Anxiety during pregnancy .. anyone else?

[DenaRenee78]

I am having a lot of anxiety .. severe anxiety and panic attacks. I will be 18 weeks on Sunday. I am pregnant with twins. I was told I have twice the hormones since it is two babies so I know this had to be adding to it.

I also think the fact that my last two pregnancies ended in losses are playing into it too. My water broke with the one pregnancy at 24 weeks and my son died shortly after being delivered. Then the next pregnancy my water broke at 20 weeks and he died before delivery. I have an incompetent cervix. So with this pregnancy I had a cervical cerclage placed at 13 weeks. (a stitch to hold the cervix shut)

I am a nervous wreck though. I have actually developed a phobia of the hospital and the labor and delivery floor. I will have panic attacks just thinking about it! Before I got pregnant I did have some mild anxiety. I took medications for it and was doing great. Now that I am pregnant its been intense. I am wondering if anyone else has been having anxiety. Also how do you cope with it?

[Michelledj]

Hi, I am so sorry to read of your losses and of course this must be a very worrying time for you, I have suffered with panic attacks, I have had 3 early miscarriages and I'm not sure how I will be when I fall pregnant again (I am about to do an IVF cycle) which is also making me anxious and I am starting to get panicky feelings as its approaching, I did attend councilling classes for panic and I find counting my breathing really helps me, breathing in through my nose for 4 seconds and blow out of my mouth for 8 seconds,I i also had a game on my phone that I would play and that would give me something to focus on, it was called batty and you had to hit a ball against bricks to break them and not let the ball go past you as it came back down (get it if you have a phone you can play games on) :) it was just I had to focus on not losing the ball and it really helped me,  I would get a real whoozy feeling like something was going to happen to me and it would escalate from there but I found as soon as i started doing the breathing I could control the anxiety rather than it control me, you;'re right all those hormones raging thru you mustn't help but you can control them, adrenaline will only get to a certain level then drop at its highest you will be very anxious but the in for 4 out for 8 breathing regulates your adrenaline and therefore eases the anxiety.. I think thats the best way to explain it, i wish you all the best with your pregnancy and I hope your panic lessons somewhat, its very hard when you have all that worry and past experiences to draw from but do know that you can do stuff to help yourself its just finding the right technique - good luck!

[sorenr]

I suffered with terrible anxiety after my son was born, I lost his twin early in my pregnancy and was convinced that he wouldnt survive too. We then went through a terrible delivery and I blamed myself, to top it off I was unable to breastfeed and felt I failed him from day 1. When he arrived I loved him instantly and became terrified that he would die, I'd distanced myself through my pregnancy but once he was born I couldnt do that anymore. He was such an unhappy baby and I thought it was my fault for losing his twin...I still wonder if he would be a happier kid if his twin had survived....anyway, I struggled on for a long time but ended up having a chat with myself in the mirror every day reminding myself that if the worst did happen, I would want to have good memories so I had to make the most of every minute I had. It helped me overcome it in the end. Its not exactly a recommended technique I suppose, but it got me through it. I had anxiety a little after my second baby and used the same thing to help overcome it. I am scared of having it again this time, but I've been well for a long time now and have a different and very supportive partner so hopefully it will be better this time. I'm so sorry for your losses and wish you all the best with this pregnancy.