Mother forced to wait months to hold NICU baby because of pandemic

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - A Clayton County mother forced to wait months to hold her baby because of the pandemic may finally be able to bring her son home.

The child has spent the majority of his life away from his mother, Shamika Lewis, who hopes that will change soon.

"Hopefully we can bring him home Friday," she told FOX5's Alex Whittler

The first few moments a mother spends with her newborn are priceless.

Lewis made sure to document the moment on video as she held her firstborn child, a pre-me, in her arms, more than 60 days after giving birth.

Like most pregnant women in 2020, Lewis never expected the pandemic to stand in parenthood’s way.

"One day I’m just expecting a regular life. The next, it’s a whole 360," she said.

Little Gatoure was born 2 pounds, 6 ounces at 28 weeks the second week of March.

That’s around the same time the country shut down for stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of covid-19.

Lewis gave birth at Southern Regional and after six days of recovery, without holding her son, she was forced to go home.

Gatoure's father spends a lot of his time at work on the road.

"...and then the hospital shut down. I had to be in the house all the time. No family, no friends. Just in the house alone.It was like a very dark cloud over me," she said.

For weeks, Lewis quarantined, hoping to remain covid free in the event she was allowed to see her little boy.

The long-awaited embrace didn’t come to fruition until May, when Gatoure was taken to Scottish Rite.

Lewis remembers the moment clearly.

"I just started crying. I was like 'I can hold him? This is my first time seeing him since birth,'" she said.

Now six months old, the NICU baby has undergone multiple surgeries.

"He had a real bad turn, his heart stopped, they had to resuscitate him," Lewis explained.

As of September, doctors are impressed with his progress.

"We don’t know what he will or will not be able to do, but he’s going beyond what doctors expected," she said.

Lewis says each day Gatoure gets closer to another milestone: his first day in his new home.