Covid, Newborn & Family

[rainbows20]

Hello,

Just wondered if anyone is due in the next couple of weeks & what your plans are for allowing family to visit?

Having already had the virus recently I am keen to remain cautious. It is the first grandchild both sides so I know family are going to be eager to visit.

Do you think I am contradicting myself if I visit the supermarkets but then don't allow family in the house?

We keep getting asked what we are doing for Christmas too but I just feel like I don't want to make any plans yet and would be happy to just stay at home.

Just so confused what to do and wondered what others were planning.

Thanks in advance

No that would not be contradicting yourself, that would be following government guidelines so if that's what you want to do then no-one can argue that you're not being fair etc. I'm sure everyone will deal with these kinds of situations however they feel is best. Perhaps you could let close family know of your worries and if they wish to visit they can be extra vigilant/shield if possible in the coming couple of weeks and keep distances when visiting? Do what you feel happiest with. It's your baby and it's not as though you're being unreasonable by being cautious.

I had a baby in first lockdown. My parents visited and had a cuddle after 5 days with hand washing clean clothes etc. I really needed to see my mum and dad at this time and the benefits to my MH outweighed the risk (they are retired and were very careful in lockdown anyway and I hadn’t seen them my entire pregnancy.) Do what feels most comfortable for you.

I'm due at the end of December and blindly hoping that we will be able to meet people by then. If not, we're going to strictly stick to the guidelines. My family live overseas anyway, so my mum can't visit, it would just be my in laws. I have a great relationship with them, but not comfortable bending the rules. It might be different if it was my family though!

We're just going to have parent's pop round for
a brief visit once baby is here (with hand washing etc) to start with. My eldest is in nursery still so mixing anyway and we need PIL for additional childcare. The overall risk seems pretty small to me.

No decisions about Christmas yet - I was secretly hoping for more lockdown so we could avoid seeing everyone!

I'm due at the beginning of January. Whatever the official rules are we will be allowing visits from my parents, his parents, my sister and his sister. They have been our only contacts during the rule of 6 (we are/were a Tier 1 area) and we are content to take the risks knowing their activities, and weighing up the benefits of needing family support, and the baby having a relationship with its family. They wont all be coming at once!

I'm due 17th December however I have been told I could have the baby at 38 weeks as she's of 'Decent Size' (measuring over 8lbs at 36 weeks! 😩) this is also 1st time grandparents for my parents and 2nd for in laws however their 1st grandchild lives a few hours away.

We're stuck on what to do as we need to illuminate any risk to us or our baby however we've lost so much already this year and we're not sure how much longer it's going to go on for. Both my parents work in an office whereas his parents don't work (although his dad works 2 days a week in a shop).

We've decided that once we have to nod on when we will be induced we're going to ask family to have a drive through test then once results are back they can visit.

My husband is super against having anyone over however I think we'll need support from both parents. It's awkward because his parents literally live across the road from us and my parents live 20-30 minutes away.

I'm due any day or induction in a few weeks (date is just after lockdown due to end) we live 3 hours from all of our family and I have told them I don't want any of them to be visiting.. I'm high risk due to pregnancy and other health conditions, I have been using my NHS access times to the supermarket as much as possible and have been careful, however I know my dad, step mum and sister are all key workers, my mum is retired but I can't have one rule for one and not for another my in-laws are also key workers.
I'm absolutely not prepared to take the risk in having people coming to visit.. my grandma is obviously retired but I know she has had her 'bubbles' as she lives alone, unfortunately she doesn't quite understand the bubble concept and I think she's in about 3 different bubbles 🤦🏼‍♀️. My BIL and his partner work from home and have been isolating as they are our child care for 2 year old when the time comes - only family that we could stand to be around for a few days without feeling overwhelmed with them being around. Would literally kill grandparents etc cause they just too much in normal life let alone around new babies! I'm sure cause we're having twins everyone has been like you'll need lots of help, I know but we have it sorted thanks haha mean I'm sure but gotta do what's best for my stress levels! 😂

I’m 38wks and if don’t go into labour before have induction booked 2nd Dec. If go into tiers our area likely to be tier 3. I have already told grandparents they can visit and hold baby as I think life is too short. I wouldn’t stop my mum from seeing baby as she’ll be helping with my older children so it would be unfair to stop the other grandparents if il let her. My partner is a teacher and other children going to school so can’t limit the risk just be sensible.

My son is 2 weeks old, no one has met him yet. All our families live in tier 3 areas which involve a bit of a drive to get here and I feel if we say yes to one person then we'd have to say yes to everyone so at the moment we're saying no to everyone including for christmas.

He ended up in NICU for a few days and we both had sepsis so i'm anxious to ensure we aren't taking too many risks. The staff clearly did their best for us in the 8 days we were in hospital but it was obvious with a few mistakes they made with my care and things that happened, that if any staff have to isolate then it gets incredibly hard for them in already challenging times with short staffing and having gone through parts of early labour on a ward alone, I can't in good concisence break any guidelines and know that other women could go through that same experience that i did.

I had DD the day before lockdown 2.0 started. MIL was staying to look after DS (as my parents were self-isolating due to contact with someone who tested positive) so she met DD straight away. I got my grandparents to come around as soon as we came home from hospital too as they would otherwise not have been able to meet her until after lockdown. We then bubbled with my parents for childcare/mental health support. Sadly FIL hasn’t been able to meet her yet.

For me, the benefits to our family unit in terms of mental health and support outweigh any small covid risk. We are now currently staying with my parents and operating as ‘one household’.

I’m due in a couple of weeks and I’m going to allow family to visit - I know how careful they have been, and I know the risk to the baby is small. But I think you can set your own boundaries and don’t worry about if they seem contradictory to others - it’s up to you, not them.

Baby due in a few weeks and we’ve agreed no visits, partly to protect baby and partly to protect the grandparents (if me partner and baby have all just been in the hospital there is a chance we could catch it and pass it to them....). It will just be be me and my partner and baby for Christmas. We are happy with this decision and family understand. Appreciate that people with older children or other family circumstances/ priorities might make different choices though. It’s your choice though OP so do what feels right for you.

I’ve been getting myself worked up about my
Mom and Dad not seeing their first grandchild and if we should not stick to the rules but be careful. I’m 35 weeks. I couldn’t see that anyone had posted it on here, sorry if anyone already has but from next week the government for England only are introducing a new support bubble for parents with a child under 1. So once our babies are here we have the option of making a bubble with one other household. I know it’s still not great but it’s made me feel so much better knowing I can have support from my mom without worrying that I’m breaking the rules. Just thought would let you all know.

I have been thinking about this too (I'm 35 weeks). My current plan is to say they are welcome to come and see baby at a social distance outside, once we're home and settled, but no holding etc. After that, if they want to come and have a longer, indoor visit and cuddles they will have to self-isolate for 2 weeks first - it's entirely up to them if they want to do that though, I won't be offended if not! Beyond that, I might eventually bubble up with my parents, but only when I'm feeling a bit more confident and baby is old enough to have some immune system. It might seem overkill to other people but tbh I don't care - do what you feel comfortable with!