By Luke Voogt
Grovedale two-year-old Milla Russell first gazed upon her baby brother Oliver through a hospital window, two storeys up.
“It was a different experience to what we imagined would be their first meeting,” new mother Sharne Russell said.
“I was holding Ollie up and she was out on the street waving.”
COVID-19 restrictions prevented anyone but husband Jason from visiting after Sharne gave birth to Oliver on March 30.
The disability worker fell pregnant well before the pandemic but in her last week at work, before maternity leave, the reality began to hit home.
Rumours flew around social media, some true, others false, about what the pandemic meant for expecting mums, adding to the stress as her due date approached.
But the restrictions were a “blessing in disguise” as she recovered.
“It was a bit different to having Milla where we had visitors streaming through the hospital,” Sharne said.
“Those three days it was just me, Jas and Ollie. It was nice having that quiet time and not having to pass him around the whole time.”
Milla also met Oliver online before finally meeting him in-person when Sharne returned home.
“It was really surreal – no one’s visiting,” she said.
“It was kind of like we came back home and that was it.”
Before the pandemic she had looked forward to brunching with a friend who gave birth this week and another two due in coming weeks.
“Now all that has changed,” she said.
But Sharne is now part of the Geelong New Mumma’s Club on Facebook, connecting mums of babies born during the pandemic.
“It’s just good to know you’re not doing it alone,” she said.
“It’s nice to fill up the Facebook feed with some positive stories and images rather than the negative stuff we’ve been reading.”
