Every pregnancy should be enjoyable, but when you’re plagued with problems and discomfort it can be hard to rejoice in your new creation. Many mums with difficult pregnancies are more consumed with anxiety than joy – although the joy is present. It simply is hard to feel gleeful when there are so many risks and battles still to fight before you cross the proverbial finish line.
- Document the Pregnancy - Take pictures every month to see how your belly is growing and your body is changing. Be sure to take one right after you find out about the pregnancy to have a before shot as well. Then try to take the picture in the same position in the same place every time to truly get a sense of the change. You might feel miserable, but watching your belly and baby grow is awesome.
- Get a Belly Cast - Take yourself to a craft store, or send someone else if you’re bedridden and then make a belly cast using plaster and gauze strips. You can even do this with newspaper and glue and water, much like paper mache, but plaster is sturdier.
Cover your belly with the plaster strips and wait for them to dry. Then carefully peel them off and paint or decorate the cast as you’d like to document the size of that belly bump. You can hang your cast in the nursery or any other room of the house as it is art in its truest form. - Join a Support Group - There are many forums and online groups of women who are going through difficult pregnancies and normal pregnancies. Joining one of these groups will give you others to discuss symptoms with who really understand what you’re going through.
- Journal - Keep a journal of your thoughts and dreams about your baby. This journal can be for you to keep track and process all the fears, joy, hope and other emotions of it might be journal you write for your unborn child. Tell her what you think about when you look at her bump or when you hear her heartbeat. Dream aloud about her future. Someday she’ll enjoy reading it and knowing your mind that much more.
- Invest in a Doppler - There are special machines you can rent or buy that let you listen in to your baby in the womb, much like the one your doctor uses. Hearing your baby’s heartbeat every few days rather than every few weeks can give you peace of mind and make everything feel more “real”.
- Throw Yourself in the Planning - If your baby is perfectly healthy, but you’re miserable, try to beat off the funk by working on the nursery. Order items online and putter around stores with friends or by yourself. Window shop until you find the perfect item and then buy it to make your nursery complete.
It’s a tougher call when you feel superstitious about decorating the nursery. Instead of working on the nursery, you might prepare small items and memorabilia with your unborn child’s name or just generic ones. The nursery isn’t the only planning for a new baby. - Read - If you’re feeling miserable, it’s likely you’re spending a lot of time resting and laying around. This is the perfect time to brush up on your parenting skills and get caught up on the books you’ve been meaning to read.
Find all those books about surviving pregnancy and uplifting parenting books full of testimonials. Browse online booksellers to find all those joyous fiction books of pregnant women and mothers so that you can stay in good spirits about your upcoming delivery. - Charity Work - Nothing makes you feel better than helping others and there are plenty of pregnant mothers and babies who need help. You can shop for bargains to donate to shelters and hospitals. Or if you are handy, you can make blankets to donate to the hospitals and centres. Often babies in the intensive care unit are given a special blanket. Check with your local hospital, shelters, and other organizations to see what the needs are and how you can help.
- Exercise - Exercise raises your endorphins making you feel good about yourself. A bit of walking or water exercise can also help you stretch your muscles and beat off stress and tension. Swimming and walking are two of the best exercises while pregnant. Check with your doctor about exercise if your pregnancy is especially challenging, of course.
- Watch Movies - There is something about pregnancy that makes movies and television shows much more poignant. Grab a few of your favorite shows that involve children, babies and pregnancy. Then prepare yourself for the emotional highs and lows. You’ll be filled with warm emotions and then find yourself sobbing. The sobbing is actually good for you as it can help to relieve stress, plus a good cry always feels cathartic.
