Feelings of anxiety, guilt, inadequacy, shame, anger, sadness, frustration are not as unusual as you might think. These feelings can be difficult to live with.
Here are a few issues that can cause such emotions:
THE BIRTH
- a traumatic experience
- didn’t go exactly as you hoped and planned
BREASTFEEDING
- not as easy and natural as you expected
- you’ve decided not to and feel guilty;
- you are unable to and feel incompetent.
BABY CARE
- fear you might harm yourself or your baby. (seek support immediately)
you’re a single mom and are wondering what you were thinking.
- colic is driving you crazy and you have no idea where your patience is going to come from next.
- you’ve read so many books you know too much about how you can get it wrong
- providing your baby with the best food, protection and developmentally correct toys and experiences can be stressful
BODY IMAGE
- your body has changed and not necessarily in a good way
- you are anxious about how this will affect your sex life
SELF ESTEEM
- you feel that you aren’t up to the job
SELF IMAGE
- who are you any more?
RELATIONSHIPS
- your partner is not doing enough or is expecting too much.
- you don’t want sex and your partner does
- your partner is needier than the baby sometimes and you can’t deal with it
- you or your partner’s family are not helpful enough or always telling you to do it differently
- your friends aren’t on the same wavelength anymore
- your baby won’t let up
SLEEP
- lack of it
I can provide support as you work your way through these issues. Please also see my blog entry about Maternal Instinct.