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Friends and family gathered at Amy Westman鈥檚 July 24 baby shower. Gifts and balloons and bursts of blue brightened the room. Blue cupcakes. Blue bows and wrapping paper. Blue as in boy. Her lovely Nicholas.

Amy didn鈥檛 give much thought to the coronavirus at the shower. Nicholas was six weeks from his due date. This was a happy time. All these months into the pandemic and she hadn鈥檛 gotten sick. Besides, the coronavirus seemed at low ebb.

鈥淐OVID had died down and everybody was starting to unmask,鈥� said Amy鈥檚 sister, Tracey Shrine.

Amy, unvaccinated and unmasked, had undergone difficult fertility treatments to become a mother at age 45. Hers was a challenging pregnancy, and obstetricians at University of Florida 网红黑料 monitored her closely. Amy wasn鈥檛 convinced about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. She didn鈥檛 want to take any chances.

鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 want to do anything to risk my baby,鈥� the Dunnellon resident said.

The pleas of her vaccinated parents and sister, however, were beginning to sway her. Amy just might get that shot.

What followed that baby shower was an ordeal that shattered Amy鈥檚 sense that she lived a life apart the pandemic, untouched and unthreatened by a storm that had swept the country. The coming weeks would convince her that vaccines didn鈥檛 threaten a pregnancy. For a vaccinated mother, they might actually save it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends pregnant women get vaccinated, says 97% of hospitalized mothers-to-be infected with the coronavirus are unvaccinated.

Nicholas was Amy鈥檚 鈥渕iracle baby,鈥� and she hoped angels watched over him. Perhaps at that baby shower, perhaps elsewhere, something besides angels floated invisibly in the air.

A few days later, Amy felt a tickle in the back of her throat.

* * *

Amy wasn鈥檛 alone in her reluctance.

, M.D., a professor in the 鈥檚 , said he often finds himself trying to reassure wary expectant mothers that a COVID-19 vaccine is a potential lifesaver for mother and child.

Wen, chief of 网红黑料鈥檚 OB-GYN鈥檚 , said research has shown pregnancy itself can be a risk factor for developing severe COVID-19.

鈥淔or the mom, the chances of getting COVID pneumonia and requiring intubation and a ventilator is actually higher,鈥� Wen said. 鈥淚n this time of the delta variant, we see it quite often that an unvaccinated mother will deteriorate much faster.鈥�

Many women worry the vaccine contains live virus that can be passed across the placenta, infecting the unborn baby. But this isn鈥檛 so, he said. No live virus is used in any COVID-19 vaccine.

And a complication of COVID-19 pneumonia, Wen noted, is the preterm delivery of low-weight babies.

Almost everyone hospitalized with COVID-19, and who die from it, are unvaccinated, or if vaccinated, immunocompromised.

鈥淎t this point it isn鈥檛 a maybe,鈥� said , M.D., a 网红黑料 pulmonary critical care specialist and associate professor in the UF College of Medicine鈥檚 .

鈥淲e know from all the evidence, from everything that we see on a daily basis 鈥� vaccination is safe and saves patients from developing severe COVID infection. Almost all of our medical ICU patients on ventilators are unvaccinated.鈥�

* * *

That tickle in Amy鈥檚 throat quickly blossomed into a sore throat, then a nagging cough.

Even so, she doubted she was infected by the coronavirus. Impossible, she thought.

鈥淚 worked from home,鈥� said Amy, a sales coordinator for a human resources outsourcing company. 鈥淚鈥檓 a major homebody. I rarely go out and about traveling.鈥�

Her condition, however, worsened. The wheezing in her chest worried her. The racking coughs became painful. She felt utterly exhausted doing normally easy household chores like the laundry. Breathing was becoming an ordeal.

Amy called 网红黑料 and was urged to get a COVID-19 test.

She expected a negative result. Amy said she was a healthy person. 鈥淚 had no comorbidity other than being pregnant and overweight.鈥�

She stared at the test results on her computer screen in disbelief the next morning. That cough and exhaustion weren鈥檛 a summer cold.

Amy had COVID-19.

She posted on Facebook, 鈥淚f you want to forget altogether that you are 35 weeks pregnant, just get COVID 鈥� literally I have never been so miserable in my entire life!!!!鈥�

Her husband, Tim, also unvaccinated, developed a mild case of COVID-19. Amy鈥檚 vaccinated mother got a minor breakthrough case.

