I'm very unconcerned about COVID but begrudgingly agree with you here (however, walking outside = not a risk so you can still do that! even with a friend, esp if masked!). I had my baby (now toddler) right before the pandemic and ped said no big groups or restaurants or flights in first 2 months, before first vaccines. It was during flu season |
I'm not saying that at all - what I'm saying is that if you are having a baby - what did you expect? We knew vaccines weren't rolling out. We knew that a newborn should not be exposed even of the situation was "better." I think the OP needs to stop having some kind of revisionist history in her mind. This is exactly the reality that she signed up for. I say this as someone that had a baby in May 2020. I didn't sign up for a COVID baby. But we dealt with it and put our health first. |
NP but how is any first time mom supposed to know “what to expect”? You can’t until you’ve really experienced it. My son was born pre-covid and I was stunned by how isolated I felt. I didn’t know until I was in the throes of it. I’m sorry OP is going through this. New motherhood can be really hard. Try to go for lots of walks and remember, the season will change soon. It’s hard to internalize when you’re in the thick of it but the worst part is really a short phase of your life in the grand scheme of things. |
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Another family in our preschool had a newborn who caught a respiratory virus (not-Covid) and the baby had to be intubated. The hospital gave the baby drugs so it would be paralyzed from the neck down so they could intubate and the baby was on a ventilator and in the hospital for over a month. When it went home, it cried all night long because it had withdrawal from the morphine it was on to alleviate the pain from the intubation. The family also had to withdraw from daycare because their pediatrician said their newborn would not make it if she caught another virus that winter.
Please just hang in there. It's a hard time but it will go by fast with Netflix and Amazon Prime. |
It’s pretty close to what you are saying. It was only OK to have a baby this year in your book unless you vowed not to leave your house and see no one. Because otherwise you are definitely getting covid. And no complaining ever because that means you aren’t cut out to be a parent. OP, the sanctimommy competition can be bad in any year and unfortunately with covid, it’s much, much worse. |
You know what scares me? It's not the couple dozen newborns in the NICU with covid nationwide, it is the 20% increase in childhood obesity in one year of the pandemic, the mental health dumpster fire and the two years of lost academics that the most vulnerable will never recover, all from over-reacting to a virus with 99.6% survival. And the fact that we seem to keep doubling and tripling down. |
Ok but if you don’t care about the safety of newborns why would the OP take your advice about…the safety of her newborn? |
There is no obesity in NEWBORNS, idiot. |
| Straight up a-holes on this thread. |
You know a lot of newborns who are obese, depressed, and missing academics?! Newborns. OP is talking about her newborn. |
Are you the poster worried about obesity and depression in OP’s newborn? |
| Even during in a non Covid year this would be the time to closet away your newborn. Sorry OP try to find other outlets. Walks outside would help. |
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Ugh. It's really, really hard OP. I had a December baby last year and there were legitimately some dark days. That being said, I framed it like this: there are so few times in life that you can really focus, really zero in on what's truly important. This is one of those times. For right now, respiratory diseases like flu, RSV, covid etc are super dangerous for your baby. Their airways are tiny and their immune systems are just getting started. Do what you can to avoid them for this brief period of your baby's life. You will never regret it. Your mental health would be in a much darker place if your baby was hospitalized (which has happened to a few of my friends despite their best efforts).
Your mental health is extremely important, for both you and the baby. Find friends that you can speak candidly to--tell them your good, bad and ugly. It really does help. If you don't have those friends, get a virtual therapist. Everything you are going through is completely normal in a totally abnormal time in the world. It is temporary. Take walks, take breaks when your partner can help you, watch all the movies you ever wanted to watch, order good food, have a glass of wine. You can do this. |
+2. It’s hard enough bring a new mom. Add a global pandemic to the mix and you deserve to feel a little sorry for yourself and frustrated with the situation. |