Woman Gave Birth to a Son, Only to Lose Mobility. After Weeks of Therapy, She’s Able to Hold Her Baby

A woman gave birth to her son, only to experience an autoimmune event that decimated her mobility. After weeks of therapy, the new mom is finally able to return to her Michigan home — and hold her baby.

“I’m very excited just to be able to do the everyday things, like change his diaper,” Karina Klein told FOX affiliate WXMI from the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital.

The hospital did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

A week after delivering her son last year, Klein suffered stroke-like symptoms, impacting her ability to walk, talk and hold up her head. Doctors later learned these setbacks were the result of an autoimmune flare-up. Klein had lesions on her spine and brain stem, as well as inflammation, all of which were triggered by giving birth, WXMI reported. 

Klein spent weeks in the hospital and finally got to visit with her newborn, who was placed by her side on the hospital bed. 

“All they could do was set him by me,” Klein told the outlet. “I couldn’t move my arms. I couldn’t hold him.”

She told WXMI that her son is her primary motivation for regaining mobility.

After nine weeks of therapy, Klein can walk around and even make pottery, all with minimal support. She was also able to carry her son for the first time in a carrier, WXMI reported. Now going to her home in Kalamazoo, Klein will receive outpatient therapy. 

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As her son gets older, the new mom says she wants him to know about all of the people who cared for him when she was unable to. 

“I want him to know to fight and be strong,” Klein continued, according to the outlet. “And that God’s always looking over, and there’s a plan for everything.”