Balancing newborn help with delta variant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again… I like the suggestion of grandparents being part of our bubble prior to delivery, but it is not realistic for all of them (or my sanity). One set can drive here in a day and the others are flying in, so who knows what they will pick up at the airport. The ones that can drive cannot commit to a two week isolation/quarantine for various reasons (work, desire to maintain “normalcy”) and I do not trust that they would anyway based on their pre-vaccination behavior. My biggest concern is that vaccinated people could transmit the virus to the baby. Is that too rare for me to be concerned about?

If the flyers wear N95s or KN95s and don't eat or drink on the plane, the risk is actually pretty low, according to family member MD who is incredibly COVID cautious. 10 days is the standard for isolation, btw, or 7 days with a test. Not 14 days anymore. Can you ask them not to go to indoor restaurants? That's not a huge sacrifice (and I'm someone who is very "back to normal" with most things, but if someone asked me to forgo indoor dining for a week to visit a newborn relative, I'd gladly do it).

I would just have everyone get tested, rapid tests are NBD. I personally would value sanity + family help over the risk of vaccinated people transmitting. (And the tests should help ease that fear if people are willing to be tested.)

[Anonymous]

You'll be fine. So much drama about taking care of a newborn yourself. Yes, it's not easy but it's really not that terrible either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re expecting our second in the next week, and we will not be having grandparents meet the new baby before two months. Both sets would have to fly, and we’re not comfortable with that during delta, even though they are all vaccinated. Our pediatrician also recommended that we quarantine as much as possible for the first two months, when COVID or other respiratory viruses are most likely to land baby in the hospital.

Honestly, it’s a relief. We thought we would want some help with our first baby, but hosting grandparents with a newborn was the worst part of the postpartum period. Holding the baby is the least helpful thing family can do when mom is still trying to establish breastfeeding, bond and heal. Even without COVID, no one should be in your house for more than an hour in the first month.

I wish my family were local enough for short visits outside, but I’m not risking my baby’s health or my sanity by hosting out of town visitors in the first 2 months.

I think this applies to some people but not to others. I didn't mind my mother being there often. She was very sweet to me and willing to help with whatever. But I am still bitter about my in-laws' three hour visit in which they ignored me, invited a relative whom they seemed focused on impressing, and my MIL yelled at me while I was nursing because she doesn't know jack sh$t about nursing a sleepy newborn. PSA - nursing mothers are hungry. Don't you dare serve yourselves before offering her something to eat.