My husband and I announced back in April that we are expecting a baby in September! We are beyond excited, but this also comes with some fears, changes, and adaptations that are much different than a normal pregnancy. How do you have a “normal” pregnancy when you’re quarantined to your house with only the two other people you live with, and you can’t go to stores or have parties?
I’m sure many of you are in this same boat, trying to navigate your way through these new and different times. Here are some ways my pregnancy has been different so far, and ways that we’ve attempted to normalize them in the wake of situations far from normal:
Pregnancy announcement
Although we couldn’t tell people in person, we were still able to announce our pregnancy on social media. This took some engineering expertise, though (thanks to my wonderful husband!). We wanted family pictures taken, but obviously couldn’t have another person in our home. So picture this, on the other side of our yard: a dining room chair with a candle holder on the seat, holding a cell phone with a timer on the camera. Thank goodness cell phone camera quality has increased dramatically over the years! It took us many tries and re-tries to get some good pictures this way, but hey — it WORKED!
Doctors appointments and ultrasounds
In the very beginning of my pregnancy, the world was fairly normal. My husband was able to go with me to all our appointments and ultrasounds, and there were no masks or increased safety measures in place. As the second trimester approached, things changed. No one else is allowed to go to appointments with me. It feels very lonely at times, I’ll admit — I don’t know how you single mamas do it! The staff at my OB office has been very understanding, though. At my ultrasounds, they print off TONS of pictures for me to bring back to my husband. My doctor lets us video the ultrasounds, as well.
Gender reveal
In my pre-quarantine pregnancy mind, I had thoughts of a fiesta-themed gender reveal party (a “he or she-esta” if you will… ha!) with a taco bar, a piñata, and churros cupcakes that I was going to make myself. That, however, did not happen. We had no family or friends surrounding us as we discovered the gender of our baby. Instead, my husband and I decided to find out first, just us two. We opened the envelope in our bedroom, and celebrated with a Nothing Bundt Cake. We did still keep a remnant of the fiesta theme, and ordered a piñata and pink Starbursts through Walmart grocery pickup. Our son, Zachary, busted open the piñata while on a Zoom call with our immediate families, and they all found out we are having a GIRL!
Registries
I was so excited at the beginning of my pregnancy to go into Target and look through and register for all the baby stuff. Now that it’s frowned upon to actually be inside stores, that whole idea is no longer feasible. So I’ve done a TON of research on baby products, and have resorted to building my registry online. I don’t get to touch and feel and try out anything, but at least I can return anything I end up not liking! And — did you know? — both Target and Amazon let you add things to their registries, even if they don’t come from their websites!
Classes
At my last appointment, my doctor told me it would be a good idea to look into birth classes soon. At this point in quarantine, all classes offered by the hospital are online. I’m pretty used to online learning from college and grad school, however, I’m not sure how that’s going to translate to birthing! I haven’t taken a class yet, so if there are any updates, I will let y’all know! Have you taken an online birth class? If so, how was it?
Showers
We haven’t had a shower yet, but I’m anticipating needing to modify it from what a “normal” baby shower would look like. My family lives in Georgia, so we were already thinking about a virtual baby shower with those in my hometown. We weren’t thinking we’d have to do the same for our family here in the Springs, though! Thank goodness for technology, am I right?? We were going to have everyone ship our gifts to our home, and then open them during a video call. I think that’s about as normal as it can get right now.
On the bright side, I’ve been able to wear a lot of lounge-wear type clothes recently, so I haven’t had much need to shop for maternity clothes yet! We are hoping all this comes to pass and life returns to semi-normal before I’m supposed to give birth in September, but we shall see.
If you are expecting, what things have changed for you during this time? Have you been able to salvage some sense of normalcy from it all? Hang in there, mama, it’ll get better!
