It is a very strange thing to find that your body has been taken over by another being. And strange to be a container carrying precious cargo that everyone else has an opinion about and an interest in and my god they are going to let you know!
Before I was pregnant, when I needed mental health assistance it could be very, very difficult to get the help I needed. Endless phone calls and waits and unreturned messages and frustration and confusion for which I just didn't have the energy. So it was strange to become pregnant and suddenly find that everyone could not help me fast enough. My baby's health and well-being are important enough to complete strangers that they want to bend over backwards (to the extent that their budgets allow) to connect me with services.
Want to take a jewelry-making class with other moms-to-be? Here's a pamphlet!
Care to try prenatal acupuncture? Come to our free clinic!
Feel like you want support when you bring your newborn home? Let us sign you up for a few visits from a home health nurse!
Compared to what I had gotten used to, it has been rather dazzling.
I am trying to take advantage of every service and opportunity I can manage while it is available, especially now as I'm reaching the end and being pregnant has become very, very difficult. I was aware that it might, but never would I have been able to imagine how.
At the beginning of my second pregnancy, I was warned that miscarriage, pregnancy, and birth can all being very challenging experiences for women who've experienced sexual trauma. When I thought about it, it made sense. I was glad to be warned and I filed this knowledge away with the idea that knowing was half the battle and now that I knew I would be fine.
How I was wrong.
(To be continued.)
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