Mother faces challenges during pregnancy and with a newborn in a pandemic

Ms Stocks had her first baby, Tycen, in 2015, in Ararat and in April 2020 delivered her second baby, Tommy, in Ballarat.

In the middle of the first wave of coronavirus restrictions in Victoria, Ms Stocks said the state had just gone into strict lockdown when she had her baby.

"The experience was so different, even before I gave birth due to the restrictions in place," she said.

"With my first baby, my partner, Dean, could come to all of our appointments and ultrasounds. This time around my partner wasn't able to come to any emergency appointments, and I have had quite complicated births.

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"He was able to see a few ultrasounds but for most of the time, we had to FaceTime each other while I was at the hospital. It felt just bizarre."

Ms Stock said while pregnant, even going to her appointments was a "strange experience".

"I would drive myself to Ballarat for my appointments and sit outside in the car and have a phone consultation before entering the building for an examination," she said.

Ms Stocks endured a long labour which ended in a cesarean.

She said after her baby was born she was concerned because both herself and Dean woudn't able to bond with Tommy.

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"We were only allowed one parent at a time in the special care nursery," she said.

"We couldn't even have our first family photo until we got home.

"I was in the hospital for seven days as well and with my baby in special care nursery was tough.

"I couldn't have Tycen come in and meet Tommy or anything."

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Ms Stocks said it took some time for Tycen to understand the changes now there was a newborn in the house.

"It was strange because we did have some plan and idea about how we were going to introduce the two and thought we could build up the excitement for Tycen with visits to the hospital," she said.

"It was a bit of a shock for a five-year-old to all of a sudden realise Mum can't do everything for you all the time. He has been a pretty good big brother so far considering the circumstances and not being able to see me, or his new sibling straight away.

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"He was probably more upset a baby brother came home, rather than a sister because that's what he wanted."

Ms Stocks said it was difficult when Dean returned to work after two because he worked in Melbourne.

"Monday to Friday he wasn't home," she said.

"Tycen couldn't go to Kinder so I was stuck at home with a newborn and a bored five-year-old.

"I had to get into a routine really quickly to keep us busy during the day."

Ms Stocks said Melbourne was looking at going into lockdown, the couple decided it would be better if he worked in the region here rather than travelling.

"He stopped travelling back and forth to Melbourne even though he was allowed to under the restrictions," she said.

"We just thought for the benefit of the community and ourselves it would be better if he was to get work around here for the time being.

"I also have an auto-immune disease called lupus. If I were to pick up something like coronavirus I would get very very sick.

"We're just hoping we can get back to some kind of normal soon and everyone is safe and healthy."

Do you have a story to share? Get in touch - cassandra.langley@austcommunitymedia.com.au

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