Kate Bollard

BEING PREGNANT DURING COVID-19

To all the ladies pregnant during COVID-19 my thoughts are with you. 

When we found out I was pregnant, I never expected having to give birth during a pandemic. Not in my wildest dreams. 

I pictured the perfect fairy tale pregnancy. Instead most of my pregnancy was full of anxiety of not only the unknown but also of Rav not being by my side. 

Today Remi is 13wks (nearly 14wks) earth side. But let’s rewind to Feb/March of this year. When the virus was just starting to hit our magical island of Australia. We all thought it wouldn’t happen to our country but then covid 19 popped its ugly head up and graced us will some horrid results. 

Hospital visits started to get a little odd but remained “normal” as we knew it until March /April when it all changed in a matter of seconds. I now had to go to all my appointments on my own. It was isolating and scary to say the least. 

I was told to prepare myself to deliver on my own. NYC and other parts of the world had just made this rule and we might follow. 

The thought of giving birth on my own without Rav was horrifying. Not only would he miss the birth of our baby but selfishly I didn’t want to be having surgery wide awake on my own. A C-section is quite a lot to get your head around in normal circumstances but to then add in a pandemic and the unknown of hospital restrictions that were changing daily was a lot!

As we got closer to May, going to clinic at the Royal Women’s got stricter. I had to attend on my own, even scans. Cleaning hands, wearing masks etc were the new attire. When Remi was born my only visitor was Rav. No deliveries to the hospital from family or friends unless Rav went outside the hospital to collect, no grandparents or friends to visit. 

Currently Rav’s sister is about to give birth in London and Rav’s cousin’s wife is about to in NZ. It’s the year of babies for our family. A beautiful time for us all during a very anxious time. I know how stressful it was for me not having my family here in the lead up with covid19. My heart goes to my future sister in law in London during such a challenge time. Her and her wife Tabs, have had a journey to conceiving, let alone do all this during a pandemic. To hear about how their journey has been, listen to this podcast: BUTCH PLEASE!

Post birth I’m still full of anxiety not only as a new mum with normal challenges, then add covid19 to the mix and a partner in healthcare. My ocd of cleanliness has gone next level. While we enter stage 4 lockdown, we as new mums need to stick together. It truly is a trying time emotionally and physically. Sleep deprived, stressed that our babies aren’t eating enough, are they too hot, are they getting sick, why aren’t they sleeping, are they hungry, are they ok? We also need to ask ourselves are we ok? The mental health of ourselves now being locked up in our homes. It can be a lot, trust me I know. Remi is currently teething! For mums that know this joyful time, you can understand the pain I’m suffering. 🙂 

I’ve learnt its ok to hand baby to Daddy and walk away for 30mins or even an hour and have some solo time. It’s actually the best thing for you. For single mums… when Baby is asleep, have that shower, meditate, read…whatever it is. Or ask for friend or family to help you out. Just make sure you allow space and time for you. It’s something I have really appreciated and grown to love. I am an only child and love being solo but I now have a new appreciation for own space. Not only my own but my partners also.

Just remember, you got this!

KB xx

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