Anxiety 16 weeks

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I guess I'm just looking for reassurance or people in the same position...

I'm 16+2 and last saw baby on a scan on Friday, at 15+6 (all fine). I've now told work and all my friends/family but I just can't seem to relax. I keep reading Mumsnet and other forums incessantly and getting terrified over the bad stories and sad outcomes. I know there is literally a 99% chance now everything will be fine and I will have a healthy baby, but I can't stop feeling incredibly anxious. My 20 week scan is in 3 weeks' time.

Any ideas on how to survive those 3 weeks / not totally lose my mind from anxiety?

Gosh its hard not to feel anxious when you are pregnant. I dont have any advice except to say it got a bit easier once I could feel kicks. The time will pass. Make the most of not being huge and dealing with insomnia! Mindfulness, being grateful for the moment always helps me

I’m in the same boat - 17 exactly and 3 weeks til my next scan. I’m trying to just ring fence my worry time and allow myself half an hour to obsess per day, then push it out my mind the rest of the time. Not sure if that helps but it helps me to know I’m not alone - I think the worry is natural tbh, unless it’s really taking over your life, in which case I’d talk to your midwife or gp.

I totally feel where you are coming from. I have been a constant worrier during this pregnancy.
I have come of social media as a result of it as kept following pregnancy pages & reading sad stories on there. I feel better for being of social media.
But I totally get it. Each time I move funny I have a panic in my head that something is wrong. All i can is that watching positive birth stories on YouTube & reading up on hypnobirthing has helped me. Also meditation when feeling particularly anxious too. Congratulations on being pregnant btw

I felt and did the same when I was pregnant (DD is 5.5 months old now). The anxiety didn’t really go away until she started kicking around 5 months and even then I would panic if I hadn’t felt her for a few hours.

It helped to sit in a quiet room and talk my worries through with my bump - free therapy on demand I guess and it was reassuring to think she was there listening - and seek reassurance from friends, family and mumsnet. There were times when I was so worried that I just booked a private scan for £70 but with covid that’s not advisable. Try the talk therapy, meditate or deep breathing exercises and keep telling yourself your little bean is all snug and safe inside you and that you’ll see him/her in 3 weeks

I feel exactly the same op I'm 16+2 I feel like Most symptoms have gone now and I don't have a bump yet, making me feel really anxious.
My 20 week scan is also in 3 weeks time but I've booked a private scan for this Friday so we can maybe find out the sex and my husband can come aswell.
I think when we start to feel kicks it will ease the anxiety a bit ( I hope)

I’m 18+3 and feel exactly the same. This is my fourth pregnancy and first baby (hopefully). I’ve never made it past 12 weeks before so I thought my anxiety would get better after that point. I think it’s worse :(

Have you spoken to your midwife? I had my 16 week appointment over the phone but she has called me in for a face to face so she can listen to the babies heartbeat. Appointment is tomorrow and I’m hoping that will reassure me.

I’m really struggling with not feeling pregnant. I have no bump and no movement yet. When I talk about this someone always comes along and says “ooh lucky you! Enjoy it” which is really unhelpful :/

@bee222 I'm sorry for your losses. I hear you on the bump and no symptoms thing - I just look like I've got fat tbh, to the point where when I tell people they either say 'oh you look tiny' or, if they are less polite, variations on 'we thought you'd just let yourself go during lockdown'. Umm....thanks?! So depressing. I think when bump and kicks come around it will get better, but at 17 weeks that still feels like it could be agggges....!

Thank you all for your kind responses! I relate to so many of them. I completely agree that when kicking starts it might feel easier to be less anxious; though I have an anterior placenta so that won't be for weeks yet I am told.

@bee222 I'm so sorry for your losses, and congratulations on this pregnancy! That's interesting about your midwife - that's lovely. I had my 16 week call yesterday but to be honest I didn't really know how to bring up my mental health/anxiety. When I mentioned that I was getting worried about random stuff I read on the internet like cervical incompetence she said oh that's super rare don't worry about that. Which is helpful I guess but it didn't really lead to a longer conversation. I do have a Doppler and have been able to find the HB for a few seconds at least for the last few weeks; but I'm limiting myself to using it twice a week for 5 minutes bc otherwise I could get obsessed!

I know at this point babies' hearts don't generally speaking just...stop...but it's just so unbelievable to me that she is in there kicking away the size of an avocado! Especially when places like Mumsnet seem to (naturally) attract people who have had bad experiences so you read about those to a disproportionate extent.

I will certainly look into meditation and having some quiet time; and I love the idea of ring-fencing worry time too.

Thank you 💕