Weddingbee boards

I know there's some other bees out there having some issues with pre-baby depression, just like me. I had my first counselling appointment today, and thought I'd share some of the tools she's having me try for the next few weeks. Hopefully they'll help all of us!

1. Create a weekend routine. For me, the blues hit hardest on Saturday. Because I'm a planner, she recommended I have a morning routine for Saturdays so I have a reason to get up and out of bed. I'm going to start this Saturday working on a craft project.

2. Make a baby corner. We're in flux with our living situation, so while I'm not able to start on the official nursery, she recommends that I start preparing as much as I can and dedicate a little of the temporary space to the baby. So I'm going to start looking for nursery items this weekend that will work in whatever size room we end up having as our permanent nursery.

3. Schedule time with friends. Social interaction is super important. Even if it's just a phone date with a girlfriend.

4. Tell someone besides DH how I'm feeling. He shouldn't be my only support - share with at least one girlfriend.

5. Replace "can't" with "can" - there's some things I'm not able to do, for various reasons. Instead of focusing on what I can't do right now (like paint the nursery) focus on what I can do (pick out paint samples, finish the glider rocker cushions).

And for me, the most important one:

6. When the negative voices start, drown them with positive thoughts. If I think "If I can't be happy about this pregnancy, how will I be a good mom," replace that with 5 good thoughts like "I'm great with my nephew, kids love me, I'm a capable person, I have wonderful friends and family to help me." Same for when the negative body image thoughts kick in.

I really focused on #1 this weekend and had a loose "to do" list. Saturday was picking out paint color options for the future nursery and for the dresser, and getting drawer pulls for the dresser, plus starting our BRU registry. Today I needed to get some laundry done, read the newspaper and am just about to go workout. Not sure if the routine helped, or the fact that DH and I had the house to ourselves this weekend (which was complete bliss!). We'll see how next weekend goes!

Bumping this back up, in case someone else needs pick-me-up ideas. As for me, the past 3 weeks have been pretty good. I have a follow-up appointment with the therapist on Friday and I'm thinking that might be my last trip unless I have a set-back.