April Mental Health Thread

tuxielove93

How is everyone doing as we near third trimester? 

velvetblue88

I'm doing better than I thought I would be.

Last pregnancy ended in MMC, surfaced a laundry list of risks, and it took almost 3 years to get pregnant again. After hitting 24w Thursday, I've been ordering things to prep a hospital bag and completing my registries. It's giving me anxiety from all the "what ifs."

But I've been reminding myself all my scans have been great, and billions of women have had healthy babies. I'm not unique, and things could actually go just fine.

I haven't told any of my 6 nieces (ages 6-12) they'll have a new cousin, but I decided to do it this weekend. (My sisters haven't told them, as I asked them not to because of my laundry list.)

So... Undercurrent of anxiety, but I think I'm ok. One day at a time.

sunshineandlemons

I’ve been doing ok but already dreading how empty it will feel when I go back to work. I had gone back to work after my last baby a month before the world shut down for COVID. My sitter still watched my girls and it just felt so weird being home all day without my baby. 😢 I of course got used to it but was still hard. I may try to go in more just to get away and not miss my baby so much. 

courtneyqdk

It's been a bit of a tough weekend for me - Friday I was diagnosed with cholestasis. My case is very mild, which is great, but there is no way of knowing if it will remain mild or suddenly become more serious. This means I will have extra ultrasounds, bloodwork, etc. in the third trimester and my doctor said to be prepared at any moment if I am in for an ultrasound to be sent over to labour & delivery like right then and there. (while this is unlikely in mild cases, there is no way of predicting when something might take a turn).  Most people with this deliver between 36-38 weeks.  With my first pregnancy I had zero complications and my son was born at 41 weeks, so wrapping my head around the fact that I might not even make it to the end of the school year has been tough for me! 

Anyway, I have come to accept that it is what it is, and I have a great doctor who is closely monitoring me, but it was definitely an anxiety filled weekend! I have been in the mentality that I would end the school year at work (end of June in Canada) and have a couple of weeks before baby's arrival. Now I am like we need to build the crib! Set up the nursery! Buy diapers! Pack bags! lol it is a little overwhelming, but I guess I am glad this was caught early (most aren't diagnosed until 3rd trimester - honestly, I wouldn't have been if I didn't know someone who had had it previously and brought up my symptoms at my doctor's appt) so working on creating a game plan for home & work to be prepared for any outcome here. 

caymanmel

Why was my comment deleted?   

zwink1

@caymanmel did it actually post?  TB has been glitching pretty badly lately.  

dontmindmejustpregnant

Pregnancy wise things are pretty good! I bought a knee pillow for half the price of a Pregnancy pillow and it has really helped with hip and lower back pain. Definitely recommend!
I attended my grandmother's funeral this weekend so that was emotional, mostly because I haven't seen or talked to my dad in 6 years. Still recovering from that...
Also! Was told baby most likely has a heart defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) which will need heart surgery to correct after birth. So that has been heavy to deal with as well. 

Everything combined and so close together has been weighing me down emotionally, but mostly it comes in waves

zinnia19

@courtneyqdk I’m sorry to hear about your cholestasis diagnosis. I wasn’t familiar with that so had to look it up, I’m glad to hear you have a mild case. I can definitely see how that would cause you a lot of anxiety. I’m glad they caught it early and I am sending you positive energy. 

@dontmindmejustpregnant wow, that’s a lot process emotionally. Sending you hugs.

courtneyqdk

@zinnia19 thanks - google is a blessing and a curse! My doctor reassured me that even though it can be quite serious, the chances of a worst case scenario are still very low. (If levels are over 100, 3.44% chance of danger to baby, but my current levels are 8 and I am hoping they stay that way, very low risk at this point!) I'm going for bloodwork again this week, so anxious to see if there has been any change for sure. 

@dontmindmejustpregnant that is so tough - hang in there & try to find time and space to process all of it - it must be very overwhelming! 

zinnia19

My mental health has taken a bit of a dip in the past few weeks. I’ve started to feel more tired and achey and it’s been a little frustrating. Also there is just so much to think about at this point regarding baby gear/registry items (I tend to over-research stuff and then get stressed), child care (we are on lots of wait lists but nothing secured), etc. I’m definitely getting more easily overwhelmed and crying more often. 

Oh also my neighbors got two annoying dogs that bark all the time, especially when they see people. So that’ll be interesting when we want to garden or chill in our backyard… 😠

Might get back in touch with my therapist for some telehealth sessions. With the 3rd trimester looming there is definitely a lot of stress building. 

flikyerbik

Anxious about a lot of things. The Bump keeps glitching and I don't want to keep typing it over and over. Just hoping for a clean result from the glucose tolerance test

lilirunning34

I’m definitely a lot more anxious this pregnancy. I think after experiencing loss I’m more hyper aware of everything that can go wrong in pregnancy and birth. Sigh. For the most part I’m pretty chill, but once in awhile I’ll get in my own head about it all.