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Pregnant for the first time: Hooray - but help.....

by Christine Hill
Christine Hill on the micro-panics that descend when you find out you’re pregnant.

Congratulations! Hooray in fact! Make the most of it because it really is terrific. But even if your pregnancy is planned and you're carrying a much-wanted baby, you may find you experience some private anxieties. Niggling worries sometimes edge their way into your mind and they won't go away.

If you've had any of the following 'pregnancy micro-panics', it might help to know that you're not alone.

A lot of women have these sort of doubts:

  • Have I done the right thing?
  • My God, this is a terrible mistake.
  • I’m not ready to have the baby yet.

    Having these private panics doesn't mean you shouldn't be having this baby. They're just ripples on the surface, which mean your mind is adjusting to your new situation.

    You have a major life change ahead

    You need to brace yourself because nearly everything about your present life will change.

    You're going to have to do things you don’t want to do (such as getting up several times in the night) and you're not going to be able to do things that you do want to do.

    But it's going to be OK

    The downside is that you'll have big responsibilities as parents and you'll lose the freedom that you had as a couple but being a family and having a baby has masses of compensations and advantages. So it's good to prepare yourself for this life change.

    I didn’t realise I was going to feel so sick and unwell.

    It’s quite irritating how some women sail through the first few months without a hint of nausea while others are throwing up most of the time. There is no way of telling which category you’re going to fall into and it's certainly not psychological. (Before you become pregnant yourself you might have secretly thought your friends were making rather a fuss about a perfectly normal condition.)

    If you are unlucky enough to be sick, take heart that some view this as a sign of a stable pregnancy.

    For the vast majority of women the nausea and vomiting will pass by around fourteen to sixteen weeks. For a few, it continues for longer. Although it is pretty horrible for you, it is unlikely to affect your baby.

    iVillage TV - Pregnancy experts

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