We became parents during an unprecedented time when the world was dealing with a full blown pandemic (COVID-19 aka coronavirus). A number of the baby management tips and guides were still applicable but with self-isolation and social distancing, it became obvious that there was no guidebook for parenting during such a pandemic. Parenting advice typically changed from in-person sessions to virtual modes with friends and family doing virtual visits. Some of the advice that we read in books and various online articles didn’t really apply. However, some of the links were pretty useful and then we started adapting the advice with a twist of “virtualism” in it. Over the course of ramping up on being a new parent, we gathered a repository of useful links that we found were very effective when we were trying to reduce the anxiety of knowing what was happening with our baby, avoiding in-person visits to the primary care provider and in general baby management. This is when my techie side kicked in and I created a GitHub repo to share all the links that we have found useful so far. We will keep adding to the list and in the true spirit of a public repo, please submit a pull request if you find a link that is useful.
There are some things in these articles which doesn’t make sense till you actually try it or get hands-on experience. For us burping the baby was one such thing. It was pretty difficult to understand if our baby needed to be burped but after about a week of so, we were not as stressed out about it and were able to read the cues pretty well. If this were a job, it would be a skill acquired with experience. Parents are much more relaxed from the second one as compared to the first one. And remember your baby is an individual and pretty tolerant of you being new parents. You don’t need to be the best at everything you do as a parent but you need to be there for your baby. Given that this is a 24×7 job; it requires time, patience and getting sleep whenever the baby is sleeping.
Note: When in doubt, always consult your primary care provider regarding questions you have about postpartum needs, recovery for the mom and your baby.
Hooman Dad 