Doubts and Desires during Pregnancy

If you're not suffering from morning sickness, your jeans aren't tight, and that face in the mirror looks just like yours, then your emotional reaction to pregnancy might be simple disbelief. Are you really pregnant?

Feelings of doubt or even full-blown denial are absolutely normal. Planned or unplanned, it may be many weeks before this pregnancy feels "real." Wallow in your doubts. Use this time to explore all of the excitement, uncertainty, or perhaps grief you may feel at the prospect of having a baby. Start a pregnancy journal to catalog your hardest questions: Will this pregnancy go to term? How will motherhood affect my life? What will a new baby do to the relationship with my partner and other children?

Answers to these questions might depend on the day -- or the minute -- as hormones fluctuate and your body feels like it's being taken over. To get through this uncertain time, find activities that are engaging but relaxing. Try comic movies, a fun novel, or dinner at a new restaurant.

Confide in your partner too. This is the start of a new level of intimacy between you. If your partner tunes out when you're venting, turn the conversation around and ask him to talk. Candid communication is the surest way to help your relationship grow as your baby does. If you're a single mother, talk with family and friends, especially those who have been pregnant before.

Originally published in You & Your Baby: Pregnancy.

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