MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — It's completely normal to have some nerves before you welcome your little one into the world, but your typical due date jitters mixed with the unknowns of COVID-19 make for a completely different birth story.
"Something that should be magical and beautiful and wonderful... I just wanted it to be done," said Casey Suszynski who gave birth to her second child in June. "I wanted the baby there safely in my arms so that I could let go of all that pandemic uncertainty."
For brand new moms like Ashley McFadden, she said the anticipation was the worst part.
"I went into it terrified, like cried everyday to the two weeks leading up to it," said McFadden.
Another new mom, Jennifer Hazen, gave birth to her little girl last spring. "I gave birth in April and it was really early on in the pandemic and no one knew anything so that was the scariest part," she said.
Despite the fear of the unknown and doctors learning new details about COVID-19 every day, overall these moms said they had a pretty good experience.
"Honestly, it was better," said Lyssa Leitner Grams who has a big family that typically crowds the hospital to see her babies.
"For my first kid people were coming in like crazy and I was generally okay with that, but it was a little better to have you and your partner to be a little bit quieter in the delivery room and in the hospital afterwards," said Leitner Grams.
These moms all agree that more intimate family bonding time and getting more time with the nurses was a birthing pandemic perk.
"They're showing you how to do everything, walking you through everything and my nurses, I delivered at Maple Grove, they were incredible," said McFadden.
"Besides the nurses and everyone wearing masks the whole time, there wasn't a ton that we felt that was really different because of the pandemic," said Hazan.
When asked if these moms would get the COVID-19 vaccine, if and when it becomes available to them, ALL of them said they would without a doubt.