Wednesday, March 16, 2011

New Beginnings:

With heartfelt joy, I am back blogging.  With so much to share and say too!
Mike and I are expecting our little girl, Hannah, in the beginning of May.  We must say that we are excited, thrilled, and just a bit terrified as well! I have always been good with working with little toddlers.  Pretend, imagination, and possible hallucinations were and are my middle names.  However, infants, are small, fragile, and do not come with directions that tell us what to do when they cry a certain way.  Luckily we have a great group of friends who have also recently had little ones, and they are sharing with us the joy of parenthood.

A big question mark for me is "Motherhood and Mental Illness."  I am not sure what to expect from myself, or what to expect from Hannah.  I want to be the best mother I can be, and so far I am doing okay with the assistance of my ANRP and counselor helping me along.  I would never suggest or encourage others with disabilities or mental health diagnosis to stop taking medications during pregnancy, but I have been able to do okay the past several months because of the support network I have built for myself and acknowledge when certain environments or medications may not be healthy for me.  Needless to say, I have remained healthy because I stopped working in a stressful environment and have been able to stay home, remain calm and quiet, aside from a few scares and  outside issues. (i.e. husband's cancer returning, and having another major surgery as well as father having a serious surgery).

I am hoping that my new posts on being a mother, what has helped me throughout my pregnancy, and the different items or things I have come across to make this new journey easier will help other mothers with mental illness.Perhaps others will even contribute and shed some light on similar issues.

The first issue I have had the most difficulty with during pregnancy, is my back. I have terrible sciatic pain and am not looking forward to the birth as I worry this pain will get worse. However, my SNOOGLE (http://leachco.stores.yahoo.net/snoogle.html) is seriously the best item and most used throughout my pregnancy.  This pregnancy pillow has been a life saver for me, and I am at least more comfortable sleeping with this than lots of bulky pillows.  (I also am not hogging the bed as much and my husband can still share the bed with me, whereas many pregnancy pillows are too big, and there is no room for your spouse).

I shall write more later, but I am excited to be sharing with you some of the things I have learned thus far in our journey!