Fear Report, continued…

Our number two biggest fear during pregnancy was for the well being of the baby. If you’ve ever lost a pregnancy, had a child with birth defects, have a genetic disability in your family, or have a high-risk pregnancy, this may be your number one concern. I wish I could give you some magical solution to make all your fears dissipate. If only I could say, “Everything will be OK,” and have you believe it. But, time will tell. You’ll just have to wait out the 40 weeks with all of the other pregnant women stressing about their babies’ health.

Pregnancy is the time when we begin our worrying as mothers. It’s something that’s engrained in our gender. The worrying can be really obsessive and sickening at times and I hate to tell you this, but you’ll find the worrying gets worse after the baby is born. There are so many other outside factors to consider: What if the baby gets sick? What if I drop the baby on her head? What if she stops breathing in the middle of the night? What if she chokes to death on a button eye pulled off the new teddy bear Grandma gave her? What if someone kidnaps her? What if someone hurts her? What if someone ki… OK, you see where I’m going here. It can drive you crazy. When I start envisioning all the lurid and horrible things that may happen to my children, I just have to put on the breaks and force those thoughts away. It’s just not healthy.

As long as you’re a mother, the worrying never stops. So, relax and enjoy this very frequent and normal emotion of motherhood!