At 34 Weeks Pregnant – We Got Covid..

Photo by Sara Kalish

I never thought I would be writing this blog post.. ever!

When I first found out Jord and I had COVID – my immediate reaction was literally “I am not talking about this on Instagram or my blog”. TBH it is scary talking about things on here at times. Especially topics so tender and sensitive like COVID. But after going through the most wild of times and having a different perspective on things overall – I wanted to share our story with you guys. And when I let the cat out of the bag on IG stories last night – the questions flooded on in.

First things first – I am obviously not a healthcare professional, expert or anyone who knows more about COVID than the person next to me. Just someone who happened to get COVID at 34 weeks pregnant sharing their story.

Let’s back track a bit and start from what we now call “day 1”.

Day 1 of COVID – I had no idea I had it. Had some sniffles and runny nose during the day but it is also 20 degrees out so I am blowing my nose these days all flipping day. I also noticed my face was flushed a bit when I was sitting down and it was so random! Then by the end of the day, I was eating dinner with my brother and couldn’t really taste my food. I thought to myself that was kind of weird but figured it was congestion and didn’t think anything of it. Also worth noting that my brother is 1 of 2 people I see with no mask. He lives around corner from me and he has quarantined with us basically since March. He is like my first born child. He was over all weekend when we didn’t know we had it too.

Day 2 of COVID – I felt tired but nothing too off. I am also pregnant and in my third trimester so I am tired walking up the steps at this point. I couldn’t taste too well and by the end of the day I brushed my teeth and when I didn’t get that “minty fresh” feeling – I knew something was off. Our nanny also called us earlier that day and said her sinus infection wasn’t going away (she had one the week prior, which is very common for her and not out of the norm!). And she was going to get tested too just incase, so we had her stay home for a couple days until results came back. Between that info and my lack of taste – I knew Jord and I needed to get tested too. And of course I called my mom like I do for everything and she said to go get a COVID test in the morning so we made appointments for first thing the next day.

Day 3 of COVID – woke up with ZERO taste. It was scary and horrible and I ate my breakfast and tbh if I had a blind fold on, I wouldn’t have even know the flavors that I was eating. We went to get drive in tests locally and waited on line for 70 minutes. It was insanely crowded (I recommend doing walk in if you can over drive in here – line was empty compared to drive in). We did the rapid test per the recommendation of the practitioners there and as soon as I saw the PA come out, I could tell he was going to tell us we were positive. Call us crazy but Jord and I bursted out laughing.. Us? COVID? HOW?! We haven’t seen anyone, been to a restaurant or a group setting in months. Proves how even when you are “so cautious” this can still happen. Doesn’t mean we didn’t anything wrong – it just happens. The PA told us the run down and we immediately went home, I ordered groceries to be delivered and we started some how resting while watching Ezra. While working and while being totally pregnant and exhausted in general. I also called Ezra’s nanny and told her we had it and at this point – we pretty much assumed she did too (which was the case – her test was positive too). We had her stay home for 2 weeks (obviously!) so we can all heal a bit. No idea how/where she got it – but it happens and can happen even when you are so so cautious.

Days 4-7 of COVID – sh!t got REAL you guys. Day 4 was when I started to really say to myself “how the f are we going to make it over here?’. The loss of taste and smell were full throttle. But I was still feeling so hungry that it was annoying to feel starving and not even know what to eat to satisfy your cravings or anything. Maybe it is because I am pregnant too so it just felt worse. Pregnancy cravings and urges are so real. I stood at the pantry trying every single snack and eventually just started balling. I was so frustrated. Plus I have gestational diabetes, which already impacts my food intake etc so it was really confusing figuring out wtf to eat.

I also started getting horrible terrible no good body aches on day 4 that continued for days. To the point where walking to the bathroom was daunting to me. I couldn’t stand up for more than a few minutes. And it would hit me in the late morning until the rest of the day. My dad so kindly reminded me I did not look good – which tbh I didn’t at all. I looked like I got hit with a car 10x after a dog bit my head off. The thought of taking a shower was intimidating. And I remember telling Jord “if I don’t come out in 10 minutes from shower come check on me”. Because I really didn’t know if I could stand for that long. Sounds dramatic – I know but it was really really scary to me to feel that way. I also had full blown body chills while my face would be on fire/flushed. But no fever at all during the entire time.

Oh and did I mention we have a toddler?! Watching Ez consisted of a lot of baths, Disney movies and having him sit on his potty to practice going “pee pee”. Silver lining of that is that he peed everyday in the toilet since we had him practice so much ha! It wasn’t easy resting up when Ez is an energizer bunny, but we made it!!

My main symptoms were: loss of taste and smell, horrible body aches, body chills, flushed face, fatigue, dry cough/sore throat and mild congestion.

By day 8 I started to feel a lot better and turned a corner. Taste was pretty much back (like 50% – now 90%!). I consider myself and Jordan so extremely lucky to have had a pretty mild case of COVID compared to most. His symptoms were also really similar to mine too. I do think everything impacted my body a crazy amount because of pregnancy for sure. I felt like I was in overdrive between pregnancy, COVID, taking care of Ez, working, etc. But every time I wanted to just scream and would feel frustrated – I would remind myself how truly lucky we are for the mild case we had. No – it wasn’t easy and yes – COVID is freaking real guys so take it seriously! And Jord and I are still married after the last couple weeks (and year ha!) home 24/7!

Overall COVID thoughts + things:

Ezra also thankfully did not get COVID at all. When we get our results the PA said to just keep an eye out for a fever or runny nose from him. But he said with his age, he should be okay. And we didn’t spread it to anyone!!! Just shows how little we do. I was nervous to spread to my photographer from our maternity shoot since I didn’t have a mask on in photos. As well as my brother. But both took numerous tests and it all came back negative – thankfully!

We followed New Jersey’s rules/process for quarantine so now Ezra’s nanny is back with us now. We are still doing basically nothing and seeing no one but we made it and fingers crossed Ezra’s brother hangs in his cozy home a bit so this isn’t in my system during labor – EEK!

When it comes to living in Hoboken and what we do etc. – there were a ton of questions about this! We go to our usual spots (aka Trader Joe’s during pregnancy hour) and delivery from restaurants but don’t engage with anyone inside besides my brother and our nanny. We personally don’t feel comfortable eating inside just yet. We did in summer outdoors but tbh not worth it here right now. We love a few coffee shops in the area but we only go when they aren’t crowded! I feel very safe while wearing a mask and that is something that I personally feel is important to share. We got COVID from not wearing a mask at home with Ezra’s nanny. This is something we personally chose to do and we all did everything we could to avoid it. But sometimes it is inevitable. We drove her to and from work (literally 2 hours in car each day) for 6+ months and she is super super cautious all the time. We wear our masks outside (now usually two masks) and don’t socialize, nada. But tbh part of me wishes we did make that trip to Florida for the holidays if I knew we’d get COVID anyways ha 😉

Any other questions or info you guys are curious on? I feel like I just vented for a few minutes but happy to share our experience.

My thoughts on vaccine: I really don’t know what I am going to do yet. If I wasn’t pregnant/nursing I would get it as soon as I could. But I am going to keep talking to healthcare experts and make my decision based off research and what people who know what they are talking about recommend!! I’m honored you guys want to know my thoughts but I am just as clueless as the person next to you!

Sending love! xx