Pregnant In a Pandemic

What is like to be pregnant during covid-19

Pregnancy is one of the most joyous times in any new families life. A season of growth, nesting, and quarantine!? Well maybe we didn’t sign up or expect that last part. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in everyone’s life, so what was it really like for me to be pregnant with my first baby during it all…

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the start of the pandemic

I will never ever forget March 2020. Rashawn and I left for a babymoon/birthday trip on March 10th. Corona virus had just started popping up more frequently but it was still pre-pandemic. We were still extra careful on our flight, wiping down seats and one of 3 guests wearing a mask on the plane (didn’t want to take any risk!). We were headed to the OBX in North Carolina with a quick stop in South Carolina to watch his sister graduate from basic training in the Army. We got to stay at a Hilton because of my job, so this was our first access to watching live news everyday. Each day the news was more and more urgent and alarming.

On my birthday March 12th, the stock market took the biggest hit since 1987. I remember sitting in the hotel lobby with Rashawn and his brother and dad just shocked. We all had never seen anything, or expected anything like this to ever happen. Suddenly things were becoming more real that something was really wrong, and the WHO announced we were officially in a pandemic. We left the next day to the OBX and were supposed to stay for 5 days. We couldn’t help but have such eerie feelings everywhere we went. We continued to watch the news at night and on the 14th we were officially spooked. There was talk of airports potentially shutting down, roads being closed, and basically full panic was sinking in across the country.

We decided maybe we should try and get home just in case any of this was true, we were able to change our flight, hotel and rental car free of charge - so we knew it wasn’t good. We decided to check out that night and drive back to SC for an 8am flight. Once we got home it truly felt like we were living in some alternate reality! I opted out of going back to work for a few weeks just because I wanted to keep this baby safe. Rashawn and I stayed home and just watched the news daily. We watched as things starting shutting down and couldn’t help but wonder how life was about to change.

how did it affect appointments?

The one thing I feel like COVID truly impacted me on was my care. At the beginning of the year we have our first three appointments with the same doctor and nurse and were starting to bond with them and the care for our baby. However, once March hit, our doctors office had to shut down. This meant we would no longer see our normal care providers and would just have to meet with whoever was on schedule at a new location. I feel like I never got to bond with a care provider or have someone look after me and this little girl.

We had one random appointment at the new office. After that the hardest part was the 20th week appointment. This is the big ultrasound where you check to see if everything is developing ok and to find out the gender if wanted! Rashawn was not allowed at this appointment. I had to FaceTime him and show him his little gal through the phone. Going to the appointment I had to wear a mask, get temp checked at the door and it all just felt like a sci-fi movie. At this point New York announced that only mothers were allowed in the delivery room and I was SO nervous for this to happen to us. I told Rashawn I would give birth at home if that was the case!

We had tours scheduled at a couple hospitals which got cancelled so at this point we also still did not know where we were going to go. The 24th week appointment ended up being a virtual appointment with a stranger yet again. At this point I also hadn’t been into a doctors office for two months so I felt so weird not having my vitals checked in that long! In all, every appointment just didn’t feel real or monumental like I thought it would.

At 28 weeks we ended up choosing the Birth Center of Denver because they were the only place that would allow Rashawn to come to the appointments! I wanted to have an all natural birth so this just seemed like the best option overall. Once we made that choice we had all but one of our appointments in person and we got to be together. However we still didn’t feel bonded with a Midwife because we came so late in pregnancy . That is the one major thing I feel COVID stripped me of.

mentally

I think quarantine and the pandemic in general effected everyone differently. Obviously for some it was very tough on their mental health, and truly I think it rubbed on all of us in some way. I feel like I was truly blessed to have this time to just focus on myself and growing this little baby. However I do love being around people and I felt that was a bit draining to have virtual phone dates, I missed seeing my friends, family, and coworkers in person. I spent a lot of time trying to focus on what birth would be like and life with this little girl in it. I did lots of self care, watched a lot of my favorite shows, and read a whole lot of pregnancy and baby books. I just tried to keep myself busy everyday to avoid letting in negativity creep in. I feel like the most draining parts mentally were when I would think about all the things I was missing while being pregnant. My friends and family rubbing my belly, having a gender reveal and baby shower, and showing off my bump at work. I know they are small things and not necessities in life but it was things I was looking forward to when I got pregnant and some days would get sad when I felt like I was missing out. After all you only get your first pregnancy once.

PHYSICALLY

Let’s just say the quarantine 15 doesn’t help while pregnant haha! We defiantly focused on cooking a TON and ate good while home. I tried not to ‘eat for two’ like crazy but I defiantly had my YOLO days! I am not much of a workout fiend to begin with, so I just made sure I took my dog on a long walk every single day. We averaged about 2-3 miles each day and I think this truly helped my pregnancy along. As long as I was active each day it made me feel better physically and emotionally. I ended up gaining more weight that I wanted or planned but I never let it worry me because I know it was all to nurture this growing life in me. Everyone always told me I was all belly and that always made me smile because at least I knew all my weight was going to one place!

emotionally

I like to think of myself as a very happy person and someone who stays overall positive. Despite all the missed opportunities and craziness of 2020 I feel like I still kept my head up every single day. Of course there were some cries and tears shed but I didn’t let it get me down or turn into days of moping around. I just kept looking forward to having my little girl healthy and here with us. I think pregnancy in general brings LOTS of emotions out ( I mean hello hormone central!), and having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic on top of it defiantly could take a toll on you. In my opinion though it’s always up to you. Whether you let it beat you down or rise above is 100% up to you and the way you want to handle it. It is sooo easy to fall into dark emotions or be sad, happiness takes effort. I am so lucky to have someone like Rashawn in my life that truly helps me stay positive and gives me a reason to always be happy. Support and good people truly make all the difference. I think at first I was very emotionally terrified about how different life would now be, but after about 3 moths I realized reality is different now and life maybe never ever be the way it once was. It was all about adapting and becoming comfortable with the new way of life.

what did QUARANTINE look like?

Like I said above, for me it was all about keeping myself busy each day. I did lots of puzzles, brain games, book reading and picked up knitting again! I also taught my self to crochet so I could make my little girl some things before she got here. That was always my favorite because I felt like it gave me a real purpose. I ended up making lots of stuffies and knitted her a baby blanket. We also decided to transfer our office/guest room into a room for her! So that was so much fun getting to fully nest. I built a dresser and crib, repurposed a rocking chair, and made her custom artwork. That honestly was the best project getting everything ready for her and didn’t make me feel like I was missing out on something everyday.

Overall it was a wild ride to be pregnant in this pandemic, but I am glad for all the stories I will get to share with her about it when she grows up. She was apart of history after all.

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