ADVICE FOR ALL NEW MOTHERS

I have a friend who is about to have her first baby! Exciting times you would think. Not always. For some new mums to be is can be an anxious time. I suffered from anxiety with my first and short second pregnancy.

You see pregnancy hormones make me crazy.

So much so that my husband threatened never to have another baby with me because simply I made his life hell. I was an emotional crazy pregnant lady. I was anxious about many things, silly things really. Things like 'this baby is never going to come out of me and I will be pregnant forever'. I mean really, have you ever heard of anyone being pregnant forever.

You see crazy! 

Crazy and irrational! 

I would wake up in the middle of the night and just worry, worry about who knows what but at the time they made me so sick with fear that I couldn't go back to sleep. I was worried for the baby because I had gestational diabetes, because I did or did not eat this or that, because I refused to take multivitamins because my diet was and should have been adequate to support new life. I was worried because I had a cold, that it was hard to breath, would I ever get better or would I be sick forever.

Seriously...loop d'loopy

But at the time all those anxieties and fear and worries were legitimate  And no one talks about this, about how pregnancy hormones can make you crazy. Now I'm not sure if all pregnant women experience this? But I certainly did and I know other women do too. So if you are a new mum to be, stop worrying it will all be okay. Once you give birth your hormones will return to normal (I didn't suffer from baby blues, once I gave birth I was my normal self.)

There will be many people who will give you advice on how to parent  but my only advice is to follow your instincts and trust your gut. Parenting is inbuilt and you will figure it out. You will figure out how to hold you baby, how to change their nappy and tell when they are hungry or tired. Don't read millions of books trying to find the best answer they will frustrate, confuse you and add to your anxiety. Instead if you are so inclined stick to one book that you like the feel of, but if you think that your way might be better or if something else is working for you that stick with that.

I am happy to say this so far this time around I haven't been hit with anxiety, I did have one 5 minute episode but nothing like I had previously experienced. Hoping it stays that way :D