Pregnancy can be a very emotional experience and it can sometimes be difficult to know whether your feelings are manageable or a sign of something more serious. Pregnancy hormones can affect your emotions, you may also have difficulty sleeping and you may be feeling sick. This can all make you feel low.
Those feelings you are describing — being frozen in fear, isolated and riddled with anxiety — are as normal a reaction to pregnancy as the excitement and joy you are expected to experience.
Talk about your feelings to your partner, family and friends. You may be anxious and want to keep the pregnancy to yourself in those first few months but try to open up to someone if you can. It can really help to know you are supported. Don't feel guilty if you are not feeling excited and happy to be pregnant.
That's natural. Most people fear what they don't know, and having a baby can feel like the ultimate “unknown.” Keep in mind, when you stop feeling guilty over your emotions, you can start getting to the root cause of them.
In the last 15 years, though, research on human mothers and babies has caught up to show that my mother-in-law was at least partly correct: A pregnant woman's emotional state—especially her stress, anxiety, and depression—can change her child's development with long-lasting consequences.
These early weeks can feel overwhelming; you might feel both excited and terrified. "Pregnancy is a huge milestone, and it's OK to be in your feelings about it," says Belen.
Fully recovering from pregnancy and childbirth can take months. Although many women feel mostly recovered by 6-8 weeks, it may take longer than this to feel like yourself again. During this time, you may feel as though your body has turned against you. Try not to get frustrated.
To regret having kids can feel isolating and challenging, but this is a common experience for many parents. These emotions do not make you a bad parent, and acknowledging them can help you cope. By dealing with parental regret head-on, you can improve your relationships with your children.
The Science Behind the “Mom Bod”: Permanent and Temporary Changes Caused by Pregnancy. It's safe to say growing and birthing a baby does “some things” to the body. And while many of those changes are temporary, like strange skin conditions experienced during pregnancy, some may be more permanent, like altered DNA.
Depression is not uncommon among pregnant woman or new mothers, so if you're thinking, “I don't want a baby,” it may be due to antenatal or postpartum depression.
Your body is changing in ways no one else can understand unless they are also pregnant. What's more, even those closest to you may not be able to fully understand or empathize with what you're going through. You might feel like they don't or can't care enough.
his increase in hormones can have an impact on your emotions and your brain's ability to monitor those emotions. This is very common and should not be a cause of concern unless you find yourself in a state of intense emotional instability and distress.
This occurs due to the tight fit of the fetal head to the maternal birth canal, which is additionally convoluted, meaning the head and therefore body of the infant must rotate during childbirth in order to fit, unlike in other, non-upright walking mammals.
Alongside the panic of an unplanned pregnancy, you are feeling a thread of guilt growing inside you because you don't want the baby. That is completely okay, and many women like you face the same problems every year.
Birth disappointment is a common and painful experience which can negatively impact the early days of parenting, and potentially beyond. Birth disappointment describes a sense of sadness and loss when the reality of your birth experience does not match with what you hoped or expected it to be.
After delivery, the amount of the hormones estrogen and progesterone suddenly decreases, causing mood swings. For some people, the hormones made by the thyroid gland may drop sharply, which can make them feel tired and depressed. Not getting enough sleep and not eating well can add to these feelings.
After birth, hormone levels drop quickly and often take the glow with them. In addition, the stress that comes with becoming a new parent and sleep deprivation can quickly make the skin look dull, dry and tired.
Once babies start to self-soothe around 3-4 months, you will start to feel more like yourself. With a consistent sleep schedule and environment, your baby will sleep in longer stretches at night and take better naps during the day! This will give you time to nap, perform some self-care, or do some housework.
A Word From Verywell Family
You can rest assured that your widening hips, in most cases, will return back to their pre-pregnancy state, usually by 12 weeks postpartum.
Significant changes in your hormone levels can affect your level of neurotransmitters, which are brain chemicals that regulate mood. Mood swings are mostly experienced during the first trimester between 6 to 10 weeks and then again in the third trimester as your body prepares for birth.
Many women choose to delay announcing a pregnancy at least until the end of the first trimester (12 weeks into their pregnancy). This is usually because of concerns about the risk of miscarriage (pregnancy loss) during this time.
Don t be surprised if you develop a bit of a 6 weeks pregnant belly. Although your 6 week embryo is still well down in your pelvis, some women, especially those who've been pregnant before, seem to show much earlier. General abdominal distention is usually the cause.
Summary: As a fetus grows, it's constantly getting messages from its mother. It's not just hearing her heartbeat and whatever music she might play to her belly; it also gets chemical signals through the placenta. A new study finds that this includes signals about the mother's mental state.
The combination of physical, social and emotional changes in pregnancy may, for some, lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.