Anonymous wrote:But in past years (pre-covid) did newborn/young baby parents really not visit other moms? Not go out to eat? Avoid all shopping and only receive deliveries? All to avoid RSV and flu?

Had my baby in winter pre-COVID. I lived with my in-laws (ha, I know) at the time so we didn't avoid them. We went grocery shopping but mostly without the baby in tow. Went out to eat but again, without the baby, mostly. I remember a few brewery visits indoors with the baby but it was in a large kinda ventilated space.

Anonymous wrote:But in past years (pre-covid) did newborn/young baby parents really not visit other moms? Not go out to eat? Avoid all shopping and only receive deliveries? All to avoid RSV and flu?

Yes,, pre-pandemic, I did not visit any other moms for the first 2-3 months. I did grocery shopping without baby, and ordered everything else off Amazon. With my second baby, born last winter, it was the same.

The hospital and giving birth experience was not the same. My inlaws lived near us for our first, but not our second and no one was flying in to be there. That was more isolation.

But, the pre-pandemic winter newborn months were the same. I remember as a college student, one of my aunts angry that her daughter (my older cousin) was taking her new baby out to see people. So I don't think this is new or uncommon.

But in past years (pre-covid) did newborn/young baby parents really not visit other moms? Not go out to eat? Avoid all shopping and only receive deliveries? All to avoid RSV and flu?

New poster and mom to a 9 week old - it is tough and it sucks but it's just a phase like all others. Be sad about it. It's a bummer. But it won't last forever.

My pediatrician said to keep the baby as protected as possible right now. The normal winter advice is don't let the baby in contact with people that are sick. The hard part about omicron is that people won't know they are contagious for days so we just really aren't seeing anyone. My older kids are in school (masked) and that is our risk that we are willing to take. But they can't currently kiss or hold their sister. At least not until this variant dies down.

It sucks. It does. But the weather should get a little warmer for walks (I don't do below freezing with a baby but I do walk the dog alone while my DH has the baby in this weather).

Winter babies are hard, mine was prepandemic but dealing with snow storm related disruption on top of all the newborn stuff was definitely a pain for a few weeks until we figured things out.
However, you have to be very careful exposing yourself and your baby right now though. Omicron is contagious and plenty of vaccinated people are getting it - if your baby ends up with a fever they will need a spinal tap which by all accounts is very traumatic. We had family visiting over winter break and were pretty cautious - went on a couple of shopping outings and ate outdoors at restaurants a couple of times - and 2/7 people ended up testing positive for Covid. All were vaccinated; adults were boosted. Luckily symptoms were mild, that may not be the case if your unvaccinated baby is exposed. In general until the 2-month shots you need to be super careful about exposing your baby.
Here are some things you can do -
Join a virtual mom's group.
Leave baby at home and meet a vaccinated friend at a coffeeshop (but sit outside).
Go on a distanced outdoor walk with a friend, with baby in a carrier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp here and just want to say I re-read my post and didn’t mean for it to sound like “it was hard pre-pandemic too! Wah wah” what you are experiencing is SO hard because the newborn period is already incredibly isolating, what I meant more is that what you are experiencing is a very very normal feeling, pandemic or not. And it doesn’t help, it does get better. Hang in there. I hate the newborn period if I’m being honest

Yes, isolating pre-pandemic too, especially for winter babies. It's just a really hard time for many moms, unfortunately.

Here to say I had a winter baby pre-pandemic and purposely did not do that again the second time around. Winter is a tough time to have a newborn. Unfortunately for me, my second kid was born at the start of the pandemic, but at least we could go for walks in the Spring. OP, try to facetime with family and friends as much as you can. And when it's nice out, get outside! It's really good for the baby's sleep pattern. And maybe pick a few friend(s) who work from home and are strict with social distancing to be your safe people to come over and visit (even masked if that makes you feel more comfortable!) to give you a bit of sanity.

My baby was born at the peak of the delta/RSV surgeon this summer, and my advice to moms with newborns during omicron is to keep an eye on how many beds are available in local NICUs.

My large, healthy 95% baby caught RSV at two weeks. When the pediatrician first wanted him hospitalized, there were no pediatric beds available. A few days later, it was serious enough that space was made in the NICU for him. Hospitals in the DC area ran out of NICU beds the week that my baby was hospitalized. As soon as he was weaned off of oxygen support, they transferred him out of the NICU to a floor bed at 2am to make room for a sicker infant.

Flu, RSV, covid and other respiratory viruses are all serious for newborns. You should be very careful to avoid catching any of them, but I would be particularly careful when our hospitals are stressed and operating near capacity. It’s terrifying to not be able to get the care your newborn needs.

