When we decided to have a baby, I don’t think we realised just how many changes that decision would bring… Particularly for me. Physical, emotional and lifestyle-wise.
At the start of the pregnancy journey, nine months seems like such a long time. All those changes that people tell you about seem to be in the far off, misty future. For me, apart from not drinking anymore and cutting out the no-no foods, my life pretty much carried on as usual in the early stages of this journey. I was very lucky in that I had no morning sickness to speak of and apart from being incredibly tired at the end of each day from mid to late in the first trimester, I was still working, still exercising and generally just living my life.
During the second trimester, exercise got a bit trickier as my belly started to grow and I decided running wasn’t such a good idea. But the extreme tiredness abated and I found other forms of exercise – brisk walks and I started Antenatal Aqua Classes. I did start getting a little weary of people saying to me “So, are you super excited? You must be…” because while I was excited, I didn’t necessarily feel as excited as everyone seemed to think I should. For me, I was still pretty focused on work and actually having a baby still seemed a long way off.
Fast forward to late in the second trimester and we were going to the Parenting and Birth Skills Classes that our hospital holds. This started to make things more real and then a few weeks ago it really hit me – bam, my life is about to change immensely and I really have no idea what the future landscape looks like right now. Add in lack of sleep from the numerous night time bathroom visits and the fluctuating pregnancy hormones and I was overwhelmed. Having been pretty focused on my career for the last 12 years, I suddenly realised that I would be finishing work shortly (which logically is a good thing as I am really too tired to focus 100% at work – but where does logic come into any of this?) and I had no clue what this new life of mine would be like. Um, scary much?? Plus it really hit home that my Dad (who was a major influence on my life) wouldn’t be around to be a Pop as he passed away in 2006.
Emotional overload anyone?
I’m working through all of this by talking it out with my amazing husband, family and friends, plus going to Kinesiology (a holistic mind/body therapy), which is good, but wow, I never thought I’d be dealing with all of this when we first decided to have a baby!
Has anyone else experienced emotional swings in response to all the changes pregnancy brings?