Is early pregnancy just one long game of “is this normal?”

[Bethany1989]

I’m only about 5 and a half weeks pregnant and apparently my brain has already decided pregnancy is a full-time anxiety hobby 😂

Current list of things I’m overthinking:

If my boobs hurt less for 3 hours: “Well that’s it then.”

If I have cramps: “WHY AM I CRAMPING?”

If I don’t have cramps: “WHY HAVE THE CRAMPS STOPPED?”

I’m absolutely shattered but somehow still waking up earlier than I want to.

I’m boiling hot and sweaty.

I keep thinking “oh god, my whole life is going to change” while also being really happy that I’m pregnant.

I’m 37 years old and still feel wildly underqualified to be somebody’s mum.

I’m already googling when I’ll need maternity clothes, what the baby is doing this week, what I can eat, what I can’t eat, and whether every random sensation in my body is “normal”.

And waiting until my 7-week reassurance scan currently feels approximately 14 years away.

Please tell me this slightly unhinged mixture of excitement, panic, tiredness and symptom-checking is normal in early pregnancy 😂❤️

Yes it is, but it won't stop. Then it's all about movements, then the baby comes and it's all about how many wet and dirty nappies. Then milestones. It doesn't really ease off 😂

Guess this is who I am now 😂

Just to say I’m 15.5 weeks and still going strong on that front! I would say my baseline confidence in the pregnancy though is improving underneath it so the things you notice become less worrying xx

I’m currently 8 weeks pregnant with my third, and I was exactly the same with all of my pregnancies. I have two healthy children, and both of my previous pregnancies and births were completely uncomplicated, yet I’m still absolutely full of stress and worry.

I had a scan yesterday and saw a strong heartbeat, which was obviously reassuring. But before the scan, I had convinced myself that something horrible was going to happen — that they’d discover it was ectopic or that something else would be wrong.

I always thought that after having my first, I’d be more relaxed with future pregnancies. I’d know that my body can get pregnant, carry a baby and give birth. But somehow, with each pregnancy, I’ve become more and more anxious because I know what’s at stake and what there is to lose.

I guess this is motherhood for you. The worry just really stops and it lasts for the rest of your life.

Totally normal in my experience! Your life is changing now as well as when the baby is born as you're already responsible for keeping them safe. Im 28 weeks now and still Googled whether I could eat Colin the Caterpillar cake yesterday and also how to relieve my new symptom of swollen feet!

The bottom line seems to be that you can eat anything unless it's on the NHS list of what not to eat. Maternity clothes from around 12 weeks if a first pregnancy. Also seems everything is normal until there's a lot of pain or fresh blood.

Congratulations on your pregnancy :)

Sorry, but it keeps going until the baby eats solids well :D Mine's now at climbing high things and jumping off, which I know isn't normal, but I also now know he's normally an idiot.

There's almost nothing you can't eat btw. Every country has a completely different list of must avoid based on cultural peculiarities, the UK included. The only common element is no alcohol. There's very little robust science behind any of the advice, and UK advice is based on US which is arse covering.