The period since late April until now has by far remained the toughest time of my life. You would have heard stories of how women glow and shine and get pampered through their pregnancy. All of that is true, if not fully atleast partly. What also goes with it are those damn "mood swings".
I have a feeling that I have put a little of people at discomfort because of this pregnancy - at home and at work. There have been time in the first trimester when I would hardly wait for a colleague to finish his/her sentence before I got restless and excused myself out of the room for no good reason. The same day there have been happy times as well. My mood has seen troughs and crests within hours. I don't know if I should blame the hormones or my attitude....it was worse the first trimester and it slowly got better and am doing a lot better now because I get ample rest and am in the comfort zone of mom.
Here are some tips that helped me. I acknowledge it will take a lot of effort from your side and advice, that too unsolicited, is the last thing you want to hear at this stage. But if at all you are in the frame of mind to take it and try it and if it works, then great!
- No isolation: Always be in the company of others. Being alone can be very depressing now. I avoided people in my frist trimester for whatever reasons and got myself into a shell , not talking to anyone, getting irritated at people who tried to be nice and friendly because I wasn't feeling good. In the end I realised it did not do me any good, so I started reaching out to a select few I felt comfortable with and it helped.
- Share the feeling that you are pregnant with your friends. Keeping it under the wraps for too long will make you uncomfortable and believe me the gossip mongers will work overtime to wonder whats wrong and start speculating.
- This is what worked for me - listening to shlokas or some soothing music every morning. It would be a great help if your husband can play it on every morning.
- Next important thing is diet. No positive attitude can make you feel better if you are suffering from a heartburn after giving into that craving :) So watch what you eat even if you can't resist it. You don't want to feel bad later.
- A little retail therapy and time out with your partner like evening walks or just sitting on the terrace will do you a lot of good.
- If its a first pregnancy, then its a lot of firsts for both of you. The more involved the husband is, the more pleasant the pregnancy will be for the wife. You can do fun things like shopping for the kid, feel the experience of the baby kicking together..
- Don't do anything that makes you sad like a sad movie or song or getting yourself worked up into an emotional conversation that will eventually make you cry.
- Use your commute time to work to calm yourself.
