Expecting in Unexpected Times

Abstract

This article explores the complexities and contingencies of pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author uses autoethnography to describe the lived experience of navigating the conflicting feelings and nuances of daily life as an expectant person during a global health crisis. In particular, the author is attuned to how one must grapple with both the positive feelings of joy and excitement that accompany many pregnancies, with the more somber emotions of guilt and sadness from losing out on many of the anticipated normalcies of the pregnancy journey. This narrative highlights emergent themes that are likely relatable to many pregnant people at this particular moment in time due to framing experiences within a larger societal context and through a scholarly, sociological lens.