When I was a new mother my biggest problem was anxiety attacks. I just felt overwhelmed, alone and like I was under too much stress. It would happen to me at the most inconvenient times. I would feel breathless, panicky and run out of a grocery store — too weirded out to pay for the full cart of groceries I left behind.
If you are one of those personalities who has them here are some clues as how to deal with it.
Step 1 - Recognize that you are anxious. Accept the feeling and admit that it is a sign that something is bothering you.
Step 2 - Give yourself permission to feel anxious about what is bothering you and tell yourself it is okay to react.
Step 3 – Treat the anxiety by breathing. First inhale through your nose slowly for two seconds and while doing this mentally count one, one thousand, tow, one thousand. Then exhale to the mental count of fours seconds by one thousands. Do this for at least sixty seconds.
Step 4 - Talk yourself out of it. Tell yourself that this too shall pass. Tell yourself –“It is just anxiety.” It will go away.
Step 5 - Get busy. Do something that distracts you from what stimulated the stress. Your body is like a car in high gear with the brakes on. Get rid of the adrenalin high by running, cleaning or whatever you have to get rid of the disturbing feeling.
Step 6- Try to see the humor in the situation. You feel odd but you are not odd. Give into it and try to figure out what is really bothering you. It is some kind of conflict from the past rearing its head. Is it a scary thought? Is it an expectation that you can’t possibly fulfill?
It takes time to cure this condition. It takes patience to retrain a brain that has become addicted to fear, anger and producing adrenalin. However the only way to stop being in fear of panic and anxiety is to experience them. It is the only way that you can condition yourself to believe that they can’t hurt you. It is the only way to stop the vicious cycle of terrorizing yourself.
I know when I had this disorder that I felt very alone. I found it hard to talk to my partner about what was going on with me. It was hard to talk to my doctor as well. He was really into prescribing medication for me. I was not into that because I got addicted to lorezapam before when I was in college.
Sadly I do not recommend that you tell everyone about your anxiety. Leave it on a need to know basis. It is still seen as a sign of mental instability even if you can reduce it all down to hormones!

In general gentle exercise is thought to benefit pregnancy. It can definitely help you regulate your weight. However exercise is not right for every woman as every pregnancy is unique. You should always check with your doctor before embarking on any type of exercise program
The key word for pregnant women is to be gentle! Stay off the rebounder and out of the kickboxing classes. Above all avoid doing any type of weightlifting. You should also not strain yourself by doing anything like rock climbing. One fall from a great height and you could lose your baby. In fact it does not even have to be from a great height. The slightest bumps and hits can cause you to miscarry – especially if you are older.
The very safest of exercises for a pregnant woman are those that don’t require your body to bear the burden of extra weight as your body is already hauling around a weight of its own. Bowling or playing golf is not a good idea (unless you can get a caddy to haul around your golf clubs and then it is okay.) This does not mean you are helpless but you should avoid doing too much pushing and pulling in general. Pushing a cart around a grocery store is okay. Bench pressing fifty pounds while lying back on a reclining bench is probably a terrible idea!
Swimming and stationary cycling are thought to be safe for pregnant people. Most community centers and Y’s also have special programs for pregnant women including yoga and aquavit for pregnant mothers. Some centers even have aerobics for mommies.
However you do not have to go to a gym or yoga center to do good things for your fetus. The exercise that is walking. Taking a stroll for as long as you like invigorates you physically. The other key thing is getting fresh air. You don’t necessarily need get the oxygen you need when you go to a gym. In fact hanging around in crowded exercise facilities can expose you to germs and bacteria that can make you sick.
Avoid activities that increase your risk of falling or hurting yourself, such as contact sports or vigorous sports. Football, soccer and all After the first three months of pregnancy, it’s best to avoid exercising while lying on your back, since the weight of the baby may interfere with blood circulation. You should also avoid exercising in very hot or humid weather.
Most pregnant women do not feel any symptoms when they exercise. However if you experience shortness of breath, fatigue or any kind of pain while exercising you should immediately stop! That is a warning sign that you have gone too far. When you are eight months pregnant the no pain no gain rule does not apply!

