By KMOV Staff | December 27, 2020 at 6:14 AM EST – Updated December 27 at 9:28 PM
FERGUSON, Mo. (KMOV) – A Missouri mother happily celebrated Christmas at home with her newborn, who had to be delivered prematurely while the mother was on a ventilator due to COVID-19.
Monique Jones considers the birth of her second daughter, Zamyrah, a miracle. Doctors made the difficult decision to deliver the baby girl at just 29 weeks, while her mother, who had tested positive for COVID-19 in early September, was on a ventilator.
“I don’t want her away from me. I feel like she was away from me for too long,” Jones said.
Despite her brush with death, Jones recovered and was able to return home.
Baby Zamyrah spent two months in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and was declared strong enough to go home just before Christmas.
“It’s a beautiful thing to have her here because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I mean, who gonna know if they gonna live or die? Who’s gonna know that?” Jones said.
Jones was thrilled to have her family together under one roof for the holiday, thankful for the one thing she says got her through the entire ordeal.
“I feel like I was fighting, not for me but for them,” she said. “Family always meant a lot, and for me to have one of my own, it feels good to have the support that I need.”
Jones says Zamyrah continues to grow daily, weighing more than 5 pounds at 3 months old.
Copyright 2020 KMOV via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
