FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. — The COVID-19 pandemic can be nerve-wracking for new parents, especially those who are preparing for delivery in a hospital.
106.9 Play's Jesse Ras and his wife Lindsey just welcomed their second child, a boy named Nolan, on April 1. Nolan was born in the same southern Indiana hospital as his brother, but the experience was completely different for Jesse and Lindsey.
"Anyone who's had a kid knows there's a constant flow of people, sometimes family members. You get a lot of help. Not this time around. It's been a weird experience, especially with the second time around. We've had no visitors," Jesse Ras said.
Jesse's home video from the Labor and Delivery floor revealed hardly anyone walking the halls and no one in the waiting room. With most hospitals today, only one visitor is allowed during the labor and delivery process and no visitors are allowed at prenatal appointments.
"It's been eerie because when we gave birth to our first-born, this place was full. They'd just redone it and it was filled with people waiting to see siblings, grandchildren. It's closed now," he said.
"I remember when Ian was born. I had this great picture of everybody filling these windows," Ras said, standing outside the hospital's vacant nursery. "It's a weird experience."
"Everybody here at Floyd has been great. Someday, I hope to see their whole faces," Ras said. "They're in surgical masks all day, every day, the entire time. I cannot imagine."
"It's obviously for our protection and to keep up safe, but it's just not that immediate connection with people and seeing their smile and seeing their face," Lindsey Rasmussen, Jesse's wife, said.
Like anyone who comes into the hospital, new parents are also screened to make sure they aren’t showing symptoms of COVID-19.
"It's not the most ideal circumstances, but this is the world we're living in now. Everybody's trying to remain safe," Ras said.
"Be ready for change. Be flexible. It stinks. Reach out to people if you need help, if you need support, but enjoy the moment while you have it," Rasmussen said.
Contact reporter Brooke Hasch at bhasch@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Hasch) and Facebook.
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