Local woman tests positive for COVID-19 while pregnant with first child

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. - A local family already dealing with the stress from their first pregnancy, faced unexpected challenges when the soon-to-be mom tested positive for COVID-19.

In the past year Patricia Moya and her husband Skyler Schiller have experienced a lot. After years of dating, the couple finally tied the knot in July.

“One hundred percent ready for the next chapter," said Moya.

A few months later, they prepared for an even newer chapter after Moya found out she was pregnant.

“She was crying when she came down into the kitchen, so I knew it was not a joke," said Schiller.

The young family prepared for what it would mean to add a third member.

“It’s a rollercoaster,” said Moya. “Some days and weeks I felt more excited, some I was really scared about what life would look like."

The idea of what life would look like changed for everyone when Covid-19 hit. Moya saw the effects every day at her job working as a nurse.

“Being in an environment of fear and uncertainty,” she said.

Working in oncology, Moya says she did not deal directly with Covid-19 patients.

Unfortunately, that was not enough to keep her safe from the virus.

“if I could go back, I would have ripped her out of the hospital at the beginning of April, or the beginning of March, had I known,” said Schiller.

Moya tested positive for the coronavirus just a few weeks before she was supposed to give birth.

Now, the couple faced unexpected questions.

“Mostly what I was thinking about was what the implications would be if I were still positive when I gave birth, but my hope at the time was I had a good four weeks left,” she said.

But complications led to her giving birth early.

She had already isolated from her husband at home due to the virus, and she found out when she went to the hospital, she would give birth without Schiller by her side.

“That was hard for her and for me, to watch the birth of my son through a pixelated FaceTime screen,” he said

Now, the family is home and there is nothing keeping them apart.

“I have felt great, baby’s been great. My husband is great,” said Moya.

She says she’s faced things in the last few weeks she never expected she would have to deal with, but it’s taught her a lot.

“It’s important to not let that fear and uncertainty grip us and steal from us what is most important,” she said.