Pre-existing Depression

I had suffered from a period of depression two years before I got pregnant. I took an antidepressant for about six months, then weaned off it and didn't need it any longer.

When I got pregnant the first time, my hormones went crazy, and by the beginning of the second trimester, I was certain that I was depressed. It made no sense - this was a planned pregnancy, everything was going well in my life - why was I depressed?

My OB told me that depression was common in pregnancy, and if it was severe enough, could be treated. I was worried about the side effects of any medications, but she said that depression can affect the growth of the baby, too.

I tried to go without medication, but by the middle of my second trimester I couldn't handle it, and started a very low dose of an antidepressant. I stayed on it until my daughter was a year old, to combat any post-partum depression.

The good news is that my depression never returned, and I didn't suffer from it at all when pregnant with my second daughter.

Itchiness

With both of my pregnancies, the third trimester was the worst. For my first, it was the middle of summer, and any sweat that accumulated (which was easy considering I was 8 months pregnant!) made the skin on my belly itch fiercely. I was pregnant through the winter with my second, and the dry air made the itching even worse. My skin felt so tight, as if it could split at any moment.

Resisting the urge to scratch your belly until it is raw is tough. But I knew the skin was already stretched thin there, and even a little scratching had the risk of causing damage. A friend recommended buying a thick body butter or cream, like cocoa butter, and applying it every day, especially right after I got out of the shower.

The cream helped stop the itch, and even when it did itch it wasn't as bad as before. Sadly, I don't think it will prevent stretch marks, but it did help me prevent scars due to scratching too much by taking the itch away!

Nesting

I remember how everyone told me I would be nesting at the end of my first pregnancy. When I said that I didn't think it would happen, they just smiled and said, "Oh, don't worry. You'll feel it."

The truth is: I never had the nesting urge. No urge to buy a lot of stuff, no desire to clean the house from top to bottom, and no primal instinct to pull inwards. Maybe it's because I'm a lousy housekeeper to begin with, or more likely, not all women experience it.

If you don't feel the urge to feather your nest while pregnant, I say don't worry about it. It didn't happen for me, but I still had no problem bonding with my new baby and accepting my new role as mom.