Teresia's Blog

It’s 26 days before my due date and I almost had my first MOMpreneur emotional meltdown!

My first experience of panic happened today (my midwife suggested that I may have many emotional meltdowns during my pregnancy – so far, so good – not one).  Today however I was very close to breaking that streak. My business is still keeping me pretty busy and my love of  getting together with friends and family continues to fill my down time.  For the last month I have had the intent to simplify my calendar and create some white space to prepare for baby’s arrival.  It’s just not happening.  In the back of my mind I have been thinking I am taking a week off before our due date and my mom will be here for extra help.  Today it hit me WHAT IF BABY COMES EARLY?  I AM NOT PREPARED!

In addition, I began experiencing the Braxton Hicks contractions on a regular basis – talk about making it real.

I read my weekly pregnancy update, http://tinyurl.com/262adq9 this morning.  It covers what I may be experiencing, the growth of the baby and what I should be doing and what I need to do.  (If you are pregnant, I highly encourage you to sign up for this; it is a weekly delight…….most of the time)

The “what I should be doing and what I need to do” got me a little frazzled. We still need to put the car seat in the car.  We are getting curtains for our master bedroom (baby will be sleeping there in her/his bassinet until he/she is ready for the crib).  I added about 5 things to an already long to do list and I have not yet packed my hospital bag!  Between coaching calls I immediately began packing the hospital bag as I thought this would give me an instant sense of control.

I could not finish packing as I realized I need to wash the baby’s clothes that we will bring her/him home in and if I am going to wash those clothes I might as well wash all the baby clothes – but first I need to go buy baby detergent!  My thought process continued..  I should only wash the second hand items and necessities, but not the stuff still in packages or items that still have tags attached, a friend  told me that they grow so fast I might end up having to return some things to buy bigger ones. But if I open everything and remove tags to wash them I’ll end up with a lot of stuff that was never worn. Yes I know, over thinking!  I began to get into a spin.

Being an entrepreneur I am familiar with this feeling of overwhelm and not being sure where to start.  I stopped, took a deep breath, and acted on some strategies that have helped in the past.

1. Call a friend and vent! (tip: do request that you only need an ear and not advice – boy do a lot of people have advice for new moms – yes, I know it is coming from love and care but it can definitely contribute to the emotional meltdown)

2. Write everything down – get the to do list out of your head and on paper

3. Look at your calendar and block in when and where you spend time on your to do list

4. Journal – write about what you are experiencing and what you need to do.

(At this time my journal is my blog – lucky you).

Overwhelm and ongoing to do lists are part of the entrepreneurial world as I am sure it will be as new mom.  No matter how much is going on, how much we are stretching out of our comfort zone, the above 4 steps can give us a sense of relief and control – at least for the time being until we need to go through the steps again!

I know that having a baby will increase my quality of life, and with that in mind, check our complimentary Quality of Life Assessment. Visit www.teresia.com to download your free copy.  Committed to supporting you in living a life you love!