Man in quarantine watches birth of his first child via Zoom

Due to coronavirus restrictions, Marty Gandelman was unable to be physically present in the room when his first child was born. That didn’t stop him, though, from watching the birth from afar.

The Jersey City man watched via Zoom as his wife Stephanie delivered their son at New York City’s Mount Sinai hospital on March 27, 2020. Stephanie told Storyful that the experience was “surreal” while describing the couple’s previous difficulties getting pregnant, having experienced three miscarriages in the past.

“I was terrified,” Stephanie said to Storyful when her fourth pregnancy test came back positive. “I was terrified for 9 months that my pregnancy would not end with me holding my baby in my arms.”

Adding to her fears was the unexpected emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Originally, Stephanie had wanted to carry her pregnancy to full-term but decided to get induced a week early, Storyful notes, with Stephanie still finding her husband’s support comforting, even if was from miles away.

“The nurse brought the computer over to me as I held our baby for the first time, and in that moment, where it mattered most, he was right there with me,” the new mom said to Storyful.

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 “It’s hard to put into words what it’s like having a baby during the coronavirus pandemic. But it has really enabled us to put this whole thing into perspective," she said.“

Across the world, friends and loved ones have been finding inventive ways to stay close even as lockdown orders and social distancing restrictions keep them physically separated.

Engaged couples across the country have been embracing social distance weddings, and holiday celebrations are taking to the internet in lieu of in-person meetups. 

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