Exhale: A Blog for Women’s Mental & Emotional Health
For over a year, we have been told that we need to stay apart, that in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones, we need to stay home, stay apart, and stay masked up. These protective steps have been vital in trying to slow the spread of COVID-19. But they’ve created a sense of chronic hypervigilance that can lead to anxiety.
So many moms are still having to wear all the hats (work hat, chef hat, educator hat, etc.), while also navigating the numerous challenges COVID-19 brings to daily life. Many of us are experiencing COVID fatigue and feeling burnt out from parenting during a pandemic. And let me validate those feelings: This burnout is real.
Pregnancy is typically a time filled with celebration, joy, and eager expectation of your little one’s arrival. During pregnancy, there are milestones you look forward to: the first time you hear your baby’s heartbeat, seeing that tiny little face on an ultrasound, a gender reveal party, a baby shower thrown by loved ones, and the first time you get to finally hold your bundle of joy in your arms. And throughout these special moments, you can’t wait to be able to share them with you partner or spouse, other children, friends, and family members. But with the arrival of the coronavirus a few months ago, those of us who are pregnant found that our expectations for many of these milestones seemed to shatter around us.
For us all, 2020 has certainly been a year that we will not quickly forget. When the coronavirus first hit, none of us predicted that life would look like it does today. “Oh, I can’t wait to be stuck in my house, homeschooling my kids, while trying to still get by, day by day, during a global pandemic with no end in sight,” said no mom ever. Yet, here we are – over two months into this life-altering time in history, and with little clarity on how life proceeds from here.
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