Doubts

I’m 4 months pregnant. I was so excited to have baby, felt very calm, settled about the whole thing. Head together and ready, making plans financially and emotionally. And now i’m freaking out, I feel claustrophobic, trapped and severely anxious. It sounds stupid but I miss being careless and going out and being able to feel as though I have room to make mistakes, but I know as soon as baby is born I simply do not (or this is how I feel anyway). I cant afford to be selfish or have freedom. I dont know what to do, is this normal?

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I will say I felt similarly, suddenly none of my plans were really about me anymore. Having a baby is the biggest adjustment of life, it is okay if it needs to simmer for a little while to feel more at ease. I feel like for most folks, this feeling passes, but I absolutely suggest leaning on friends and family, as well as seeking out therapy just to have someone to bounce things off of. Also please remember that taking care of yourself and your needs are not selfish. You need to be on a good space to be a good parent.

Doubts during pregnancy are normal. It's a big change to our lifestyle, even if it's a planned pregnancy. It's pretty hard to go through a big life change like this without experiencing any doubts, or even some grief for our old life. If it's too much and getting you down you could speak to a counsellor or psychologist who specialise in pregnancy and they may be able to help you make more sense of it all 💜

The feeling absolutely does pass I promise you. I got extremely anxious towards the end especially thinking I can’t do what I want when I want but you just adapt. It is hard to begin with but soon as you get the swing of it it’s the best thing ever. I suffer with bad anxiety to and I understand the claustrophobic feeling but you will get there, you got this 🩷xx

It’s very normal! Your body is going through so many changes and life will definitely be different when your baby is born. It’s not stupid at all to miss being careless or feeling like you won’t have room to make mistakes. Mistakes will happen, that’s a part of life, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be a good mom. I don’t know any person who is a truly perfect parent; we all just do our best and learn from the mistakes we do end up making so that we can do better on the future. Let yourself mourn the freedom you had, it’s totally normal and okay! My daughter is almost 4 and I’m 32 weeks pregnant with baby #2, and sometimes I still miss the freedom I used to have. But I will say, it doesn’t happen nearly as much as it used to as I’ve gotten used to being a mom. Give yourself grace and know that these thoughts and feelings are all valid 🩵

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