Stress

[kewpie]

Hi ladies,

I've just crossed into third trimester I have a question regarding managing stress in pregnancy - I'm currently overseeing a renovation at my mum's house and it's nearly finished, but this past couple of weeks there have been quite a few unprofessional hiccups with the tradespeople which are causing me to freak out and frankly, get quite rage-filled. I'm trying to keep all this to a minimum as I really don't want anything to affect baby!

I'm lucky in that I have finished work already and am focused on getting this project done (it should all finish within the next fortnight), but I know others of you will be working close to the end - wondered how stress is impacting you. I also don't know how much hormones have to play a part in this but I feel tearful and frustrated. My partner thinks I need to chill.

Any advice/words of wisdom?

 

[Bittersweet]

I find this i get so angry or stressed. I’ve been doing aquanatal yoga and also normal
Yoga which has helped I find myself doing the breathing techniques a lot lol. Have a google or you tube a video and maybe try using the breathing techniques to help x

 

[becsboo]

pregnancy hormones play a big part

 

[krissie328]

I definitely struggle with stress and rage when pregnant. I find the honest guys on youtube to help so much. I also count backwards from 100 and deep breathes when I get too wound up.

 

[MindUtopia]

It sounds like you really just need a bit of a break and some time to yourself. Stress is normal and it won't affect baby at all. Or at least not the kind of normal, everyday stress you're describing. There is good research to show that. The only sort of stress that can affect baby (usually preterm labour or small birth weight) is very severe, ongoing stress: severe physically and emotionally abusive relationship or other ongoing serious trauma, things like living in a war zone, being homeless, being a refugee, that sort of thing. But normal stresses shouldn't have any effect, though it is a good reason to take care of yourself and do whatever it is you need to do to take a bit of time for yourself doing whatever it is that de-stresses you.

Last week we had some major family drama (we have no relationship with my MIL, due to risk of abuse for our daughter, and she popped up again after we'd hoped she'd gone away for good), we had two different water pipes burst in our house, flooding the kitchen on two different days, we had house guests down in the middle of it all with floors ripped up and no hot water or heating, and then on top of it all, there are roadworks on our road (only way in and out of our house) meaning the road was closed several random times a day for an hour or more at a time (meaning we would get trapped on one side of the other, unable to get to work, or get our daughter to school, etc.). It was really stressful. I literally shouted and cursed at one of the workers one day (which I feel bad about) because I got stuck on the outside one day trying to get home from the school run (I work from home) and my husband in his work van got stuck on the other side unable to get to work (because apparently closing a road for a considerable period of time at 8:30am when everyone is trying to get to school and work is really sensible!! so there was a lot of rage that day!!). What really helped was making sure I got in my regular walks and went swimming as well. I'm also looking to book a spa day in the future to properly have a day off and not have to think about stuff. I find that helps. What works for you might be totally different, but it's good now to figure out what it is so you can stay on top of it.

 

[kewpie]

Thanks ladies. MindUtopia, thanks for the info about normal stress not affecting the baby. That makes me more relaxed already Sorry to hear about all the crap you've been going through, none of that sounds like much fun. I got a bit shouty and shaky on the phone with a couple of big companies who were refusing to hold up their end of the bargain with deliveries etc and it just felt sort of unavoidable, but on the whole I'm leading a pretty chilled existence, making sure to get lots of relaxation in! But I will definitely be investigating a spa day. (Ironically, I did actually have a spa afternoon a few weeks back on our babymoon, but bizarrely they stopped the treatment 40mins early with no explanation, but I was unaware until I got dressed and looked at the time and realised they had seemed to rush the treatment...so of course I was upset having had a weirdly rushed treatment and they still wanted to charge me most of the fee! Not exactly relaxing! Fingers crossed that never happens to any of you!)