Actress Hari Teja and her husband Deepak were recently (April 6) blessed with a baby girl. However, a week before the delivery, Hari Teja tested positive for COVID-19. “Those 21 days were the toughest phase of my life; I had to endure a lot,” she says, looking back on that time.
“When I tested positive, I panicked because I was scared that my baby would contract the virus. I faced a lot of anxiety issues, apprehensions, and uneasiness,” she recalls. Sharing that initially, she wept a lot, the actress says the situation taught her everything, and she found strength within herself.
“Every woman wishes to have her family beside her during her delivery, but unfortunately my entire family tested positive too and was in isolation. So I went alone for the delivery and came back,” she reveals.
Soon after the baby was born, she had to undergo tests for COVID-19, and much to Hari Teja’s relief, the little one tested negative. Hari Teja had made many plans to welcome her baby. “But all plans had to be kept on hold after I tested positive,” she says. “I couldn’t see my baby properly, they showed her to me from a distance, but the whole 21 days I kept thinking about my baby,” she says, her eyes filling at the memory.
“I couldn’t even hold my baby when she was born. In fact, we didn’t have anyone to bring clothes for the new-born. The situation was so stressful.”
She says, “It was a nightmare, and not touching the baby for two weeks made me very weak. At one point, I wondered whether I would come out of that situation.” Hearing the groans of patients in the COVID ward was very scary, she adds.
“I just couldn’t wait to test negative; the moment I did, I threw away the mask and went and hugged my baby. I kissed her and I literally broke down. It was an emotional moment,” she shares, adding that the whole family too tested negative on the same day. “When I look back, I am surprised at my own bravery and at how I weathered the tough time,” she signs off.
