor, proud new parents of Sofia

当艾尔莎·雷耶斯-阿玛亚在2020年1月得知自己怀孕时，她既惊讶又高兴. The healthy, 24-year-old and her partner, Victor, 一起开始了第一次为人父母的激动人心的旅程.

Normal Pregnancy or Coronavirus Symptoms?

In late March, Elsa developed a headache. She started to run a slight fever and noticed some body aches. 她打电话给她的医生，医生说这可能是由于她的身体经历了怀孕的变化.

A little over a week later, Elsa had nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, and just a few days later, there was a new, 令人不安的症状:她呼吸困难.

COVID-19 Pneumonia During Pregnancy

4月13日，维克多把埃尔莎送到附近的一家医院，她在那里住了下来. Four days later, her condition deteriorated. 她得了肺炎，被转到约翰霍普金斯医院.

“Ms. 雷耶斯-阿玛亚来到医院时情况危急，“产科医生 Andrew Satin, M.D., says. “由于突发严重肺炎，她出现了呼吸衰竭.”

Elsa was also showing early signs of sepsis这是一种可能致命的血液感染，可能发生在危重推荐十大正规网赌平台身上. 萨丹说，虽然她最初的COVID-19检测结果是阴性的, 进一步的检测结果为阳性:埃尔莎感染了SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

艾尔莎说，她不太记得在约翰霍普金斯大学后发生了什么. But what she does recall makes her cry, 尤其是当她想到她和她未出生的孩子所处的危险境地时. “It’s still hard to talk about,” she says.

Elsa has no idea how she caught the coronavirus. She lives in the same home as Victor, his mother and his brother, none of whom came down with COVID-19.

Ventilator Treatment for COVID-19

尽管在约翰霍普金斯大学接受了支持性治疗，艾尔莎的病情仍在继续恶化.

Satin explains that during pregnancy, 肺部的正常变化有助于孕妇在为自己和胎儿呼吸时吸入和吸收更多的氧气. 当孕妇患上肺炎时，这些变化会使病情更加严重.

起初，埃尔莎接受了额外的氧气治疗，但这还不够. 随着她的呼吸变得越来越困难，她不得不戴上呼吸机. Her care team gave her medicine to put her in a deep sleep. Then, 团队在艾尔莎的喉咙里插入了一根呼吸管，将氧气输送到她的肺部, essentially, breathe for her while she was unconscious.

Her awareness came and went. 与其他在重症监护病房(ICU)住院的COVID-19患者一样, she experienced troubling nightmares. When she regained consciousness, she was still fearful, 在给家人打电话后，她才知道那些令人不安的梦不是真的.

Turning a Corner and Shifting to Obstetric Care

在其他时刻，艾尔莎回忆起听到一个平静、慈爱的声音对她说话. “It was like a dream. 我知道我睡着了，但我觉得是上帝在跟我说话，”她说.

Her family watched her progress from a necessary distance. (To protect patients and staff members from the coronavirus, 约翰霍普金斯医院在COVID-19大流行期间不允许访客，除非非常有限, exceptional situations.)

重症监护小组于5月5日拔掉了艾莎的呼吸管. “I was very surprised when I woke up. I thought I had been asleep for two days, 但护士告诉我，我已经用呼吸机两个多星期了.”

萨丹和艾尔莎的其他医疗服务提供者都很兴奋，谨慎而充满希望. 由于COVID-19是一种新疾病，其对未出生婴儿的影响尚不清楚.

埃尔莎恢复意识，意识到自己已经脱离了冠状病毒感染的危险, she was eager to focus on her pregnancy,” Satin says. “We performed an ultrasound, 艾尔莎问的第一个问题是我们能否判断婴儿的性别. The nurse got tears in her eyes. It was very moving.”

萨丹指出，他的团队，包括大多数的研究员和主治医生的部门 Maternal-Fetal Medicine, came to know Elsa.

埃尔莎很高兴自己脱离了最危险的境地，也很高兴自己将迎来一个小女孩, but recovering from COVID-19 was tough. The disease had ransacked her body. 她想念她的家人，尽管做了令人鼓舞的超声波检查，她还是很担心她的孩子. “医生告诉我我会好起来的，但我仍然感到害怕和压力，”艾尔莎说. “They continued with so many tests. I prayed a lot, and asked God to protect my daughter.”

“所有的医生和护士都对我很好，”艾尔莎说. “I felt protected. 我很感激医生和我沟通，解释发生了什么.

“我希望我能记住每个照顾过我的人的名字，但我确实记得他们的脸.”

Surviving the Coronavirus

埃尔莎说，她的经历让她意识到COVID-19有多严重.

她说:“不要把这种疾病看作一场游戏，因为它很可怕。. 他说:“我看到有些人出门不采取预防措施. I am not a doctor, 但我知道，如果我们最终不得不在我们的社区中与COVID-19共存, 人们必须照顾好自己和家人，保证安全.”

埃尔莎说，她的焦虑挥之不去，甚至当她回到家与家人团聚时也是如此. “I was so afraid of getting sick again. But my baby gave me strength.”

A New Daughter and New Hope

7月31日，婴儿索菲亚出生了——有点早，有点小，但非常幸运. “我很高兴能参加，这样我就能在艾尔莎分娩的时候陪在她身边，”萨丹说. “我们觉得这是一个很大的拯救:两个推荐十大正规网赌平台——艾尔莎和索菲亚——以及一个家庭.”

萨丹指出，虽然一些患有严重COVID-19肺炎的患者无法存活, 艾尔莎的年轻和缺乏许多危险因素提高了她的机会.

“This was an uplifting case,” Satin says. “Ms. Reyes’ ICU team deserves so much credit, not just for the happy outcome for her, her baby and her family, but also for all of us who were privileged to care for her.”

Elsa is thrilled to be a mom, 她说，专注于孩子让她度过了最艰难的时刻. “Thank God, Sofia was OK,” she says. “She is an angel. I’m so proud of her.

“It was always about her.”

Learn more about coronavirus and maternal-fetal medicine.