The isolation of new motherhood is tough even without a pandemic and your mental health matters. Join one of those online new moms groups and see if other moms want to meet up outside for a walk. Try building up your network of mom friends with outdoor meetups or leave your newborn with your partner while you do some masked socializing. The newborn days will be behind you in a few short weeks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old is baby? If I had a 6 week old, I would take him or her out in some capacities. I have a toddler and am pregnant. We take the kid (and soon to be kids) to museums, restaurants, etc.

You take your toddler to restaurants during this crazy surge? That seems really unwise. Not to mention that you are high risk as a pregnant woman.

I am triple vaccinated and otherwise healthy. I’m honestly not worried about me or my kid getting COVID.

With a newborn, I would stay isolated for a few more weeks and wait for the Omicron surge to pass. I had a winter baby, and didn't go out much between RSV, flu, and winter weather. I know it is rough, but hang in there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously? Come on now OP you had a baby during a pandemic. What did you expect?

Get over yourself pp. When op conceived the baby (presumably last spring) vaccines had been rolled out, most were optimistic and she probably expected, as most people did and public officials kept touting, that we would be in a very different place right now.

I can't believe people are not having kids over a virus with 99.6% survival rate. That is totally insane. How do these people drive on a highway without having a panic attack?

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.

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.

Whose saying this is a competition? If OP for one moment would realize that pandemic or not the newborn isn't supposed to be exposed to a ton of people during flu season, then no need for this back and forth. Maybe she can finally say, oh, yeah this situation isn't abnormal.

Yes being a FTM sucks for some people. That's normal. It gets better. But it's not like this is something new.

You should get out of the DC area. Most of the country has been operating very normally for over a year with no change in outcomes. You live in a bubble and therefore have no business giving your opinion to *anyone*, let alone new moms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously? Come on now OP you had a baby during a pandemic. What did you expect?

Get over yourself pp. When op conceived the baby (presumably last spring) vaccines had been rolled out, most were optimistic and she probably expected, as most people did and public officials kept touting, that we would be in a very different place right now.

I can't believe people are not having kids over a virus with 99.6% survival rate. That is totally insane. How do these people drive on a highway without having a panic attack?

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.

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.

Whose saying this is a competition? If OP for one moment would realize that pandemic or not the newborn isn't supposed to be exposed to a ton of people during flu season, then no need for this back and forth. Maybe she can finally say, oh, yeah this situation isn't abnormal.

Yes being a FTM sucks for some people. That's normal. It gets better. But it's not like this is something new.

OP, do you have your mom, sister, best friend, a trusted nanny that you can get to watch the baby for a while? It's not advisable to take your newborn anywhere other than outdoor walks etc. but that doesn't mean YOU can't go somewhere for a break (with a mask or outdoors). I remember going to the driving range just to get out of the damn house (and hand-expressing in the bathroom because my breasts weren't ready for a break, lol). Get out and see the world; it doesn't have to be a crowded, risky bar, but you don't have to be tethered to your baby. Take a walk or hike with a friend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Straight up a-holes on this thread.

Are you the poster worried about obesity and depression in OP’s newborn?

Nope. The a-holes are the ones criticizing OP for venting like we all do over this damn pandemic.

+1

Like really? The chicken littles on this thread are ridiculous. OP, this sucks. No one expected we’d still be dealing with this. And frankly, newborns do get RSV, etc. It sucks but it’s not a new parent’s fault if it happens. No one would have expected this pandemic to still be going, and frankly we can stop it tomorrow if we withhold healthcare from unvaccinated adults and stop sacrificing toddlers to save 80 year old grandma who probably will die of something soon anyways.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Straight up a-holes on this thread.

Are you the poster worried about obesity and depression in OP’s newborn?

Nope. The a-holes are the ones criticizing OP for venting like we all do over this damn pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who would go to the trouble of making a rude comment on this thread is not someone I would take seriously…

Posters aren’t being rude, PP, they are telling OP the truth. This is not the time to get “fed up” and “throw caution to the wind” with a baby. OP and you both need to take them seriously. You can’t poor-momma when she’s talking about exposing her newborn baby to covid because it’s not what she thought it would be like. Baby has to come first.

Uhhh no, try again. There are flat out rude responses. And yes it’s ok to be kind to someone struggling. You’re acting like the only two choices are to be a jerk or hurt a baby.

+100. What’s the deal with some of these posts? I would not throw caution to the wind here but I can completely empathize with how isolating and lonely this situation would feel.