Angela Primachenko has no memory of giving birth to her daughter, but she will always remember the day she finally got to hold her for the first time.
Primachenko, 27, gave birth to a daughter on April 1 while she was in a medically induced coma and hooked up to a ventilator, fighting for her life against the coronavirus.
The respiratory therapist from Vancouver, Washington, called herself "a miracle walking" on TODAY last week after she survived and was released from the hospital.
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She had to have two straight tests that showed she is negative for COVID-19 before doctors would let her see her daughter, Ava, who was in the neonatal intensive care unit at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
That day finally came on April 16 when she held Ava in her arms.
"Crying right now!!! IM COVA FREE!!! And holding my baby girl in my hands!" she wrote on Instagram.
Primachenko wore a mask as she cradled her second child.
"Such a testimony to be able to hold my little Ava (the reason I’m wearing a mask is because everybody has to wear a mask now when visiting the NICU),'' she wrote on Instagram. "Ava is doing amazing and gaining weight everyday like a champ! Another week or so and we will be able to take her HOME!!"
Her husband, David, and her 11-month-old daughter, Emily, did not test positive for COVID-19, so David had been able to hold their daughter in the NICU before Angela was able to see her.
Primachenko shared a video on Instagram of the sweet moment when Emily got to meet her little sister for the first time on Sunday.
Primachenko was 33 weeks pregnant with a fever and other symptoms when she was tested for COVID-19 on March 24. Eight days later, she was on a ventilator in a medically induced coma.
Eventually, she pulled through and was taken off the ventilator on April 6. She woke up to the stunning realization that she was no longer pregnant.
"After all the medication and everything I just woke up and all of a sudden I didn't have my belly any more,'' she said on TODAY. "It was just extremely mind-blowing."
Primachenko is hoping her story can provide a measure of hope during the pandemic.
"The last few weeks have been filled with so much unexpected change in my life... and I feel like I can write a novel.. but for tonight I’ll just write that life is good, and let’s find the good in everyday," she wrote on Instagram.