MADISON, Wis. — Ten tiny fingers. Holding on to a bond created months ago, powered by a mother's love.
"I can't believe how small she is," mom Kelsey Townsend said. "I love you so much, and I missed you."
"Kelsey, she loves her family, and she loves her kids so much," said dad Derek. "I told her this morning that I'm more nervous than I was on our wedding day, or our first date, or the birth of our first child".
Kelsey was nine months pregnant when she was diagnosed with COVID-19 in October. She gave birth on Nov. 4 while in a medically-induced coma.
"So many ups and downs," Derek said. "And just so much uncertainty. It's been real difficult."
"She was in critical care," said Kelsey. "And that best explains it. There was many times that we didn't think that she was gonna make it through the night."
She has spent a lot of time in the intensive care unit, relying on machines to work for her heart and lungs. At one point, doctors believed she would need a double lung transplant just to survive.
"They had to, multiple times, call in specialists that were home and not in during the night. They had to rush from home early in the morning to care to her," Derek said.
Kelsey's medical team calls her "miracle mom".
"We don't know what precisely allowed her lungs to start recovering," said Dr. Dan McCarthy.
Kelsey, who waited months to hold her new baby, will continue to find strength in the love of her family.
"It's gonna be really nice to have her home, knowing that she is going to meet Lucy and be with the kids and she's very excited for that," said Derek.