Kayla Fidler
Humans of ISU features stories from the Indiana State University campus, two years into the global Covid-19 pandemic. Each person’s story is told in their own words and reported by a journalist in the COMM422 Community Journalism course.
“Most people are very excited and overwhelmed with joy when they see a positive pregnancy test, but I was not one of those people. Obviously, those emotions came later on after the shock wore off, but I honestly was not expecting to become pregnant and had no idea if being a mother would ever be in my cards. My sisters both struggled with fertility while trying to become pregnant, so I assumed I would have the same issue but here I am almost through my second trimester with my daughter,” says Kayla Fidler, a junior studying Human Development & Family Studies at Indiana State University.
“Now that I have had time to process the fact that I am carrying a child at only 19 with a boyfriend who is hours away at the law enforcement academy for the majority of my pregnancy during a pandemic, I am actually excited to have my own little family. But I still fear being pregnant in a time with so many health guidelines and rules at the university. Because my pregnancy was unexpected and unlikely, I do not trust the vaccination while pregnant since there’s a lot we still don’t know about it and we haven’t seen long-term effects. This has caused a lot of stress for me getting tested weekly and being in such close proximity to others who are not vaccinated at the testing center and in classes. Even before I became pregnant I took as many online classes as I could to prevent getting sick, but now ISU isn’t offering as many online classes. This is scary as an expecting mother, but mostly worries me because I want my daughter to be healthy.
“This pregnancy has really challenged me in all areas of my life, but it has taught me strength. My daughter has taught me how to be resilient for her and myself as a mother.”
