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[quote=Anonymous]I live in NYC (= apartment living) and am expecting LO#2 any day now.  Great timing, eh?  We had hired a night nurse in advance, but in light of the coronavirus, she offered and we agreed to have her be with us 24 hours so to minimize risk.  We live in a 1400 sf apartment so not exactly a palace.  As with a flatmate, what kind of "house rules" or requests could we reasonably ask for that would help everyone feel more comfortable?  In reading my thoughts/questions below, please keep in mind that I am an introvert who is not used to or comfortable with house guests, let alone someone I barely know.  I know the immediate response is then "don't get a nurse, watch your baby yourself!" and I did with our older DS and totally would this time, but for the fact that I've developed some pretty bad sleep issues since then and can't be a proper mom to either DS or this baby without some night help.  Having said all that, here are my thoughts:

Ask nurse to take her meals at set times, just like many employees get a set lunch hour.  This way, I know when she will be in the kitchen/dining space and will meal prep outside of those times as our kitchen is too small for two people to cook at the same time.

We eat at the kitchen counter and it's honestly a little too cozy for us to have another diner.  I don't mind if she were to eat with us on occasion, just not most of the time.  Should I just make it black and white, no meals together, so there's no awkwardness?  And how do I suggest this??

The nurse will sleep with the baby in our older DS's bedroom and have almost exclusive use of it, i.e., no one will hang out in there, but we will need to access it from time to time to get DS's clothes and books.  Can I ask her to take her breaks in there and not in the main living area?  Should I give her a "do not disturb" door hanger so we know when it's not okay for us to go in?

***Any other suggestions?***

Separate issue - we are responsible for our nurse's meals and I am a little concerned about this because of the coronavirus situation.  We are trying not to grocery shop in person more than once every two weeks and because our fridge is not big, we are limited in how much perishables we can buy and have to ration certain ones so they won't run out before our next trip.  For instance, we don't have space for two weeks' worth of meat so we've been supplementing with shelf stable alternatives such as canned fish and spam, I'll leave say eggs out of certain dishes so we'll have enough for two weeks, I made fruit salad instead of tomato salad tonight so we have tomatoes tomorrow, etc.  Having another adult mouth to feed in this situation is daunting.  I think the ideal thing in this situation is for me to cook enough for the nurse, which I would be happy to do, but I don't see myself cooking much after the baby is born.  But we don't have the fridge/freezer space for someone to make their own meals separate from everyone else's.  How do I deal with this?  I am going to ask the nurse for her grocery list, should I tell her she can ask for as many shelf-stable ingredients as she wants, but needs to limit her perishables, as we are doing?  She is welcome to order delivery, which would help this issue somewhat, but she has told me that she prefers to eat home-cooked meals.

I'm not an utter b****, just a nearly due mom trying to deal adapt to current circumstances like everyone else![/quote]

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