Feeling Nervous About EVERYTHING!!!

Having that first baby is such a change- I'm not nearly so worried this time around. To tell you the truth half of the stuff I wanted to do in my first's room sat in the closet and was eventually donated or thrown away. Babies don't care, and they don't spend a lot of awake time in their rooms until they're much older, and then it's to play with toys and such. I have only just gotten around to decorating DD's room. She is nearing 4 and was excited to help pick out things and make it look cute, so I think it ended up better anyway, as the money was spent when she could choose. Of course, not for everyone, but just to make the whole thing less anxiety provoking. Having a baby is anxiety provoking. You are probably having some nesting kicking in, which is normal too, and makes you anxious to be sure you have a place safer than the dresser drawer to put the baby! The exhasution seems to follow me too, wherever I go. Just do your best and accept that sometimes you'll be more tired than others and get less done, and that's OK. As far as relaxing, if I am feeling really anxious or bothered about something I can't really control, I like to do some relaxtion/deep breathing techniques that are very helpful. In fact, this afternoon I was suddenly finding myself anxious about a Dr's appt and took just a few minutes to breathe deeply into my abdomen and exhale slowly through my mouth/nose with my eyes closed for a few minutes, concentrating only on the feeling of my breath entering and exiting and thinking of nothing else. It really helps me.  I have some more detailed exercises that are along the same lines but longer too, but for quick moments that does the trick. This is an incredible journey we are all on, and no one ever has all the answers. Just listen to your intuition and read/ask questions! You'll be a great mom.

Carrie

It's normal......you just worry about EVERYTHING. Shoot, I've got 4 working on #5 and I'm STILL like, "will my heart have enough love?" "Will the baby take anything from the others?" And of COURSE I know the answers are "Yes" and "No" respectively. We're just Moms. We can't help but worry. If a Mom DIDN'T worry.........I'd be worried. It would mean, to me anyway, that they didn't care. But the fact that you ARE worried about, well, everything, is a good sign!

And speaking of bathroom issues, I'm worried that I'm just 18 weeks now and as it is I'm going to the bathroom every hour to 45 minutes. (No, I don't have a UTI or anything, there's actually a lot of pee everytime!) And I'm not drinking a lot, she's just LOW and laying right on my lovely bladder! I just can't imagine what it will be like at 32 weeks. Well, I CAN imagine it because I've been there before, but I've never had the peeing problem THIS bad so early on. Guess it's cuz my uterus is overworked and underpaid and is saggin' right on my bladder! LOL

OH my gosh Chavon you are sooo NORMAL!! I felt the exact same way you do. The "preparing for childbirth" class is a great help but your labor and delivery is going to be different than anyone elses and you can't plan for what actually happens. Our bodies are made to have children and you just go with the motions and do what you are told by your nurses and dr and somehow in the end you have a beautiful baby. Once you have that baby whatever happened prior becomes a distant memory! As for the peeing - that gets instantly better once you have your baby! It's awesome! LOL! Your baby shouldn't be affected by your amounts of sleep - you only suffer from that I'm sure. (Unless of course you weren't sleeping at all-Im sure that would hurt the baby somehow.) And as for being a good mother, once your baby is born something just snaps inside of you and you just know what to do. It's the coolest and strangest thing! I was NOT a baby person before. I never held babies or freaked out when I saw a baby at the store etc... but once Anberlin was born I felt complete. I realized that I was meant to be a mother to this little girl. It was Gods plan for me. It all just comes together and you know exactly how to be a good mother.

You will be a GREAT mother!!

-Ashlie

You guys are soooo awesome! I really do feel better hearing from you all that its normal to feel crazy Actually I am understanding that I have to let some of this just happen, but control freaks like myself want to map the road ahead and make sure it is well planned and easy to see...I know, I know, crazy I am. Thanks for all the good advice, encouragement and just understanding.