Having a child is often one of the most important milestones anyone goes through in life. It’s easy during this time of fluctuating emotions, doubt, and growth to undergo a substantial amount of stress. Sometimes when we are dealing with these kinds of stress, we take out our frustrations on the ones we love the most. First, it’s good to understand that these feelings are perfectly normal as you move into such an important stage of your lives. Second, we intend to equip you with some tools to make this time easier for both of you.
In this article we’re going to discuss:
One of the best things that you can do when dealing with a stressful situation with your partner is validating their feelings, and making them feel that their concerns are reasonable. Regardless of how much you may not understand their logic for concern, what truly matters is that they are concerned. Instead of arguing over who’s right or wrong, it’s better to listen to one another and try to come up with solutions that work the best for your family.
When it comes to stress between the two of you during your pregnancy, there are various types of stress that you may have to address with your partner.
There’s pre-existing stress which is maybe an area that you already anticipated being a problem because of its occurrence in the past. Things such as trust issues or problems with invalidated self-worth that may rear their heads at the inopportune time of your pregnancy.
You could be dealing with financial stress, and the weight it’s putting on your preparedness as parents. With a baby on the way, financial obligations such as living situations, maternity or paternity leave, or items for the baby’s arrival can create some serious tension in your relationship.
At times, the root of your stress can come from just the anticipation of the huge change the two of you are going to have to adapt to! Your entire way of life is going to become drastically different, and it’s completely normal to feel the weight of uncertainty.
If you have a proper understanding of where the tension in your relationship is coming from, it may help put things into perspective and help you empathize more with your partner.
This transition can bring the two of you to the greatest highs and lows of your entire pregnancy journey. A good way to make this change easier for both of you is to maintain an open pathway for communication with each other. If you build an environment in which feelings are expressed openly and a discussion is had about these worries, it may make even the most stressful parts of this process easier.
That being said, there are some problems that may seem too large to handle or even talk about. Picking apart your problems and grievances can get overwhelming, especially if the discussions are anywhere near as tense as the issues you bring to the table.
When addressing the actual decisions that must be made to ensure your relationship’s well-being, there are a number of ways to try to alleviate the stress that both of you are dealing with.
You’ve most likely heard this many times before but we cannot stress the importance of communication enough. So many things that we leave unsaid can revisit us in an uglier form such as resentment or hurt feelings. As long as you remain honest in your interactions and work through issues with one another, it’s a great way to prevent issues from sticking around longer than they should.
It’s important to maintain this one, especially during pregnancy. Sometimes, dealing with the moving parts of having a baby can cause people to overlook things like quality time with their significant others. Making time for one another, changing up your routine together, and being intimate with each other are certainly not things you should let fall to the wayside.
Navigating a life between you, your partner and your baby can be extremely time-consuming. This lifestyle and constant togetherness can lead to stress that stems from constant close proximity. Try not to micromanage one another during this time, or hover, it’s important to pay attention to if your partner is receptive to what you’re doing. Just because space is what’s best for you, it doesn’t mean that they love you any less.
This one is another obvious classic but it’s particularly useful in relationships. People often get wrapped up in the heat of the moment and say some ill-intentioned things that they tend to regret later on. If you take the time before responding to consider that your words are fueled by sudden strong emotions, you eliminate saying something or crossing a line that will hurt your partner that you can’t come back from.
As cliche as it may sound, the two of you are in this together! Please be sure not to lose sight of that. If you take the prospect of working through your relationship’s various issues and paint it as a stepping stone on your path towards creating a beautiful family. Pregnancies are a time when emotions are on high, and it’s incredibly important to recognize that especially when conflicts arise.