Are you trying to get pregnant? Here are some foods that might help you conceive faster and also give brith to a happier and healthier child.
I am suggesting that this is not a bad route to go if you are trying to conceive simply because the effects of fertility drugs can be deadly. They are hard on your body and its difficult to watch so many lost multiple births. Also so many women I know spend their life savings on fertility treatments that don’t work.
The idea that foods can make you fertile is not just a folk notion. There is a specialist named Dr. Jeremy Groll who works at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio. His theory is that people who are slightly insulin resistant have difficulty with conception.
A diet of fertility boosting foods was devised by Dr. Groll to help boost the chances of getting pregnant. A side effete of Dr. Groll’s diet is that it can help you lose up to fifteen pounds. Weight loss and reducing your insulin resistance is part of this approach. Most women conceive within eight weeks of first following Dr. Groll’s diet.
So just what exactly is insulin resistance? It is a condition in which the body has difficulty responding normally to the hormone insulin making it a risk factor for diabetes. It mainly occurs when the pancreas overproduces insulin in an attempt to metabolize carbohydrates properly. That creates a rush of testosterone which is a hormone that can sabotage ovulation. Yet another problem is that the fetus does not attach well to the uterus when insulin resistance is a problem. The result is often a three times than average miscarriage rate among people who have this condition.
A lot of women who are insulin resistant also have polycystic ovary syndrome which affects up to five to ten percent of women. In addition to periods the condition causes facial hair, acne and benign ovarian cysts. It can also affect your ability to become pregnant and carry a pregnancy to term. Up to seventy percent of women who have this condition miscarry because of poor attachment of the placenta. Ninety percent of women who have this condition are also insulin resistant.
In Dr. Grol’s book – Fertility Foods: Optimize Ovulation and Conception Through Food Choices it is an even balance of carbohydrates and other foods that are needed to make you fertile. You should have an even balance of 1:1 of protein to carbohydrates and eat less than 35 grams of fat in order to conceive. The diet also includes fruits, vegetables and fertility friendly foods such as olive oil and cinnamon. Keeping blood sugar regular is also necessary which is why a morning, afternoon and evening snack is also recommended.

One mistake I made when my baby was born was to turn into a control freak. I just would not let others help me with my problems. It’s because I felt like I had to be hands on all the time. I was particularly mean to my partner that way. He felt like I did not trust him.
The truth is that I made a mistake by not letting the father of my child help me more. I did not give him the chance to help me with the baby. I treated him like he was clueless and therefore he acted like he was. It was not that I deliberately set him up to fail but I did not encourage him to help me as much as I should have. I also felt like I was going to have to teach him everything.
I regret that attitude especially as I see how great he is with the children now. I realize that he could have learned by trial and error how to take care of the kids just like I did. I was just as clueless as him when I took home our very first child.
Very few husbands walk away from helping. However there are that few that go “You are much better than me than that stuff.” Don’t let your husband get away with this. He is just as responsible as you for the post labor predicaments that take place. If you don’t give them an opportunity to practice their parenting skills they will never learn them at all.
I found too that I had great success with simply turning to other women for help. I had many neighbours take me under their wings. As I was new when I first moved here they helped me find everything from a paediatrician to a yoga class to a preschool. They also kept me sane after the baby was born. I really do think that the wisdom and compassion of other women is absolutely essential after you give birth. It seems that only another mother can truly understand how excited, overwhelmed and scared we feel when we first have a baby. Let’s face it! It is just too hard to talk to a man about things like nipple latching” or nipple cream.
Yet another good reason for bonding with women in your neighbourhood simply to help each other with things likes babysitting. I shared a sitter twice a week with one neighbour just to give my other kids some play time together and to keep the total costs of my babysitting down.
You might also have to eliminate friends who are just not that helpful or critical of your mothering skills. Some of us have friends that are giant children in themselves. They are like grown up little girls and expect you to mother them even after you have had a child of your own. Needy girlfriends may no longer be able to get the attention that they seek from you.