POSTCARD FROM THE PANDEMIC: “There is no rescheduling this event. I definitely cried.”

Ashley Feik-Campbell is a clinical pharmacist at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and is due to give birth to her first child April 10. She and her husband, Britt, who is a helicopter pilot, live with their two dogs and two cats.

Coronavirus concerns: First, the hospital started limiting the number of visitors who could attend the birth. My family lives in San Antonio, and my husband’s family lives in the panhandle. Everybody was excited and wanted to be there for the delivery. My husband was planning to come out and reveal the baby’s gender to everybody. We had a photographer coming. That all went away. I thought, “At least my family will be here when we get home from the hospital.” Then that changed. I don’t want to expose our parents to anything I might pick up at the hospital. There is no rescheduling this event. I definitely cried a little bit over that. Finally, hospitals in other states started banning visitors, including husbands from delivery. When I talked to my OB on March 25, Presbyterian Hospital had a no-visitor policy except for end of life and labor. As of now he’s allowed to be there. But that could change.

Her worries: There’s constant uncertainty of not knowing whether my husband is going to be able to be there. I want him there because of everything we’ve prepped and planned. This my first time. I don’t know what I’m doing. There’s a lot of fear of the unknown. It makes you spiral into a place of anxiety.

Her daily routine: I took my maternity leave early. Thankfully, we have a home gym. We usually wake up, work out and then read, organize something or walk. We keep ourselves occupied and stay in.

Her favorite food these days: Ice cream — anything Blue Bell. I’ve been buying chocolate, cookie dough, and cookies and cream. I’ll sit down and eat a whole pint.

Her advice for neighbors: I’ve noticed, not necessarily in our neighborhood but on social media, that people are still going about and doing things normally. It’s selfish. It’s frustrating because I feel my rights are being taken away left and right. The longer people prolong this potential hazard and the more that they don’t take it seriously, the longer and more restrictive my life gets. I wish that everybody would follow the rules, do their part. Then we can eventually have some semblance of normal family time.