Andrea lives in the north of Hamilton with her partner Matt, daughter Constance (also known as Coco), newborn Eleanor (also known as Thunderbolt) and dog Maggie.  At the beginning of the first provincial lockdown in March 2020, Andrea was about twelve weeks pregnant with Thunderbolt. She struggled with the decision to share her news. “It just didn’t feel right in a way...it’s such a wonderful, joyous thing but it was also a time of huge worry and unemployment and death and it just seemed the total opposite of where people were able to emotionally meet.”

While pregnant with Thunderbolt, Andrea undertook the task of balancing her paid employment working from home with the full-time care needs of her daughter Coco. “It was like an 8 to 8,” Andrea says. Between caring for Coco and her employment, Andrea was working 12-hour workdays. Coco’s senior kindergarten became virtual and being removed from the classroom was difficult for her. “It was so hard on her, she’s a very social kid and she thrives in the classroom.”   

Shortly after Andrea began maternity leave from her employment, Thunderbolt was born at home on October 16, 2020 thanks to a wonderful team of midwives. “While I was in early labour I was making peanut butter protein balls,” Andrea shares,  “we [Matt] were forming them and then would pause to have a contraction.” Coco returned home from school while Andrea was making her ‘big labour sounds.’ For Andrea, it was important that birth wasn’t a mystery to Coco. Andrea describes her pregnancy with Thunderbolt as beautiful and ‘as expected.’ She feels privileged to have had a smooth pregnancy and healthy baby but complicated about giving birth while isolated from friends and family. “It was twofold because I could be comfortable at home while my body was uncomfortable the whole time, but it was kind of sad in the end because it’s such a beautiful thing and I wasn’t able to share it.” Sadly, due to the pandemic and a need to safely maintain social distance, most of Andrea’s friends and family have not met Thunderbolt. 

There’s no such thing as a typical day for mothers with young children. Wake-up time is between 4:30 am and 7:30 am and tackling the day in small 1-2 hour chunks. “ It’s a mix of coffee, breastfeeding and breakfast and making sure that my other child isn’t watching too much TV,” Andrea says.  Every day Andrea tries to do something creative and stimulating with Coco outside of school, sometimes that’s building forts, or baking, other times it's multi-day art projects. 

As ‘House Manager’ Andrea tends to do most of the immediate needs of her household, including cleaning and cooking. Her partner Matt “typically does the things that involve taking care of the house like fences and mice.” But they share tasks often, helping to 'get things done' and move onto the next.  Food has always been important to Andrea. “I’ve always loved food. I love what it does to bring people together” she shares. While cooking has become more challenging while Andrea balances Thunderbolt’s nap times, she’s been able to explore new foods during the pandemic including experimenting with cooking Korean food.  Coco is often involved with food preparation, not only as a fun activity but to help her with her math and reading as well. 

To help cope with the stress of COVID, Andrea has turned to walking. “As a pregnant person in the early pandemic, not knowing how that affected pregnant people or children and newborns, I really didn’t go anywhere except on long walks,” she says. Walks have been Andrea’s blissful escape where she unplugs from the rest of the world and is often joined by both kids and the family dog Maggie.   

Andrea knows that the pandemic has been difficult for many caregivers, and acknowledges the importance of domestic labour and care work. “I totally think it’s undervalued” she shares, “in the amount of actual work but even in a monetary sense.” In solidarity with others caring for their families during the pandemic, she says, “whatever level of labour or cleanliness [you were used to] before the pandemic, your expectations on yourself and each other need to change in order to get through it...It’s ok to have butter on toast and cheese and crackers for dinner sometimes!” While COVID has been difficult for her and her family, the arrival of Thunderbolt has been an immense source of happiness. “It’s been so hard and heartbreaking but it’s also been so beautiful and joyful because of [Thunderbolt]...It’s easy to see hope through her.