Third-Trimester Update {Pregnancy During COVID-19}

When I first found out I was pregnant at the beginning of the year I thought I knew what to expect since this was my 3rd pregnancy. Little did I know what would happen this year.

When everything started to go crazy, I still felt like I had a long time before I would have the baby and they things would be back to normal by this fall.

Well, they’re not back to normal and this pregnancy and birth have been very different than I expected.

Pregnancy During COVID

I had my first doctors appointment at the beginning of March just before everything went crazy.

Jared and the kids came with me to that first appointment. They did an ultrasound and we got to see the baby and hear his heartbeat.

Just a couple weeks after that we ended up going to Utah for what we thought would be just a couple weeks but ended up being 2 1/2 months.

While in Utah I had 2 telehealth appointments with my doctors, 1 glucose test and my 18 week ultrasound.

I had my first telehealth appointment a couple weeks after we got to Utah. At that appointment they decided we should do an early glucose test and have my ultrasound sound while I was in Utah.

I found places to get the blood work and ultrasound done and my doctors office sent the paper work to those offices.

We also decided that the ultrasound would take the place of the next doctors appointment unless they had any concerns then they would call me.

The Ultrasound

We were really lucky with the ultrasound because Jared was able to come to the ultrasound appointment with me. Many doctors offices and the hospital weren’t allowing spouses to go to this appointment.

Because we went to a stand alone radiology center they allowed spouses just no kids.

If we had been in Maryland instead of Utah Jared most likely wouldn’t have been able to go to the ultrasound with me. (little blessings in all of this crazy!)

Related Post: Baby #3 Silly String Gender Reveal

Telehealth Appointments

This pregnancy has been filled with telehealth appointments which is nice in some ways but hard in others. I really miss hearing the heartbeat at each appointment.

There wasn’t anything concerning to the doctors from the ultrasound so my next telehealth appointment was just before we left Utah to come back to Maryland.

Doctor Appointments in Maryland

So my first doctor’s appointment after getting back to Maryland they did an ultrasound and then a telemedical appointment to talk to the doctor the next day.

A few weeks later I had another telemedical appointment. In that appointment, they said they wanted me to have another ultrasound because they felt like I wasn’t gaining enough weight.

So in July, I had another ultrasound, glucose test, and doctor’s appointment, where I saw a nurse practitioner.

At that appointment, they said they were worried about one of the baby’s measurements in the ultrasound so they referred me to the specialists.

I had an appointment with the specialists the next week where I had another very detailed ultrasound and then I talked to the specialists via video call. They didn’t find anything concerning and said everything looks good.

A couple of weeks after that I had another telemedical appointment that lasted about 5 minutes. If I had questions I’m sure the appointments would last longer but since this isn’t my first baby I don’t usually have many questions.

Now we are in the last few weeks of pregnancy and I have weekly in office appointments. It’s going to be interesting to see what these last few weeks look like, I already have been told that I need to get tested for Covid before my c-section.

Delivery during all this pandemic craziness is definitely not what I had planned.

Final Thoughts

As you can see this pregnancy has been very different with a lot more telehealth appointments than in-person appointments.

Wearing masks to everything, no one going to appointments with me, and waiting in the car instead of the waiting room are also big differences this time around.

Not being able to bring the kids with me to appointments and finding someone to watch them or having Jared take the day off from work has been another challenge with this pregnancy. Normally I would just take the kids with me since most prenatal appointments are fast and easy.

I also feel like I have talked to the nurse practitioner a lot more than my doctors. I’m not sure why the doctors don’t seem to be doing many appointments. Maybe it’s just the days I do appointments they aren’t seeing patients.

I have also had a lot more ultrasounds this pregnancy and I’m wondering if part of the reason is because of having fewer in office appointments.

While this pregnancy hasn’t gone as I expected there have been a lot of little blessings and I’m grateful that have been able to already have experienced 2 normal pregnancies before this experience.