One month ago, I was 38 weeks pregnant, full of anxiety, anger and fear. Hospital protocols were changing daily. Visitors were banned. Laboring women could only have one person with them. This isn’t what I pictured delivering my third baby would look like.
Two weeks later, my husband and I walked into labor and delivery and were handed masks. We were told to wear those any time any one entered our room. The nurses were always masked, as was the doctor. This was my third baby and the whole process was so different than the other two.
During my first two deliveries we had guests in and out while I labored and more guests after delivery. There were no masks. No scary protocols. It was a celebration and everyone was invited.
This time, it was just my husband and I. The room was quiet. No chaos of visitors. The conversations were just him and I. Just the two of us for the first time in six and a half years.
I’m just going to say it: delivering during the pandemic was a blessing in disguise.
We delivered with quiet hallways in a quiet room filled with just the three of us. We welcomed this baby with no expectations of people rushing in during skin-to-skin. We established nursing without having to wear an awkward nursing cover.
It was just us and our little guy. It was perfect.
Twenty-four hours later we returned home. Due to social distancing, there were no visitors and no school. There was no early morning school drop offs or mid-day school pick ups. There was no “panic cleaning” for visitors. There was no schedule and low expectations.
Our girls have been able to bond with their little brother all day, everyday. Having no schedule with a newborn has been dreamy. We are all sleeping, nursing, and bonding with no interruptions. There’s no pressure to get out of the house. There’s no reason to try to squeeze into pre-pregnancy clothes.
If you are a pregnant momma set to deliver during all the chaos of the world right now, rest easy. Take a deep breath. While this is probably not how you imagined your delivery, find the blessing through this mess.
Enjoy this break from real life, snuggle up with your newborn and enjoy every last minute of the newborn stage. Too soon, that teeny tiny baby won’t be teeny tiny anymore.
Girl. I just delivered three weeks ago, your message is word for word how I have felt. I’ve had so many people tell me: “What a terrible time to have a baby”, and I’ve had to tell them all the opposite. My friend is a L&D RN and shared your post on Facebook. I have also shared, thank you for bringing light to this beautiful blessing.
So glad that my words resonated with you and your friend. It was such a different experience, but amazing in it’s own way! Tell your friend thanks for being there for new mommas!
I’ll be 38 weeks soon and I’ve had mixed feelings. I’ve been telling myself the things you mention in this article to stay strong but a part of me still hurts that this is our first baby and our first experience with all of this. We were so excited to have our parents to see their first grand baby and our family brings us so much comfort. If this wasn’t our first I’d feel differently, but man it’s been hard to accept that this major life shift coming for us is something we have no choice but to face alone. We’ll be trying to FaceTime family and do a livestream so they can meet her 💗 thank you for this article.
Congrats! I will admit that after having this peaceful delivery, I wish I would’ve done it with the others. But, just know that sweet baby will still be celebrated! Your family will be over the moon and facetime works so well (and you don’t have to clean your house!)
Enjoy every moment. Soak up all the newborn snuggles💕
Best wishes for a smooth delivery!
Thank you for writing this. I’m on the otherwise of the country in CA and a month away from having my 2nd baby. It’s a scary time, but your words are perfect! This is going to give more time for my husband and I to enjoy our baby and then without our daughter at preschool, we will have extra time with her we would have never gotten.
Yes! The uninterrupted bonding time is something that you’ll never be able to get back! Best wishes for the rest of your pregnancy and a smooth delivery.
Thank you so much for helping me see the silver lining to all this chaos. I am due on May 2nd and trying very hard not to freak out. This too will be my third child, however I have to ask you as you don’t mention it, who watched your other two children while you and your husband were in the hospital? Did you allow whoever did watch them to meet your baby as essentially they’d already been exposed to your other children etc?
Thanks!
So, this was a huge thing for me. Our parents are older, therefore in the increased risk group. My husband is a physician so we also had to consider he may contract or come into contact with the virus so we didn’t want to expose them if that happened. I had a friend from college who is a school teacher with no children come and watch my girls. She quarantined leading up to the delivery and with her being in her early 30s, we felt like she was a low risk person *if* she contracted the virus from us. I didn’t want anyone bringing their herd of kiddos here so she was our best option. She also left as soon as we got home so we didn’t have the concern of having someone just hang around while we transitioned with the baby. I hope that you have a great option to watch your little ones!
Best wishes as you near delivery!
Thank you for writing this. I am 37 weeks and 1 day; with my 2nd son! I’ve had so many concerns. My own concern now is the plan for my 3 year old. We have not allowed anyone in our home and we have not been in anyone else’s home since March 18th. And from the looks of it. This is going to continue on for some time. What did you do with your older girls?
Hi! I answered that in the previous comment above, but it was a big decision of who we let into the house. It helped knowing she wasn’t out and about. It was also nice that she didn’t have the expectation of staying once we returned.
Best wishes as you near delivery❤❤❤
Hello! Thank you so much for this!! I am pregnant with my first child and she is due in July! We are so excited but with all of this going on I’ve found it hard not to stress out a bit. Reading your article really helped a bit but I am still a bit terrified. God Bless!!!
This right here was the exact same experience my husband and I had with our third daughter! It’s nice to hear the same story from another mother, definitely shows we are not alone in this! God bless you and your family!
You have penned exactly how I have felt for the past 40 years! I am an RN who worked in L&D, postpartum but mostly in Nsy and NICU.
The time of welcoming one’s baby should be only the 3 of you. One will never be able to fully experience the “wonder and joy of birth” unless
You as parents can do so undisturbed by company. Family/friends weren’t around during conception. The excitement and love of family is needed but never in my opinion should it come before time alone with your spouse and baby. Congratulations!
My daughter delivered her first baby, via c section after 24 hrs labor, the day the hospital went into lockdown mode. She and her husband did very well. On day 3 the baby developed rapid breathing and was moved to the NICU. This is when support was needed and unavailable. He stayed in the NICU 5 days and the parents were required to go home at night and return in Am. The situation was exhausting and took a toll on them but a month later all is well and all 3, though socially isolated, have settled in. Good luck to all you moms to be and new moms
I just wanted to thank you so much whole heartedly for writing and sharing this. I’m also due to having my third in July and my anxiety has been through the roof with the uncertainty of what’s to come in delivering during these times. This blog couldn’t have found a better time to finding its way to me. I’ve been struggling with not being able to having my mom around this pregnancy due to social distancing. And with thinking they won’t be able to hold her when born. But THIS has helped and I will save this and re read it again when feeling anxious. Thank you again! Congratulations on your little boy and hope your recovery is well and your family stays healthy and safe!