Perks of a Pandemic Pregnancy

There have been countless posts and articles about the hardships of pregnancy during this global pandemic. Its true that being pregnant in 2020 has not been a barrel of laughs and there are many downsides that come with being pregnant in a socially distanced world. Having experienced two pregnancies pre-Covid, I can definitely say that a pandemic pregnancy also has some serious perks.

#1: No strangers to touch your pregnant belly

If this is your first pregnancy, you may not be aware that people like to touch pregnant bellies. Family, friends, even strangers you encounter at the grocery store feel the need to touch your growing middle. When you are pregnant people are just drawn to the baby bump.

Would these same people reach out to touch your belly randomly? Not a chance.

I’ve never had anyone come up to me at Target trying to feel a burrito processing through my belly, but there have been an abundance that want to see if they can feel a baby moving in one of my baby bumps. Definitely awkward in the pre-covid world!

Thank you coronavirus for only bringing invited belly touching!

#2: Slowing down and taking time to rest during pregnancy

When the whole world shut down and was ordered to stay home during my first trimester I was able to avoid having to turn down social obligations and was able to battle morning sickness at home. There wasn’t the refusal of alcohol at events or trying to hide a rapidly growing belly before people knew I was pregnant because there were no social events. I was able to stay home and rest because social obligations ended.

This was even more helpful as the mom of two children who were very involved in extracurricular activities because it meant we could slow down and truly spend time together.

While some of that time was spent in frustration with virtual schooling, there were also so many great memories made before baby would change and our schedules would become full again.

#3: Ordering take out food

Suddenly my desire to not cook was actually an altruistic service. Ordering take out meant I was helping small businesses in my local community. Who doesn’t want to do that?

This exhausted, pregnant lady was more than happy to order all the take out as restaurants offer amazing family meals.

#4: Grocery delivery and curbside pick up

Truthfully the pandemic did not bring grocery delivery and curbside pick up into my world, but the number of stores offering curbside pickup or delivery options increased exponentially during this time.

Utilizing these services makes pregnant life so much easier!

#5: Avoiding comments that should not be said to a pregnant woman

Additionally being in stores or out in public much means less pregnancy comments from random strangers. In my two other pregnancies this might have been one of the most annoying parts of life. You can only hear “Wow! You must be due any day!” or “You look ready to pop!” so many times when you still have a month or more left of being pregnant.

A frequent reminder of how uncomfortable you are during that last month of pregnancy is enough to drive a pregnant woman crazy.

Other fun stranger interactions include advice from all the perfect parents of the world who want to be helpful. They tend to find you in the checkout lanes of the grocery store and love to give childrearing advice or to tell you how you should give birth. (Being a C-section mom, people love to try to convince me of other ways to have my children.)

Thankfully, socially distanced curbside pickup eliminates all of these interactions!

#6: {Fancy} clothing optional during a pandemic pregnancy

A life full of virtual appointments and meetings means that you don’t have to wear shoes – very important as feet swelling began in third trimester. Heck even pants are optional for most things during a pandemic pregnancy.

Staying home more meant I could get away purchasing minimal things in maternity clothing because no one really was checking out what you were wearing. This pregnancy was the epitome of the minimalist capsule wardrobe.

The best part of being pregnant during a pandemic has definitely been not having to dress up. The freedom to look the way you feel (which for the record is typically “hot mess”) is stress relieving during pregnancy. And nothing is better for baby than a mom who is not stressing!

A pandemic pregnancy really does have some perks

So while things like socially distanced baby showers or not being able to walk through a store to create a baby registry might have put a damper on the excitement of pregnancy for some, there are clearly some things to celebrate.  

Plus, with everyone glued to their phones and computers, your precious little one will be here and will become the star of your social media before you know it!

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