Oh, honey, not excited about pregnancy? You don’t have to be excited.
Hell, you don’t even have to be happy.
It’s your body, your pregnancy, and your baby. You feel whatever damn way you want to about it and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
If you’re not turning cartwheels about being pregnant, it’s nobody’s business but your own.
It doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person and it certainly doesn’t mean you won’t love the baby or won’t be a good mother.
Not excited about pregnancy is okay
Who Made the rule we have to be excited about being pregnant?
I don’t even know where the idea that every woman is supposed to be giddy about the idea of being pregnant comes from anyway.
I have five children. When my pregnancy with my youngest was confirmed, my reaction was quite literally disgust.
I was 37 years old and my oldest was almost an adult. I was still reeling from the death of my middle child and dealing with an autistic three-year-old. I was barely making ends meet, emotionally and financially.
I was certainly not excited about the prospect of a grueling nine-month pregnancy followed by the addition of another person to take care of.
The screaming, red-headed boy that was the result of that pregnancy is five now.
He is the absolute center of my world and I love him more than I love life itself. As I write this, he is curled up against my back, playing with Legos.
Accept how you feel right now and know it’s ok
The point is how you feel now is absolutely no indication of how you are always going to feel.
Pregnancy is rough and the prospect of bringing a new life into the world can be – and maybe should be – terrifying.
It’s okay, and probably even necessary, to feel and acknowledge every emotion that comes with what is a monumental life change.
Do this on your own terms.
Feel what you feel, not what you think you should feel and certainly not what you think other people or society, in general, thinks you should feel.
With that being said, sometimes the emotions that come with pregnancy can be just a little bit too intense to manage.
If you’re feeling excessive anxiety or stress, or if you are spending a lot of time feeling nothing at all, you might benefit from some extra emotional support.
Try talking out your feelings with your partner or a close friend.
If your emotions are still troubling, it might not be a bad idea to talk with your doctor about your lack of excitement about your pregnancy.
It may be that it’s just part of the normal rollercoaster of emotions so many of us experience in pregnancy, or it may be a sign of antenatal depression.
Either way, you are absolutely not the first woman who is not excited about pregnancy or is less than thrilled with a pregnancy.
And if you feel your lack of excitement is affecting your day-to-day life in a big way your doctor will be able to guide you about the best way forward.