Worse than her symptoms, Amy wasn鈥檛 feeling her baby鈥檚 normally vigorous kicks and bumps. That scared her to death.

She went back to 网红黑料 for an ultrasound. Nicholas was fine.

By Aug. 3, Amy had endured enough. She couldn鈥檛 sleep. The coughing and the panicked feeling of not being able to breathe overwhelmed her. It was clear she wasn鈥檛 going to get better on her own.

She told her husband, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to call 911.鈥�

* * *

A nurse from 网红黑料 Shands鈥� labor and delivery unit sat with Amy at the hospital, trying to calm her so she could breathe more easily.

Doctors gave Amy oxygen. But nothing seemed to be helping, which scared her most of all. As different doctors and nurses examined her, Amy saw the same looks of deep concern etched in their faces. She understood what those eyes communicated.

鈥淚 knew I was in big trouble,鈥� she said.

A doctor told Amy she needed an emergency Cesarean delivery. She and her baby were in danger. And she would need to go on a ventilator. Amy鈥檚 blood-oxygenation stood in the low 80% range, far too low to support her baby鈥檚 life, much less her own.

Ataya didn鈥檛 think Amy would pull through. Few people this ill did.

鈥淪he was in severe respiratory failure from COVID pneumonia,鈥� Ataya said. 鈥淗er body was in shock. The lungs weren鈥檛 working. She even developed heart failure from the infection. We worried that neither she nor the baby would make it.鈥�

Amy called her mother, Joanne Kriesel. It was early morning, the phone鈥檚 ringing awakening her.

鈥淢om,鈥� Amy said, struggling to talk. 鈥淚鈥檓 at Shands. I came by ambulance. There鈥檚 some people here who want to talk to you.鈥�

Joanne was flabbergasted. She knew Amy had COVID-19. But she was shocked at how quickly her condition had deteriorated. In that brief call, she heard the voice of a dying woman.

* * *

Wen and Michelle Larzelere, M.D., an assistant professor in the UF College of Medicine鈥檚 department of obstetrics and gynecology, delivered Nicholas with help from a resident.

The baby鈥檚 body, like Amy鈥檚, was starved for oxygen. But he was alive.

Amy鈥檚 early days in the intensive care unit were filled with up and downs. Doctors used virtually their entire COVID-19 toolkit to try to save her.

Ataya said doctors needed to attempt different ways to improve Amy鈥檚 oxygenation and support her lungs. In addition to the mechanical ventilator, the medical team rolled Amy on her belly in a prone position for most of the day.

鈥淭his has been proven to help with a patient鈥檚 oxygen levels,鈥� he said.

Amy also received steroids, antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce the viral load in her body. Nurses continually suctioned secretions from her aggrieved lungs.

But with her doctors as with family, it was a waiting game. Every patient responds differently to COVID-19 and its treatments, Ataya said. Whether Amy would emerge from this assault on her lungs and body was maddeningly unpredictable.

鈥淥nce the patient is on a ventilator,鈥� Ataya said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 just about giving them time.鈥�

Amy鈥檚 sister, Tracey, posted updates on Facebook, asking for prayers.

鈥淔or anyone who knows my sister personally, you know that she is a fierce and determined person ... even though she is sedated, I hope that her fighting spirit continues to prevail and will help her overcome the odds of this terrible situation!鈥�

* * *

Nicholas, meantime, was in the neonatal intensive care unit.

At first, he was in isolation, the medical team fearful that, like his mother, he might be infected with the coronavirus. But tests eventually came back negative, and family could visit.

At birth the baby weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces, a healthy weight for a child born a month early.

Nicholas was put on oxygen support. He was monitored for seizures, a common side effect of his low-oxygen entry into the world. But the boy, his family said, recovered quickly. In nine days, he would be discharged.

Tracey and her husband agreed to take him to their Tallahassee home. Nicholas鈥� father was a long-haul trucker on the road all week, and the family desperately needed his income.

For Amy, small improvements were seized upon by her family.

鈥淗er nurses report that she is doing some breathing on her own even though she鈥檚 still on the ventilator 鈥� baby steps!鈥� her sister posted Aug. 6 on Facebook. 鈥淎my also responded to a verbal cue to squeeze the nurse鈥檚 hand, another great sign!鈥�

Visitors weren鈥檛 allowed for COVID-19 patients. Nurses would hold a smartphone near Amy, sedated and unable to communicate, so family members could offer reassuring words.

