Pandemic with a baby

Life with a baby during the pandemic. We have all been touched by the Covid/19 Virus in one way or another, whether it is actually having the virus, knowing someone that has, or just living during it. As a little girl, I played with dolls, similar to every other little boy or girl. I dreamt of finding Mr. right someday and starting a family, instilling the love, values and traditions that I had as a girl. Last May 25th, my husband and I found out that we were pregnant. We were filled with so much happiness and excitement for January 2020 when our son would arrive. We hadn’t heard too much about the Corona Virus when our son was born at the end of January, but little did we know, our lives were about to change and very drastically. At first, we had minimal visitors, as most new parents do with a newborn baby. We gradually had our family and close friends visit and they even helped out from time to time when I wanted to take a shower or a bath to relax for ten minutes. My sister even watched our son at her house for an hour or two on my birthday when he was two weeks old so my husband and I could grab lunch at a local restaurant. These little bits of help were so appreciated and enjoyable for all. Our son had no issue with strangers and seemed content no matter who had him in their arms. This also broke up my day as a new Mom since my husband started going back to work a week later and I was going through post partum issues. Fast forward to now, our son is three and a half months old and just recently, the only people who can see us or be near us are my parents and a good friend of ours who has quarenteened with us from the beginning. This is such a giant help to have these people in our lives but I would give anything to go to my sisters for dinner and hang out as a family, visit my brother and his baby boy and family, have my friends over, go to a restaurant, go to work, not feel like I am diseased when walking past others when on a walk, and so so much more. I miss taking our son to the mall and walking around to get out of the house. I miss running to Target to pick up diapers or wipes and having our son sleep in the cart or look around at everything we pass. I don’t know what it is like to bring a newborn to a restaurant or what it is like to walk into a doctor’s office and not need to wear a mask or have our temperatures taken. I can’t even imagine what shopping is like as my husband and I have not been to a store since early March. It is sad now but also sad that our son won’t know what “normal” was. He is growing up in the “new normal”, whatever that may be and will know no different in the future. He won’t even know what plastic bags are at a grocery store, which is bad enough. I invision his fifth grade teacher asking the students to interview their parents about the pandemic of 2020 and sharing all of these things with his class. I remember when I was in school, we were tasked with asking our grandparents about the Great Depression and World War II. It’s crazy to think that we have lived through so many tragedies and conflicts in our own lifetime as a young woman in my thirties. A huge part of me wants to say, screw it, screw social distancing, screw not seeing our family and our friends. The other part of me, which is the part that wins of course, says, there is a reason for it, people are dying, and it is actually very scary to think that myself, or a member of my family could die from this awful awful sickness. We all need to put our emotions aside and understand the severity of this virus. We need to follow the guidelines and rules et forth by the government officials and medical professionals. As much as it sucks more than anything, we need to be smart and stick it out. As my husband always says during tough times, this will be a memory someday. This too will be a memory someday but we want to remember that we did everything in our power and control to stay safe and to keep those around us safe too. Here’s to hoping that we can get together with family and friends before Christmas or before our son has his first birthday. Here’s to staying safe, keeping busy, staying sane, and enjoying this time with our family. It will be a neat story to tell our son that his Mom and Dad were home with him for at least the first four months of his life. Most parents have to go back to work 6 or so weeks after a baby is born and we are able to enjoy these moments. Don’t get me wrong, these times are not quite easy and I am dying for a break in the action, but this will just be a memory someday, just another memory in the scheme of life.