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SOME HAPPY NEWS: Baby Evan entered the world at 5:51 p.m. April 8, weighing 7 lbs. 3 oz. We are head over heels in love with him! While it’s been a stressful time, I’m happy to report both he and his mama are healthy and doing great. We are counting our blessings this morning.
Thought I would share just a few observations from our experience that hopefully will be helpful for other expecting parents during the coronavirus crisis:
We read reports that some hospitals are not allowing spouses/partners to be present for the birth. Fortunately, I was able to join my wife in both the labor & delivery room and recovery room. But mothers can only have one person accompany them; no other visitors allowed.
When we arrived at the hospital Wednesday AM, we were screened at a checkpoint near the entrance. Have you traveled abroad recently? Have you experienced any symptoms, like coughing or fever? Loss of taste or smell?
They asked us to sanitize our hands.
They asked us to sanitize our hands.
We brought masks from home. Everyone else in the hospital wore masks too. In the delivery room, doctors/nurses wore masks, face shields and a plastic apron over their clothes every time they entered.
A big portable air filter was running in our room when we arrived.
A big portable air filter was running in our room when we arrived.
One thing I noticed is that the masks made communication a bit difficult. Not a huge problem but it was hard to understand nurses when they would ask us qts and hard for them to understand us.
Soon after we got settled in our room, my wife was tested for COVID-19. Like you've seen in videos, it was a long, skinny swab that went way up her nose.
She described it as "uncomfortable" but not painful.
She described it as "uncomfortable" but not painful.
Three hours later, my wife's COVID-19 test results came back: Negative.
Neither of us had experienced any symptoms and we have been in self-quarantine for weeks. But the results just gave us peace of mind.
Neither of us had experienced any symptoms and we have been in self-quarantine for weeks. But the results just gave us peace of mind.
Baby Evan arrived Wednesday evening and we had already discussed a game plan of trying to leave the hospital ASAP to get back home. The earliest we could leave was 24 hours after his birth, so we had lots of convos with our docs/nurses to make our intentions known
After a series of tests and check ups on both mom and baby, we were discharged from the hospital just before 8 p.m. Thursday, roughly 26 hours after he was born.
A special thank you to all the doctors, nurses and staff at Sibley Memorial in D.C. for taking good care of us and for doing important work under such difficult circumstances.
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