Anxiety in pregnancy, your not alone!

I'm currently thirty-three weeks pregnant, and so far I have absolutely loved being pregnant. The first trimester for me was a little difficult with the usual gems like morning sickness, heightened sense of smell (which is hell on earth when accompanied by morning sickness) and constantly feeling like I had just woken up from a coma. But I got through all that because I was too busy feeling in shock from the two little pink lines I had seen on that pee stick.

From the moment I discovered I was pregnant, I was convinced it wasn't going to last. I thought I couldn't possibly be a normal person capable of creating something so amazing, I was absolutely convinced it wasn't happening and that something bad was going to happen.
So following this paranoia, I became obsessed with googling my every symptom to see if it was 'normal'. I quickly learnt that forums where the devil and to be avoided at all costs, but my paranoia won the battle and I found myself reading them for hours.
Tip number 1; DON'T LOOK AT FORUMS.

I took this before leaving the house for my first doctors appointment, the day after I found out. I can't explain how far I have come since this photograph.

I bought a pregnancy book after my long awaited twelve week scan, this was a very wise decision and helped me a lot, I found it made much more sense to read something written by a someone who had experience working with mothers, rather subjecting myself to individual tragic horror stories.
I took it one step at a time with the book, only reading the parts which I felt were relevant to me in that particular time in my pregnancy, I focused on learning about how the baby had developed that week, and loved reading about the progression of this little person I would meet one day.
Only now that I am ready have I ventured to the final pages of the book, (which i'm sure I don't need to go into with detail) but I knew it was best that I waited until I was truly ready for that.
Tip number 2; Buy a pregnancy book, it will help with tip number one.

This is the book which gave me a lot of useful and comforting information. The author is Lesley Regan.

My next desperate step towards combatting this hellish paranoia, was befriending other new mums. What can better put you at ease than confiding your worries with someone who knows? I admit, I could have tried a little harder with finding people to talk to, but the support I did get helped me a lot.
I don't know many people who have given birth in the last five years, so I struggled to find that network, but if you do know a few new mums, arrange to meet them for a coffee, you'd be surprised at how willing people are to help when they have been there.
Tip number 3; Speak to real women, we're all in this together!

Speak to your partner. Now this is a big one. If you don't have a partner, you need to have someone close to confide in. In the early days, I was terrible at telling my partner how scared I was, and it left me feeling quite isolated. I worried that I would sound crazy if I told him about all of the fears spinning around my head, but looking back now, I know that it would have benefited both of us, if we'd both been a little more upfront about our fears. Pregnancy is one the most over-whelming and thought consuming life events you will ever experience, seek all the help you can and help yourself, your not alone in whatever your feeling.
Tip number 4; Communicate with your partner.