(Oct. 9) - She won't ever know her mother. But baby Abbey is finally home with her dad and big brother.
Abbey was born by cesarean section to Katie Flyte -- who never even knew she had a daughter. Flyte, 27, of Pullyap, Wash., was six weeks pregnant when she contracted swine flu. She spent weeks in a coma before doctors finally decided in July that they had to deliver the baby, or risk losing both mother and child.
Flyte lost her battle with the flu and died in August.
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While in a coma, Katie Flyte gave birth via C-section to a daughter. She died shortly thereafter of complications of the H1N1 virus.
Her daughter, Abigail Marie, weighed just 2 pounds, 14 ounces when she was born. After spending weeks at the neonatal intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center, baby Abbey came home on Thursday, marking a bittersweet moment for the devastated family, KOMO-TV reported.
Her dad, Kenny Flyte, is now caring for both Abbey and her 2-year-old brother, Jacob. A laid-off construction worker, Flyte says he plans to stay at home until Abbey is 6 months old, then start looking for work.
"Life is different without mom," the widowed father said. "All the feedings, dishes, laundry, and 2-year-old Jacob even called me 'Momma' a few times."
KOMO viewers have contributed $6,000 to help the family.
"My heart is just overwhelmed with the support that I've gotten through e-mails, letters, to just stuff being dropped off on the front porch," Flyte told the station in September. "It is simply amazing that people still care about strangers."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant women have had higher rates of hospitalization because of swine flu than the general public, and are strongly encouraged to receive the H1N1 vaccine.
As of Oct. 2, 28 pregnant women had died of the H1N1 virus, federal health officials said.
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10 Swine Flu Facts
1. No cause for panic: So far, hospitalizations and deaths from swine flu seem to be lower than the average seen for seasonal flu, and the virus hasn't dramatically mutated. Still, more people are susceptible to swine flu and U.S. health officials are worried because it hung in so firmly here during the summer.
Ricardo Moraes, AP
Ricardo Moraes, AP
