I was 20 weeks pregnant when we heard on the radio that daycare would be closing.
Due to the coronavirus, the entire country turned into a surreal world in no time and I was quite concerned: how much influence would this have on the birth care?
We have now moved on for a while and I will tell you how I have experienced the past months.
A pregnancy, delivery and maternity week in corona period.
Pregnant in corona time
I got a very strange feeling: I think this was the first time that the government responded to a virus with such far-reaching measures. This probably wouldn't be in vain and that's why I was worried. By that time, we were still doing a lot of renovations on the top floor and I already felt a little pressure: after all, there was a baby on the way and I didn't feel like being in a renovation after the delivery. That's why we asked for help from family, but with a view to social distancing, this suddenly came to be seen in a different light. Because the situation in Belgium changed considerably in a short space of time, I mainly wondered how much influence all this would have on maternity care. A pregnancy, delivery and maternity week in the corona period: I will tell you how I experienced this in recent months.
To the gynecologist by my own
When it became clear that the corona virus was spreading and we were advised to stay at home as much as possible, I was 20 weeks pregnant. An ultrasound was scheduled that same week and soon I received a phone call from the hospital telling me to come alone. So Tom was not welcome and I had to contact me in time if I had any complaints. Fortunately, I was not bothered by anything, but when I walked through an almost silent and deserted hospital on my way to the clinic a few days later, it was quite surreal. It was the first time that I went to the gynecologist on my own while Tom really wanted to be there, because with that ultrasound we would be able to see our girl again and now I was lying there alone. Sounds dramatic, but I have not experienced it that way. Yes, it was a shame, my pink cloud started to disappear. The been there, done that feeling predominated: if we have to, we will do it like this! The number of appointments with the gynecologist was significantly reduced: if you normally come more often in the third trimester because the last mile has started, I now only had a check-up at weeks 30, 34 and 38. For me, being pregnant during corona meant mainly that I went to the appointments without a partner, that the number of appointments was reduced to necessary and that I am sorry.
Maternity leave during corona
At 20 weeks of pregnancy, I went on maternity leave earlier because I had been struggling for a very long time with my pelvic instability, which made it very difficult to walk. I had already drawn up a whole list of things I wanted to do while on leave. Had wanted to do, because not only the pregnancy, delivery and maternity week changed in corona time. Maternity leave during corona was completely different from what I imagined. Instead of having lunch with friends and having fun together, a visit to the hairdresser, ... I had literally locked myself up at home, separated from everyone for fear of corona. We booked a hotel stay as part of "babymoon" in Nieuwpoort. That was the last time we could enjoy the 2 of us before we were 3. A few months flew by, but as a heavily pregnant woman with a very big belly, little stamina and a lot of hormones it was quite tough. I had nowhere to go with my nesting urge. I have not seen family and friends for months and I missed that enormously during the last mile. There are all kinds of ways to still have contact, but that is different than when you talk to people in real life. In retrospect, I think it's a shame that it turned out like this. I had imagined everything so differently, it is exactly as if the corona has taken away my entire pregnancy / childbirth dream.
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