My Coronavirus Story: A Pregnant Molecular Technologist testing COVID-19 Samples

I feel that my experience is unique for this time. This virus, and the subsequent "shelter in place" orders, have sent many workers home. At the start of the scare, I was looking for a part-time job in a clinical laboratory. Something low-key that I could sustain after my child is born (as I was 7 months pregnant at the time). A recruiter told me that there was an opening for a temp worker with my DNA sequencing skills, in a Coronavirus testing lab. Actually, they run lots of tests, but given the current state of things, they're converting every machine possible to help out with the pandemic.

So I attended the interview with my very obvious belly and was offered the job the next day. As a temp position, they could only hire me on for a few months, and in my condition, I only wanted to work for a few months, so it worked out nicely. The following Monday I started work.

So now, my husband and my son (in Kindergarten) are both stuck at home all day, remote working, and remote learning. While I go out to work, business as usual.

7/24/2020 Update:

The birth went well, except that I didn't get the epidural in time. Labor was short, but extremely painful. And now I have a healthy baby girl. For now, I'm home on maternity leave and I feel bad about not be contributing to the effort. However, for these few months, I need to put my family first.