Decoding A First Time Mother's Experience

A first time mother's experience is unique in many ways. Motherhood is an experience that you can hardly compare with anything else in your life. When woman gives birth to a child, she is born again herself. That is why, your first pregnancy is special and historic in many ways. A heady mix of emotions is what best describes a first time mother's experience.

If you are going through your first pregnancy, then you know exactly what you are talking about. A first time mother's experience of pregnancy is so strange that it is hardly possible to put it down in words. You have feelings that you are not sure about it and don't know how to clarify.

So here is a detailed decoding of pregnant woman's emotional journey to motherhood.

First Time Mother's Experience

The Shock

When you see those 2 red lines on the pregnancy test kit, your first reaction is shock. No matter how long you might have planned this pregnancy, knowing that you are actually carrying a child will shock you to numbness for sometime. And if it was unplanned, then you will probably be in shock and denial for weeks.

Sheer Excitement

After the shock, comes sheer excitement. Most women get only 1 or 2 opportunities in life to become pregnant. You are understandably thrilled. You might get into a phase of re-decorating, shopping and basically planning a lot of things about your coming baby.

Deep Seated Fear

Fear of unknown is always present in every situation. So a first time mother's experience is not totally ridden of fear. In between phases of pure joy, you will also sense the dark clouds of fear. You will be scared of labour pain, the trauma of surgery and the fact that your life will change forever.

Exaggerated Pregnancy Symptoms

During your first pregnancy, you feel all the pregnancy symptoms in an exaggerated way. You start finding the baby bump even before it appears and you feel phantom baby movements too! Its all natural and perfectly fine.

Nagging Doubts

Pregnancy is a phase when you do a lot of introspection. You have doubts about yourself as a competent mother. You fear that your body will never be the same. You are worried about stretch marks and putting on weight. At some point, you may also think that pregnancy is not a good idea after all.

These are some of the unique feelings in a first time mother's experience. Do you identify with these feelings?

Story first published: Thursday, July 18, 2013, 18:33 [IST]
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