How will I manage being pregnant?

[nikki08]

So because I am such a worrier, I am worrying about how I will manage my health anxiety when I get pregnant. My husband and I are thinking of trying soon and I want to go off my Cymbalta (my life saver) before I conceive. I can't even imagine all the new symptoms I will experience and fears I will have.
I am curious to hear how others' pregnancies went and how you got thru them with health anxiety.

[JesseGirl27]

I can relate with you on this because I had the same fears. First, I had total fear that we wouldn't even be ABLE to conceive. But we got pregnant within three months. Then I did have anxiety that it was ectopic.... had an ultrasound in the ER which showed it was in the uterus. Had some spotting around 8 weeks.... ER again... another ultrasound which showed my healthy baby moving around. ;)

I had anxiety throughout the whole pregnancy, but I was able to manage it. I rented a doppler so I could listen to his heartbeat whenever I got worried... that was a LIFESAVER. I kept it until he was born, then sent it back. I highly recommend the doppler for women with anxiety.

Otherwise, I think you just have to have faith that everything will be fine. One though that always seemed to help me was this: look at the stadium every year at the Superbowl, the hundreds of THOUSANDS of people. They all got here just fine and so will your future baby. :)

PM me if you ever want to talk, this is a subject very close to my heart. :)

[jnn814]

I had my first baby almost 8 months ago so I know exactly how you feel. I had anxiety and severe OCD throughout my pregnancy. Some things that helped me were going to therapy, just talking to someone can help. I also tried some meditation and long hot baths. I enjoyed reading, oh yeah I also did puzzles and it seemed to really help. It was hard but I just tried to keep myself calm because I knew stress wasn't good for me or the baby. Good Luck

[mandah2386]

Im' 17 weeks pregnant now and been suffering with severe anxiety since I got pregnant. I'm on 50mg of Zoloft. This pregnancy has been a lot harder than my first, because I didn't have anxiety with my first. The things that help me is taking a walk, a long hot shower, watching silly shows on TV, and reading. 9 months feels like an eternity when you have anxiety, but if I'm making it I know you can.