I am not a medical expert, or a mental health professional or anyone that can tell you how you should be feeling. But when one in four pregnancies end in loss, so many women get pregnant again on our quest for a rainbow baby. Therefore, I wanted to share my experiences with specifically being pregnant after a loss {or four in my case} during each trimester.
For me, first trimester was difficult. Really really difficult. Yes, the physical stuff is hard but emotionally its a trip. I almost hoped I would have tough days with the morning sickness so at least I knew that something was happening.
I had irresistible urges to take a million pregnancy tests, making sure lines were getting darker. Every twinge of pain (totally normal 1st trimester cramps and stretching) sent me running to the bathroom. Getting the results of my blood draws sent me into a panic attack, where I had to focus on catching my breath. The ultrasounds were the same way.
Emotionally I was constantly preparing for miscarriage. I made sure I had all the physical supplies I would need should a loss occur. I constantly, depending on the time of week, kept a mental tally of who I had to email and call to clear my schedule. I stopped just short of having a blog post explaining my absence already written.
I'm not saying these things to try to scare people who may be trying to get pregnant after a loss. I just want to share my experience. And say, that while it was scary, difficult and painful, I made it. I survived. You can survive. Somethings that helped me:
- Take it a day at a time. Just one day. Everyone can live through one day
- Decide if medical information and intervention relieves or causes stress and schedule/cancel intervention accordingly
- Get a support system -- for me I have a wonderful group of ladies who are my virtual BFFs. We've been friends since we were all pregnant way back in 2010 and they are there for me day and night. And I have my lovely readers, who have been amazing and listened. Confide in someone about the pregnancy, find an online community, or start a blog. Sometimes just getting fears {even irrational ones} out helped me greatly.
- Know it's alright to ignore the pregnancy. You don't have to think about it all the time. You don't have to talk about it.
1st trimester passed quicker than I expected. And as the weeks passed, and our medical checks were positive, I felt more and more confident that I wasn't going to miscarry. It was all about survival. I survived. And so can you.
Does anyone have a different experience being pregnant after a loss? What helped you during the 1st trimester?