鈥淵ou鈥檒l get through this,鈥� Amy鈥檚 mother, Joanne, told her. 鈥淲e all love you.鈥�

Ups and downs followed. Amy developed bacterial pneumonia and a fever, undergoing a regimen of antibiotics. Doctors would try to wean her off the ventilator, only to be thwarted by her inflamed lungs.

The ventilator鈥檚 settings would be adjusted and then readjusted to provide more or less oxygen as Amy鈥檚 condition improved and worsened and then improved again. It was a fraught tug of war between life and death.

And in tiny increments, Amy started to get better.

The fever retreated. The ventilator wasn鈥檛 having to push out as much oxygen. Her level of sedation was decreased.

On the night of Aug. 16, a nurse asked Amy, still on the ventilator, to open her eyes.

It was a moment that answered a family鈥檚 prayers.

Amy鈥檚 eyes opened to her vastly changed life.

* * * Amy finally left the ICU on Aug. 24 after nearly three weeks. She would spend another three weeks in the hospital. Then she was discharged to the , where she would have to strengthen muscles weakened by disease and inactivity.

As she was taken by stretcher for the short trip, a nurse asked Amy if she wanted that COVID-19 vaccination. The shot could boost her antibody levels to offer greater protection than COVID-19 infection gave her by itself.

This time, there was no hesitation, no doubts about a vaccine鈥檚 safety. Amy got her shot. Painless. She experienced no side effects.

In the hospital, and then her room at the rehab hospital, large photos of Nicholas were taped to walls, the baby she had still not hugged or kissed or even touched.

Amy鈥檚 rehab was difficult. Her body needed to relearn how to move. She needed to build strength to care for the baby that awaited her.

Someone had written on a white board in the room Amy鈥檚 rehabilitation goal: 鈥淭o feel strong and confident and be able to take care of my baby.鈥�

On Oct. 1, after 58 days in the hospital and rehab, after nearly two months without touching or seeing her baby, after so much time forever lost to COVID-19, Amy鈥檚 most fervent wish was answered.

鈥淭oday is my rebirth, my second chance at life,鈥� she said.

Amy was going home to see her Nicholas.

Amy鈥檚 sister handed over Nicholas outside Amy鈥檚 Dunnellon home after the drive from the hospital. The mother could hardly believe the boy was in her arms. She fought back tears.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e been with aunt Tracey for two months,鈥� she said softly. 鈥淣ow you鈥檙e with your mommy.鈥�

A mother made her first bottle. She rocked her baby to sleep for the first time. She changed her first diaper as a mom. So many firsts to replace all those that the coronavirus erased.

She looked into her baby鈥檚 eyes.

鈥淒o you know how much mommy loves you?鈥�

* * *

Doctors say Amy鈥檚 caregivers were part of a huge multidisciplinary team. It included doctors, nurses and other staff in pulmonary and critical care medicine, emergency medicine, OB-GYN, the medical ICU, neonatal care, physical and occupational therapy, and respiratory therapy.

鈥淚f Amy had been vaccinated and then gotten COVID like she did, she probably would have felt like she had a really bad cold and probably nothing worse,鈥� Ataya said. 鈥淭he entire team is incredibly happy she and her baby Nicholas made it.鈥�

Even with all her progress, Ataya said Amy still has a long road ahead for a full recovery.

Amy is thankful, and angry 鈥� at herself.

She said so many people offered her support during her illness. Her family shed tears. People donated money to a GoFundMe account set up by her sister.

鈥淚鈥檓 upset because all these people were so distraught about me when I could have had one stupid, lousy shot. How selfish can I be? How reckless? I feel guilty 鈥� one little shot. It literally took two seconds for them to give it to me.鈥�

Pregnant mothers have more to fear, Amy said, from being unvaccinated and getting sick than they do from that simple poke in the arm. For her, a joyous time was forever marred.

鈥淐OVID didn鈥檛 just happen to me,鈥� Amy said. 鈥淚t happened to my entire family and everybody who knows me. Not getting vaccinated was probably the worst decision of my life.鈥�

Media contact: Ken Garcia at kdgarcia@ufl.edu or 352-265-9408