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You know who you are.
Some of us don’t fit in so neatly to the happy-go-lucky world of pregnancy and birth. We hear our cohort comparing nursery furniture or birth announcements and we feel invisible, unknown. It might be that we’ve wound up hospitalized in an antenatal unit for weeks of bed rest, fetal monitors galloping softly in the distance and the sounds of women in labor filtering down the hall, as we wonder whether our baby or babies will survive. Or perhaps our baby has received a prenatal diagnosis that has sent our minds and hearts reeling and upended our carefully-laid plans, hopes and dreams. Others of us have given birth to preemies; instead of bringing our new bundle home, we have made the NICU our second home, and the breastpump our new bosom buddy.
The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone. Now is the time, if any, to harness the power of the internet. This is the most important piece of advice that I have for Jouneymama readers. Ask questions, and if the answers you get don’t feel quite right, go find your own answers. Seek out support groups, find websites made by folks who’ve endured what you are enduring. Chances are, it’s out there. If you are having a hard time finding time, this is a great project for a friend who wants to know what they can do to help: Ask her to do a Google search for you. Have her print out the sites that she finds. Have her send emails on your behalf. Keep the faith. Connecting with other people who have faced – or are facing – something unusal with their pregnancy or birth can be tremendously healing, empowering and inspiring.
I will share mostly from my own experience, which is quite narrow in scope. If you have had experiences that you would like to share with others about how to cope with unusual events during pregnancy and birth, please email share@journeymama.net.
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