By the end of March, life was completely suspended for Niamh Kelly. Like everyone, the 38-year-old from Dublin had her world turned upside down by the lockdown restrictions, which brought her work and social life to a halt.
One day she was out for a walk with her husband of seven years when she was suddenly conscious of feeling calmer than she had been in a long time.
"I felt a different sense of relaxation, that was unfamiliar to me," Ms Kelly said. "Work meant Zoom calls, of course, but otherwise my diary was completely clear - no appointments, no social plans, no anything."
As the weeks of lockdown stretched into months, Ms Kelly's family got a major surprise in May. After five years of trying, she was pregnant with the couple's first child - who is due in January. She said she and her husband had surprised themselves with a pregnancy, "probably the one month we weren't thinking about it".
She is not the only Irish woman who has had the pleasant surprise of an unexpected pregnancy during lockdown.
This week, Rosanna Davison also revealed that she was expecting twins from a natural pregnancy after a fraught fertility journey that included 14 miscarriages. Davison said that, for her, being relaxed during lockdown helped.
"We found out I was pregnant after the first month of lockdown when I was far more physically relaxed than I've been in years and enjoying the slow pace of family life at home, despite the anxiety and sadness in the outside world," she said.
Before now, she had never seen any of her pregnancies sustain beyond six weeks and said that medics had been unable to tell her how her miracle pregnancy occurred.
Previously she'd been told she had a suspected immune system dysfunction.
Pregnant Rosanna Davison with husband Wes Quirke and their baby, Sophia
The daughter of singer Chris de Burgh said they waited until the end of the first trimester to tell the rest of their families and close friends. She said she and husband Wes were still shocked at the news, but will welcome the twins this November. This is around the same time when daughter Sophia, born via gestational surrogacy, will turn one.
Speaking about her own pregnancy, Ms Kelly said: "I was so surprised, but a part of me always believed it would happen on some level too. It's a strange mix of emotions!"
She had started "properly" trying for a baby around 2015, and the couple went through "various medical treatments and holistic therapies".
"We had tried everything over the years. We had been on a journey correcting some small medical issues, and we'd been to all sorts of doctors, had procedures and plans, and were still having no luck," she explained.
The sudden interruption to normal life became a chance for them to take a break from it all. The couple were focusing on their new jobs and a new puppy when the pregnancy came as a surprise.
"The lockdown really brought about a new way of life for me, something that just wouldn't have happened without the pandemic," she added. "Working from home, and having absolutely zero travel or social plans, was bizarre at first, but I found within days I was really enjoying it.
"We were obviously so lucky not to have anyone in our family sick with Covid-19, and while the world seemed in chaos, I can't deny enjoying our own little world during that time.
"Obviously thousands of women get pregnant while working hard and playing hard, so it is frustrating to think now this was a factor going against me. I have always loved my job, and my life, making the most of every minute. I was always going and doing, making plans."
Ms Kelly said she would cherish her time in her family's "lucky lockdown" and credited the slower pace of life for their surprise pregnancy.
Women and couples who go through fertility journeys are well used to anecdotes and urban legends about couples who got pregnant once they "stopped trying".
While not scientific, it does appear that the slower pace of lockdown has been conducive to a number of surprise pregnancies. By April and May, there were reports of a spike in sales of pregnancy tests in pharmacies and shops across Ireland.
While morning sickness and a sudden alcohol aversion is easier to hide in lockdown during Covid-19, pregnancy in a pandemic has a mix of advantages and disadvantages.
Earlier this year, the Rotunda Hospital said that babies born during lockdown were "thriving" because mothers were able to feed them all the time due to the no-visitor rule.
This meant newborns were returning to their birth weight much faster.
This month, University of Limerick released research which said there had been fewer premature births during lockdown and listed 10 possible reasons in the paper, which is yet to be peer reviewed.
A reduction in stress for the mothers-to-be was listed as a possible factor.
But on the other side, some women have missed out on crucial developmental checks on their babies, which have been paused because of Covid-19.
Those who are still pregnant are experiencing restrictions on some of the normal or even most exciting parts of pregnancy.
Partners are still not permitted to attend public or private scans, which can be a major and emotional part of having a baby.
The National Maternity Hospital has careful Covid-19 restrictions in place, down to asking women to bring their own pen. While some hospitals have lifted or relaxed strict time limits for partners attending the birth of a baby, others have not.
Stephanie Flemming (32) said she was one of the few women who had managed to have her partner at her antenatal appointments. Ms Flemming, who is 33 weeks' pregnant, opted for a home birth for her first child.
She lives in Lucan and is one of up to 20 women currently affected by a delay in the HSE sending paperwork to approve home births for some women in Leinster.
She is hopeful that the paperwork arrives in time for her birth, to avoid her having to prepare to go to a hospital at the last moment.
"You can't leave women who are heavily pregnant in limbo like that," she said.
Ms Flemming said that apart from the last-minute day, the homebirth had largely worked in her favour during lockdown.
"During Covid-19, it's been a huge advantage. I've only had two antenatal checks and the midwife was able to come out to the house, so my husband Conor was able to be there. Other women haven't had that," she said.
"He's been able to hear the heartbeat, he's been able to see the exam, he's been able to be part of the conversation so obviously that's been really precious."
She added that she knew access to home births was still restricted in Ireland, and in some parts of the country it is still not available as an option at all.
While birth partners are being restricted in some hospitals due to Covid-19, Ms Flemming will be able to choose to have a number of close family at her home when she delivers her first baby in the coming weeks.
"You can have whoever you want at your birth. I'm going to have my husband, I'm going to have my mum, I have a niece who is 17 and wants to be a midwife. She'll be there, as well as my midwife who is amazing," she said.
