GAINESVILLE, Fla. – When she was a gymnast for the Gators, Rebekah Zaiser starred on the balance beam. A decade after Zaiser finished her career by earning All-American honors at the 2010 NCAA Championships, the quest for proper balance remains at the forefront in Zaiser's life.
It has nothing to do with trying to stay upright on a four-inch-wide beam.
These days Zaiser is known as Dr. Rebekah Blickendorf, an emergency medicine physician based in Indianapolis. Her husband, Dr. Matt Blickendorf – they met in medical school at Ohio State after Zaiser finished her undergraduate studies at UF – is also a doctor who specializes in emergency medicine.
Their life is currently hectic dealing with the changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Every day unwraps a different challenge.
"It's been crazy,'' Zaiser said. "There's a lot going on at work. And then obviously, there's a lot going on at home."
Rebekah Zaiser Blickendorf, who in 2008 was the first Gators gymnast to be named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, competes during her college career. (Photo: UAA file photo)
What's going on at home helps Zaiser maintain perspective on what's going on at work.
For instance, asked to share her experience in dealing with COVID-19 patients, Zaiser told a story. Her voice ebbs and flows with emotion.
"I had a stretch of shifts in mid-to-late March where I had a bunch of really sick COVID patients,'' she said. "I had five patients die from two shifts that I admitted to the hospital. Not in the emergency department, but within a couple of days of getting admitted."
The conversation shifts to the fresh face at home. Her name is Anna Grace. She was born Dec. 6. Whatever happens at work gets washed away with a single smile.
It's a new way of life for Rebekah and Matt, both in their early 30s and driven to make a difference in their chosen profession. As Rebekah described her thoughts on celebrating her first Mother's Day as a mom, she offered words full of life and hope.
"It's the most selfless thing to have a baby. Your child is totally reliant on you and your life totally revolves around your child,'' she said. "I have learned so much and become such a better person in the [five] months my baby has been alive. We're really looking forward to taking pictures and share that with her. She has given a lot of perspective through this time. She is not worried about COVID or the economic problems or the safety. She just knows that when she's hungry she is going to get a meal.
"It's amazing."
The unique circumstances during the first months of Anna Grace's life are certain to provide tales for the family scrapbook for generations to come. Rebekah followed in her mother's footsteps. Her mom is an emergency medicine physician in Pittsburgh.
She considered other routes when she first enrolled at UF. Maybe law school one day. Maybe she would become a veterinarian like her grandfather. The draw of working with patients in need of emergency care pulled her tight and never let go.
"You take care of people kind of at the worst moment of their lives,'' she said. "You have to learn to establish the rapport and trust really within a minute or two."
That COVID-19 pandemic has stripped that intimacy. On her shifts nowadays, Zaiser is fully protected by a mask, goggles, head-to-toe personal protection equipment. The doctors are advised to talk to patients when possible at the door, not by the bedside. The healing touch she relishes giving patients is on hiatus.
That's the way it has to be for now. She expects it to remain that way until a vaccine is developed. The pandemic has prompted conversations between her and Matt and family members she never imagined during her pregnancy.
She tells another story to explain.
The Blickendorf family: Matt, left, Anna Grace, center, and Rebekah. (Photo: Courtesy of family)
"If one of us died, it would be unfortunate, but either of us would be OK,'' she said. "We feel like it's the right thing to do to go to work and help people and be involved in the fight. But having a child really changed a lot for me personally. The thought of our child growing up without a mom or a dad or, God forbid, both of us … I had to call my brother and have a discussion with him about whether he would be willing to be our child's legal guardian.
"It was hard for him. 'Boy, this is super morbid.' And it is. It's really a discussion that we should be having, not [only] in time of COVID, but anything can happen at any time. I think that's hard for both of us. The other thought is, God forbid that I bring this home to our child. There's still a lot of kids that end up being in the pediatric ICU. The last thing I want to do is cause my child any suffering. I think that's been the hardest part psychologically about this."
The couple has taken extra precautions. They keep their cellphones in plastic at work. They take off their shoes and leave them in a room by the garage. They leave their workbags in the car. The wipe down their ID badges with disinfectant. They immediately toss their scrubs into the washer when they get home. They take a shower before holding Anna Grace.
"We have adopted a lot of new routines,'' she said.
They began to prepare for what was coming back before it arrived in the U.S. There's a story to tell there, too.
Neither Rebekah nor Matt have traveled to Europe. With an abundance of travel points, they booked a trip to Northern Italy for early February. They have friends there and looked forward to the excursion. They canceled before ever getting near the airport.
"When we started to hear what was going on in Italy, that's when we realized this was going to be bad,'' she said.
It's now early May. It's Mother's Day. The coronavirus pandemic is in full bloom in America. Everyone is impacted in some way. No one knows exactly what is next. Still, Zaiser is grateful. For her baby daughter. For her family. For her nanny, Kim, who helps keep everything glued together.
As the world waits, Dr. Rebekah Zaiser Blickendorf, husband Matt and daughter Anna Grace will share the special day together. Their plans are tentative. You know who will be the center of attention regardless.
And yes, they will have another story to tell her one day.
"I'm really excited. There's nothing in your life that [having a baby] doesn't change,'' Zaiser said. "I didn't know it was possible to love another human the way I love my child."
