I have always had low level OCD but it’s heightened since being pregnant. My worries mainly focus on ingesting things I shouldn’t, such as cleaning sprays when cleaning, plastic in food, out of date food etc and contamination from germs.
Today I have had (8!) worries so far. I have started to write them down and put a time next to them so I can keep tabs. 7 of them I managed to dismiss and rationalise in 20 minutes, the other one relating to the toilet seat has bothered me for hours.
I’ll list them here for accountability and to give you a sense of what I mean
•Taking bump photo. Could sucking tummy muscles in be harmful?
•Have I electric shocked myself on this plug socket? I’m sure I just felt something funny…
• These public toilets look unclean, so I won’t sit on the seat and will hover (we’ve all been there 😂) … hang on, have I just harmed the baby by not sitting down to wee?
• Walked past a homeless couple in the street who were fighting, one of them shouted loudly and it gave me a shock. Did baby feel me jump? Will they be ok?
• Returned to same public toilets. Did my underwear just touch this toilet seat? What if there’s now germs on my underwear and they somehow get up the wrong place and reach my baby?
Fly in the kitchen. I’ll open the window. Lift self to sitting on countertop, have to push up on my arms. Could this movement have bothered baby?
I’ve left our pastries in a carrier bag in the kitchen. The bag wasn’t shut. What if the fly got in there and landed on them? Should I throw them away? I don’t want food poisoning
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I know a lot of these are totally, completely ridiculous. Pre-pregnancy I wouldn’t be bothered. As you can see most my worries are to do with baby being ok. We suffered a loss before this pregnancy and I think that has probably led to these feelings.
I ruminate for hours and I usually have to seek reassurance from multiple people and even that doesn’t satisfy me fully. Generally I just move on after a few hours myself for most but there’s the odd exception which sticks in my mind and distracts me from doing pretty much anything else
I am in the process of seeking proper support for it and have DH, family and friends around me too who are all really understanding.
I thought I would come on here though and ask people who might have experienced these kinds of thoughts themselves. Is there a way/effective strategy to nip these thoughts in the bud?
Obviously I recognise it’s not a sustainable way of thinking and something I need to get a grip on before baby arrives if I can as I’m well aware if not dealt with it could develop even more, which I really don’t want to happen.
Thanks xx