Moms

[BrookeLynnnn]

Do you feel like your anxiety/panic attacks get in the way of being a mom? I'm so afraid of letting my baby down because my fear of everything right now. I know things will get better once I'm on my meds but with an anxious mind now, I question if I can be a good mom. It scares me. I want to be the best mom I can be but my anxiety just makes me ask myself what if. Im also a single mom so all the pressure is on me.

[sae]

The truthful answer... sometimes but mom-mode will take over. You'll see. One of the greatest joys of motherhood with anxiety and depression is the way your child's smile can melt your panic, her laughter can lift your mood, and knowing you are solely responsible to keep her safe will give you purpose. It's pretty hard to wallow about in self pity when your kid is giggling and tugging at you to play.
I have jokingly referred to myself as spazz mom. My poor kid swam in the community pool in a floatee suit, water wings and never out of my arm's reach until she was almost 9. She didn't bathe alone until about that time too. I am a full on adult and can't swim so I was never able to teach her the joys of not drowning. I don't allow her to walk around in the daytime without at least 2 mom approved friends, and never after 6 pm (she is a month from 14). Even though I am spazzy I have learned to let her fall a little, scrape her knee in the backyard, get stuck in a tree (even though seeing her climb anything makes me physically ill), handle her own social circle etc.
Motherhood saved me, and single parenting later on gave me a reason to get up and keep going even when every fiber of my being just wanted to stay in bed. Being mom is stressful, sometimes you gotta put off your attacks until the kid is asleep, but there is much to learn from the simple joy a child experiences. They don't panic, stress, worry over little things. They take it one day at a time, their little heads filled with wonder and excitement for the next day. A child's modus operendi is is to love learn and grow, 3 things we as adults seem to lose sight of sometimes.Their happiness comes easy and they love mom unconditionally, even when it feels like the rest of the world is against you...

...then they turn into teenagers (blech).

[BrookeLynnnn]

That is great to hear! I understand how you feel. My mom is the exact way with my 12 year old brother! Anxiety runs in the family here.. Lol

I look forward to having my little one here. I know he will take my mind off everything. I just get scared. But I guess it's normal for a new mom with panic problems. Haha

[sae]

I had Squids probably way too young at 19. Before she was born I had never even held a baby before so those first few days I was terrified I would break her somehow. I had plenty of panic moments but my elation over just being able to see her took over pretty quickly. She was an impossibly easy baby for the first year and a half, rarely cried, didn't get her first cold or flu until age 3, wasn't a picky eater at all. The terrible twos hit and she was still happy 90% of the time but into to everything... and I mean everything. I could tell hours of stories of this crazy kid falling asleep in a puddle of milk and chocolate drink mix she had mashed into the carpet sometime in the middle of the night, or drawing a get well card for me on the wall, and all the bugs, lizards, spiders, and snakes she kept catching and giving to me.
You'll do great, and it sounds like from your other posts you have a good support system.