This Is What Being Pregnant During Coronavirus Is Like

It was the day after Thanksgiving when I found out I was pregnant. After the initial surprise wore off, it was time to start doing some serious calendar math. I’d be due to give birth around the first week of August. Tricky timing with my older daughter starting kindergarten in the fall and my younger daughter beginning preschool, neither with camp plans for August, but it could always be worse. I crossed my fingers that my husband could take a decent late-summer paternity leave and we’d have a month to find our rhythm as a family of five before the controlled chaos of new school routines.

Fast forward five months and here we are on Day 3,967 of coronavirus quarantine (feels like it, right?) with no end in sight. Women who are pregnant with their first baby are likely feeling a mix of worry and anticipation. How safe is the hospital? What will giving birth be like? What about caring for a newborn during a lockdown? And pregnancy already comes with a long laundry list of worries and concerns. Too much caffeine? Not enough exercise? Listeria! Pre-eclampsia! Toxic cat litter! Plus, every other potential pregnancy complication, both known and unknown. 

My first pregnancy was smooth sailing and I had no complications whatsoever. But I was blindsided by placenta previa in my second pregnancy, which made for a high-risk situation and a mandatory C-section three weeks ahead of my due date. This time around, I have no known problems, but now I’m 35 and therefore at higher risk for a host of issues, like premature birth and birth defects.

Woven around all the usual uncertainties are now the ever-changing COVID-19 complications. It feels like I’m refreshing my news feed every 5 minutes some days. Other times, I want to stick my head in the sand and pretend everything isn’t happening. All the while I’m hearing this ticking clock that’s counting down the days until I no longer have to carry around the added weight of pregnancy, but will then have to navigate an unknown world with a new baby.

Managing the Unknowns of Coronavirus During Pregnancy

Each prenatal appointment feels like a small risk unto itself. The doctor’s office calls me 48 hours beforehand, asks me if I’ve traveled outside the U.S. or have been in contact with anyone who has coronavirus and then instructs me to come alone to the appointment and not bring my husband or children. When I arrive I’m given a face mask, my temperature is taken, and I’m pointed in the direction of the hand sanitizer. I take each of these precautions with gratitude, but also with a distinct increase in pressure around my chest. I use my elbow to open and close the bathroom door when I have to give a urine sample, and wash my hands for what feels like the 40th time that morning. I choose my seat in the waiting room carefully, picking the one with the worst view of the television and is therefore the least popular.