When news of the pandemic hit, I was six weeks pregnant. Never did I imagine that I would deliver my baby while the world remains in this state. My experience of being Quarantined in Coronado was shared in March. I went to all my doctor’s appointments alone, including the sonograms. To further complicate things, at twenty-seven weeks I was surprised to learn I had gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes affects 7% of all pregnant women but without a family history of diabetes and being pretty active (shout out to Sweat Circuit!), I was shocked.
Aside from the four finger pricks a day and nightly insulin injections to manage the diabetes, I also had the pandemic that changed my pregnancy. Gone was the Pinterest board of “Welcoming our Little Pumpkin” for a baby shower. I am thankful that while I had cancelled my shower, my mom and sister threw me a surprise drive-by baby shower. This included a couple games (guess baby’s arrival date and how many baby socks in a jar), personalized cookies by Coronado’s Becky Kasten, and a balloon arch by Studio 2053. It was wonderful to still feel a sense of normalcy and celebration.
On October 8th, we welcomed Melyssa “Mely” Burns to the family. She was born without complications and my gestational diabetes went away with the end of the pregnancy. I indulged in a Clayton’s Bakery and Bistro iced mocha with lots of a whip cream to celebrate!
Now, a couple weeks after welcoming our first child, we are settling into a new rhythm. The silver lining of the pandemic is that it has allowed me to work my day job from home while being with my daughter. The gestational diabetes also curbed my weight gain so all my added pregnancy weight is gone. Although this was not the pregnancy I anticipated, it has been important to me from the beginning to have a positive outlook throughout and I am thankful for the silver linings that arose.
While I wish we could show her off on the sidelines at the Christmas parade, for now it’ll just be a smile and a wave from our stroller walks.
