Riding the Emotional Waves

Pregnancy and recovery are a time of huge emotional swings. The variety and pace of the shift in emotions can be scary. By scary I mean unfamiliar.

Up until this point we may not have experienced the rush and waves of emotion. Any emotional changes during menstruation are just a preview of what a woman can experience when with child or postpartum.

But, looking at the waves of emotions as something simply unfamiliar to us allows us to be in them differently. The change in perspective allows us to not need to control, escape, apologize, repress, or be ashamed of being “emotional.”  We can look at what they may be telling us. Even in pregnancy, and I would say particularly in pregnancy, emotions signal it is time to step back to look at what we need.

Pregnancy emotions reveal:

1. Need for community: allow that you cannot do everything you use to do and you shouldn’t be doing everything you use to do. It is a time to nurture you and the baby. Asking or accepting help will make you stronger during this time.
2. Rest is necessary. Juggling all the balls in the air while creating a new human is exhausting.  Tearful outburst often signal it is time to rest - quite literally, take a nap, sit on a bench while your other children play, say no more often.
3. Fear. It is normal to have fears about the process or being a mom. Here the practice of sitting is stillness is super helpful at calming and reassuring you that you are more than enough to go through this process and you can be the best mom to your child regardless of what you experienced.
   
4. You need to speak. Sometimes the emotional roller coaster is because we do not let those around us know how and what we are feeling.  The bottled up emotions seep out of us in the form of moodiness, frustration, snappiness, impatience, and disappointment. Not speaking to those around us can also make us feel isolated.  You do not need to have a big sit down, but begin to just say what you are feeling and thinking when it comes. Just starting where you are, you will experience a lot of relief.

By become curious about the emotional waves of pregnancy and postpartum, we find our way out of the wave and learn how to create a better life for ourselves.  This lesson will spill over to all areas of your life, and help you be a better woman and mom.

with love,
​Julia