Welcome back to the Motherhood in Quarantine Series! This is the eighth post in a series all about being a mother in quarantine!
Click here for post 1 by Kayla Tucker from San Diego, California!
Click here for post 2 by Jenna Hammer from Baltimore, Maryland!
Click here for post 3 by Lindsay Johnson from Riverside, California!
Click here for post 4 by Bethany Wagreich from Cinninati Ohio!
Click here for post 5 by Morgan Coulter from Millville, New Jersey!
Click here for post 6 by Paige from Fort Worth, Texas!
Click here for post 7 by Megan Hardy from North Carolina!
Click here for post 8 by Lizett Jacobo from Peoria, Arizona!
Hi there!
I’m Taylor and I currently live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I’m a stay-at-home mom and my husband works for a roofing company. We’ve been married for 6 amazing years! We have a beautiful daughter, Logan who is 2.5 years old and just as crazy and loving as they come!
As this goes “live”, myself and my daughter have been staying home for 71 days! For us, that means no stores, no friends, nada! I’ve been to 2 public places, a hospital and a lab, all to check on my baby because, I’M PREGNANT!
Staying Home
I believe it was the weekend of March 14th that our state publicly announced several Covid-19 positive cases. On Sunday, March 15th, I woke up early, went to the gym, grabbed groceries and headed home. I kind of knew that would be my last day out for a while because everything around me was quickly changing. People at the gym were being more cautious than normal, people at the grocery store were already wearing masks and gloves, and on my drive home I saw a long line of cars waiting to get tested for Covid-19 at the 24 hour Urgent Care down the street from our home. That night my husband and I made the decision that until we felt it was safe for myself, our daughter, and unborn baby we’d stay at home.
By the end of that week and several days after, schools closed, non-essential workplaces closed, restaurants closed, churches closed and soon after our governor gave all New Mexicans the stay-at-home order that so many others had come under. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for two years now and I feel like in some ways, being a stay-at-home and going through stay-at-home can be very similar. They can both be isolating, depressing, and just plain hard! Our family is very blessed in the sense that my husband is an “essential worker” and that his schedule tends to be very flexible, so he can help at home more and more now that I’m in my third trimester.
Not so typical, typical day
Before all of this happened, I was waking up before the sun to go to the gym, but now that gyms are closed and thanks to my husband, I’m getting to sleep in more often! My third trimester body is so thankful for this opportunity! Usually, I’d get Logan up when I got home from the gym, get breakfast going and get us ready for our day. Now, my husband will get up with Logan and usually reads with her and gets breakfast ready for all of us. Before all of this, Logan and I would try to get out of the house at some point, whether it was to meet with friends, go to story-time or run errands, I always tried to get us out of the house. Now, when my husband leaves for work, Logan and I find various ways to keep us entertained. Sometimes it’s going outside, going for walks, painting, reading, etc. I will say, I’ve let her watch tv more times than I’d like, but mama needs a break and at this point we’re both in survival mode of this staying home stuff! When my husband gets home it’s dinner, a little more play time and then get Logan ready for bed at 7:00pm. We’ve been sticklers on her bedtime ever since she was born, but now more than ever, I’m grateful for a baby that is pretty much in her room from 7:15pm-7:15am!
How am I Managing
I’ve compared stay-at-home to the stages of grief (shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, and acceptance). Most people have hit some or all of these stages at one point during this pandemic and like grief, this stages tend to not be linear and at any time you recover from one, you go backwards to another. Now add pregnancy hormones to those stages (and the elimination of alcohol) and you get a crazy person…that would be me! Thank God my husband is the man he is with his patience and supportiveness!
Beyond the love and support of my husband, I have found several things that are helping me get through these times. The first is my faith. I’m Catholic, and for us going to Mass, receiving communion, and being in community is the source and summit of our faith, so not being able to do that has been hard. However, we recently became members of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (www.holyrosary.abq) and let me tell you, the staff of that parish is working around the clock to bring our community virtual and original content that is much appreciated! Also, a few weeks after all this began, I finally purchased a daily devotional I’ve been eyeing for a while. “Find Rest: A Woman’s Devotional for Lasting Peace in a Busy Life” has been so perfect for this time! It’s amazing how well the reflections are speaking to my soul.
Another thing that is helping me get through this time is working out. Moving my body everyday makes me feel accomplished and makes me feel like I’m showing up for my unborn baby and myself. The days I feel the least motivated are the days I know my mind needs the movement the most!
Donuts! If you know me, you know I love donuts. On days that Logan and I need to get out of the house, we usually end up going to a donut place with a drive-thru or will bring your order to your car! I’m so glad our little girl loves donuts just as much as mama does.
A few other small things that help me manage this time are doing my makeup, making mocktails, vacuuming the living room every night, drinking my morning coffee, cuddling my daughter, and watching “our shows” with my husband.
Proud Mama
It’s nearly impossible to explain this whole situation to our daughter. There have been several times where she has asked to go to church, story-time, North Carolina (my sister and her family lives there) or got to Las Cruces (my in-laws live there) because she is so desperate to get out of the house. When we go to Target to do a pick-up or go to donut place to pick up a treat, she sometimes has a mini meltdown because she wants to get out of the car and go inside. My little girl is like all of us, she wants to be out, she wants to see people, she wants to go places. My heart breaks for her every time she is restless or upset. But overall, Logan has been a real trooper during all of this! She has found new ways to entertain herself, her imagination is growing, and her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds! I’m so proud of this girl and I cannot wait to take her to all the places she misses so much!
Missed Opportunity
All in all, this time at home has not been easy. I have shed many tears, lost my cool more times than I will ever admit, and I have had many bad days. However, I am trying my best to take advantage of this time and not make it a missed opportunity. I do not want to miss the opportunity to help a friend in need, not miss the opportunity to do a little more organizing, not miss the opportunity to grow in my faith, not miss the opportunity to grow closer to my husband, and most importantly not miss the opportunity to take advantage of these last few weeks of just having one daughter!
In just 11 weeks we will become a family of four and I could not be more excited but, I want to make sure I do not miss the opportunity to cherish my first born and my family of three as much as possible. I challenge all that read this blog to not let this pandemic be a missed opportunity for you, find the good, take advantage of the good, and make it a once in a lifetime opportunity!
