"I have no idea why I’m crying all the time. My babies are doing so well. But every time I hold them to feed them or rock them to sleep I just cry.”
“Thinking of going back to work makes me feel panicky. I can’t imagine the thought of leaving my baby with anyone.”
“Whenever my baby wakes up in the middle of the night crying my first feeling is something happened to him. I have to rush over and see if he’s ok. My husband has to remind me that he’s just hungry.”
These are just some of the comments I hear weekly from real moms who had pregnancy complications and now have their babies at home, and some of the thoughts I had myself when my son came home after almost 4 months in the NICU.
The reality of high-risk pregnancies that no one talks about
The emotional effect of having a complicated pregnancy doesn’t go away just because your baby comes home. (Tweet that!)
When you’re faced with the fears of what could happen to your baby during pregnancy, the postpartum period feels light years away.
I remember thinking during my complicated pregnancy, “If we just get to bring our son home, we’ll deal with the rest when it comes.”
And boy did it come...hard. And when I least expected it, too.
Bringing home a baby after a complicated pregnancy doesn’t erase the fears and anxieties you felt before delivery.
A high-risk pregnancy is a crisis. For some, this can even be traumatic.
If you’re like most moms faced with pregnancy complications, a high-risk pregnancy creates anxiety, stress and worry that doesn't last for a day or two, but for weeks or months, which impacts your health and your baby’s health.
Your fears are no longer about what if something goes wrong. You’re reacting to something that's a