Prenatal Appointments During COVID - A New Dad’s Experience

Please note this post was written in May 2020 when I accompanied my wife to her first prenatal appointment during the COVID pandemic.

Today is the day!

May 21st was my partner’s first prenatal appointment. Needless to say, we’ve been counting down to this day since we found out we were expecting. It’s not like the ziplock bag of positive pregnancy tests wasn’t enough evidence that Karla and I were going to be first-time parents. Or the horrible daily morning sickness (news flash: it happens all day, not just in the morning). But there is a difference when you walk into a doctor’s office, who confirms your partner’s pregnancy and shows you the little bean inside her.

COVID-19 = Different for Dads

In an ideal world, I would have walked up with Karla to the doctor’s office and nervously sat, all lost, but physically present. But not this time.

Instead, I waited for a good 45 minutes in the parking garage. Due to the hospital’s policies patients were encouraged to come into appointments alone to reduce the risk of people contracting and spreading COVID-19. Understandably so. I wasn’t expecting to join during this appointment, but that didn’t make me any less disappointed.

If anything, this is just the beginning of what prenatal care will look like after COVID.

What I did to support

Since I couldn’t be present in the room, there were still things I did to support Karla through her first appointment:

• Made sure she had snacks. I packed a bag of Almond crackers and a Lärabar in her backpack but you can pack whatever is easiest on their stomach
• Ensure she had a bottle of water
• Reviewed both our insurance plans to have an understanding of what’s covered
• Got us a nice lunch (see what they can stomach) before heading home. We had Panera Bread 🤷🏽‍♂️

Update texts

The entire appointment was me texting Karla how she was doing and her responding with short replies. I get it, though. She’s with a doctor and preoccupied with all the things involved during the first prenatal visit. So I waited (not patiently) for updates.

And then I got this text.

At first I couldn’t read the sonogram, but in the end all I knew is that there’s something there!

A little bean, nugget, seed, whatever food comparison you want to call it. It’s there and it’s just another confirmation that I’m going to be a dad!

I’m going to be… New2Dad

Next steps?

At this point, it’s still pretty early in the pregnancy. Because of this we’re scheduled for another appointment a month from now to see how things are at 10 weeks. Karla is about 6 weeks in so we’re just getting used to the “expecting” life.

Morning sickness is taking over, cravings are real but in the end, it’s the start of a brand new journey for Karla and I.

We’ve been together 10+ years so for the next 9 months, we’re going to enjoy being a 2 player team for as long as we can.

Player 3 is expected to arrive in January 2021.