On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 16:43:23 GMT, "Jill" wrote:
Anyway I have developed a big case of cold feet. This is my first pregnancy
and I *am* happy but I am scared to death....will it be uncomfortable, will
it HURT, etc. For one thing I am suffering from nausea almost constantly and
also, I can't sleep. I am having great difficulty in even getting a few
solid hours of sleep. I have stayed up all night several nights already.
That itself, I think, is making my anxiety worse..when you can't sleep and
have hormonal changes...=anxiety.
I am terrified...I am sure everything is fine and I am trying to stay
relaxed. They dr has me taking Zantac to try and do away with the nausea. I
don't vomit a lot but and constantly queasy...my appetite is low, and I have
actually *lost* 6 pounds in a month (I am not dieting!)
Oh boy, does this ring a bell! I'm also with my first so I can't tell
you that much more than yuo know, but in my 17th week, and I've had
brutal panic attacks almost all the time from when I first found out I
was pregnant. Fortunately, they are starting to go away in the last
week or so, just as my doctor said they would -- they are apparently a
not-uncommon version of first-trimester mood swings. So I'm starting
to feel a lot better and less frightened; here's hoping you will too!
I was also queasy through my first trimester; threw up sometimes but
not often, mostly just didn't eat much, and also lost weight. My
doctor and my friends who have had babies before assured me that a lot
of people lose weight their first trimester and as long as you are
getting enough hydration it's perfectly okay. The nausea will probably
go away with time; if it doesn't, talk to your doctor about what you
need to do to make sure you gain weight when you really need to, but
that isn't yet.
I just have a few questions..
1. With your first baby is it normal to be scared/worried? (Again, I am
terrified I will go on with insomnia, labor will hurt, etc)
Yes!! Not just with the first either, although I'm sure that doesn't
help either you or me; it's all so new and the responsibility is
breathtaking. It's normal -- not universal but common -- to have
severe anxiety or panic during early pregnancy, period; it's a common
hormonal effect. And it does ease up with time.
2. My doctors are not believers in a pregnant woman taking ANYthing other
than plain Tylenol or Zantac. At least in the first trimester....I was
taking Zanaflex and Klonopin to prevent migraines- it worked very well but
of course I stopped as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I checked
weekly.) So currently I am taking no medications except Zantac, and am doing
well, no headaches. I have researched it and get conflicting info...some
doctors allow Klonopin if the MTB is having major panic attacks etc..others
don't. I have read where some say they took Klonopin with no adverse effects
on the baby. I am NOT taking it, to be safe...but what are your thoughts on
medications during each trimester...do you doctors have different opinions?
I took Ativan for anxiety before I knew I was pregnant, and was told
sharply that I had to stop that; the benzodiazepines are risky for
babies. So I stopped. There are other medicines which are less risky,
though obviously you need to follow the advice of your own doctor
(unless you decide it's really out to lunch, in which case you need a
different doctor). Mine told me that Benadryl for sleep was okay, at
least in the second trimester; I don't know about the first because I
was already into the second by the time I found out I was pregnant
(because of other medical problems, long periods, exhaustion and
nausea were business as usual for me).
And one more thing, I am scared to death...can someone please tell me that
pregnancy is a joy, is not that uncomfortable or painful, and that labor
will be ok??? 
I will be posting and reading here often I am sure...
I don't know about a joy; certainly it is sometimes. Sometimes it's
uncomfortable and annoying. Right now I'm doing really well -- the
second trimester is often pretty easy and seems to be working out so
for me; the nausea is mostly gone, the exhaustion is gone, I'm not
showing yet, and I feel pretty normal. And the panic attacks, thank
heaven, are a thing of the past. What I've experienced so far tallies
pretty closely with what my friends who have had babies before tell
me: that at best, pregnancy is joyous; at worst, it is royally
unpleasant but no worse than a really bad day when you're *not*
pregnant, and on average, it can be annoying and uncomfortable but
isn't that big a deal. I can't speak to labor and delivery, I haven't
been there yet.
Good luck!
Naomi
#1 EDD February 28, 2004