I'm bipolar and don't have children. It wasn't a deliberate choice, I had two missed m/cs, but I couldn't be more relieved that it turned out that way. I can barely keep the basics of my own shit together sometimes without having to look after children, too! And to have kids must bring such anxiety- I'd be frightened of dropping them etc, everything!
It's all very well for people to say they have MH problems and they have kids, but some people's problems are genuinely more severe than others, and some people have more support, or whatever. No-one can truly walk in another's shoes and know what their experience is like. Depression/anxiety is common and hard to deal with, but most people with that have no idea what it's like to have had bipolar or something with hospitalisations, oor to have severe anxiety or depression in a different league long term.
How I deal with it- relief! Focus on how hard you find life at times- that you can barely survive, you do insane things, your life's a mess, you don't keep the house reasonable, you can't keep on top of it, or eat properly- I know the drill! Now imagine that on top of keeping yourself alive, you have to keep the house ok and care for 2 other children. The likelihood is that even from the start of your pregnancy, if you have a diagnosis of bipolar I think your family are automatically logged officially as 'at risk,' perhaps depending what help you have around you. If you're in and out of hospital, social services might be involved even though you've done nothing wrong- imagine the stress of having to try and put on a show of being ok for them.
Now imagine what your everyday life with GAD is like and how hard it is. How frightened you are of so many things. Now imagine you have one or two very breakable children around- how many more things there are to be anxious about, and that you maybe have low self esteem and maybe would constantly worry that your kids might be taken off you if people knew how you felt etc.
These are just some of many scenarios and thoughts which might arise if you were a mum with bipolar and GAD of any severity. Of course some people manage by their family or care workers helping a lot. But that wouldn't make you feel good either unless you really worked hard at being ok with it. It'd all be so much work, when we sometimes can't even manage the basics! Lack of sleep from young children would add to your risk of bipolar episodes and exacerbate your GAD of course.
So- be relieved! You can go out whenever you like, you can (comparatively) try and chill out as much as you like, and do whatever you need for your health and focus on that when you need to.
I actually feel sorry for parents- I don't have much of a life, but if I was a parent I couldn't go out on the evening as much as I would like or whatever, whereas I can do what I want now in theory, though I don't have as many friends as I would like. You mightn't like to mingle- but think of all the things you enjoy doing, or at least like the idea that you could do whenever you want. Your freedom and peace. And money! All of these would be less with children.
Hope this helps- hugs xxxxx