Our First Son
Collingswood stays home
March, 2020
What has been the weirdest or most difficult part of this time for you and your family?: I am in my second trimester with our third child. In January, after 3 weeks of intense pain (at 11 weeks weeks pregnant) I was diagnosed with a DVT (Deep Vein blood clot) in my leg that I got from a cross-country flight I took for work. I spent 4 days at the hospital in pain and then came home and got much worse. I ended up at Pennsylvania Hospital (UPenn) for four more days. The clots had moved to my lungs. Because of this, I spent all of February and March in the house. I couldn’t walk without a walker or go up stairs for much of it. It’s was terribly isolating; but the women of Collingswood came together and delivered us meals all throughout. I’ve never felt so grateful and humbled by the generosity of others. I’ve also never felt so connected to my community, until now.
Once I was up on my feet again, we had planned to finally ‘re-emerge’ into the world and the orders to shelter in place hit that day. I, personally, have not socialized since New Years and though this sheltering at home is new for most everyone else (including my kids and husband) it’s the same for me in terms of day to day. Odd to feel like the rest of humanity is joining me as a shut in just as I was ready to emerge. I’m now working and teaching my kids from home. So as soon as my “normalcy” (walking, working) came back, everything got super un-normal. It’s been a surreal 3 months
What is your silver lining? What have you been enjoying about these days at home?: There are a lot of positive things about it. Our family is getting to spend amazing quality time together. My girls are becoming the best of friends under these conditions. And just five days into home school my kindergartner finally learned to ride a bike (three other families we know have also reported their kids did too). This, after months of saying she was too scared to try. "It feels like flying" she told me after she did it. Seeing your child accomplish something they were so scared to do is the epitome of joy. Having all this time with our kids is really healing. Especially for me after the last few months
Why is this time meaningful for you to document?: It has been the most surreal three months of my life. I had no health problems or issues in my pregnancies until now. Suddenly I’m a shut in for months on end. I’m also pregnant with our last child, our first son. This time has been such a whirlwind of doc appts, blood work, scans, quarantine, home schooling and learning to work from home after being on disability. I haven’t documented very much of this pregnancy and with the prior two I had journals and tons of weekly images.
What do you love most about Collingswood?: The people, they are so warm. So welcoming. I’ve never been so touched and grateful than these last three months. Dozens of women I don’t even know showed up at my door every single night with meals for my family. How humbling is that? Where else can you find a community like this? These last 9+ days since we really started sheltering in place have made me feel very connected to friends, family, and my community in new ways. From Facetime hangouts with family to virtual happy hours and poker games with friends and finally to zoom work 'meet ups', we are connecting, somehow, now more than we did before. It's so comforting to see all of the resources shared to help homeschooling parents and the suggestions for podcasts, shows, virtual tours to pass the time; everyone seems to be really 'in this' together.
Also, I’ve been amazed at the way the district has handled this. From the principal at my child's elementary school to their teachers and even the superintendent. The tone has been reassuring, and so thoughtful. My daughter’s principal called every kid in the school to check up on them. How thoughtful is that?
