What it means to be pregnant in a pandemic

A lockdown was not what we envisioned when we decided to have a baby

At the onset, let’s all agree 2020 has been a wild ride. That’s putting it mildly but you get the drift. My husband John and I were super excited for the year and we had a few significant things planned. We had every intention of seeing those plans through (never mind about that!). One of the items on top of the list was to have a baby. Now let me also tell you that the plan to have a baby and have one early in our marriage was agreed upon when we began dating a couple of years ago. So we got to work and began our pregnancy journey. We found out I was carrying our first child in February and the two of us were besides ourselves. And then came March and everything that the month brought with it.

With all due respect to the people who faced immeasurable loss this year, I have had a great year so far. I write this piece even as hold my almost-six-week-old in my arms. Being pregnant during a pandemic was nothing but a blessing to both John and me. Allow me to explain…

1: John has been home the entire time. The. Entire. Time. Without going into too much detail, John has been around from the day we found out I was carrying our first child. And he has been working from him since, thanks to Covid-19. It has been a huge blessing just having him around.

2: Picking from the previous point, having John around meant that I stressed very little. He practically took care of everything, and I mean everything. Shopping, cleaning and often even cooking the meals.

3: I’m not sure whether it was Covid-19 scaring the shizz out of me or something else but I did not have any cravings. Or if I did, they were negligible. I may have subconsciously repeatedly told myself that those cravings aren’t going to be met given the pandemic so my body never demanded much.

4: I rested like a baby. I slept almost 12–13 hours a day and it did wonders for me. My skin was glowing, I felt energetic and felt strong mentally too. I did miss getting out of the house to get in some exercise but protecting myself was a top priority. Also, I was banking all the sleep I could before my life turned around!

To sum up, I truly had a blessed year. It turned out to be a year beyond my wildest dreams because it gave me a child. I will always remember 2020 fondly.

Having said all that I did, my heart goes out to those who had a devastating time with the virus. I hope you find the strength to cope and recover from everything this year has robbed you off.