anxiety over your childs health

[Kmccall08]

do any of you mamas suffer from anxiety over your child/childrens health? always think the worst?

[NappyChappy]

This is where my severe OCD began. I am terrified I am going to give my child a disease, syndrome, or illness (even though I don't have any) or will be the cause of a major accident.

Whenever he falls, hits his head, ect I immediately blame myself for not watching him close enough. When we found out DS has a heart defect I started thinking it was something I took while pg with him. I now know it's a genetic issue and nothing I could have done, but did it come from my family?


I always think he's eaten a battery or coins without any evidence that it's happened. I am pg with #2 and I worry that my anxiety will just double!

No one ever talks about the fear and stress that comes with having children...

[wordmama]

I do and with good reason (cancer scare, testing for CF, seizure, respiratory failure, failure to grow for five months, etc.). It seems my children are destined to each suffer at least one major health concern in their first year.

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[mom1mg]

I voted "other" we've been through the ringer with health issues so I am cautious but try not to be overly worried. I NEVER ignore my gut feelings and we frequently seek treatment but I try to keep things in perspective. I follow the prepare for the worst but plan for the best rule of life

[november]

Nope, not at all. Then again, I haven't really had a 'reason' to become that way - DD is healthy as a horse and has only been sick once in her life.

[Kmccall08]

Originally Posted by mom1mg I voted "other" we've been through the ringer with health issues so I am cautious but try not to be overly worried. I NEVER ignore my gut feelings and we frequently seek treatment but I try to keep things in perspective. I follow the prepare for the worst but plan for the best rule of life

my problem is i dont know whats anxiety and whats instinct

[mekat]

I checked yes; When I was pregnant I was convinced something was horribly wrong. I was right my son was born with 2 genetic syndromes that none of the prenatal tests picked up. Also since I had to see an RE to get pregnant I went through a ton of tests before pregnancy and no test ever picked up the genetic translocation I carry.

During his NICU stay and for the first year of his life I always dreaded and expected the worst. Sometimes the worst happened sometimes it didn't. The fear certainly shaped a lot of the medical decisions I made for him that first year. I do wonder sometimes now that I have mellowed out if the new me would have made the same decisions assuming I knew only what I knew at the point of making the decision (hopefully that made sense).

Now I am more relaxed and I don't go to the extreme suspicions anymore. I do think it helps that I know how to read my child better then I did as a new mom. We still sometimes face bad scenarios but my mind is no longer dreaming up bad scenarios on its own anymore.

[jbug_4]

I do, but I try to keep it in check. I follow my instincts most of the time- the one time I didn't ended up being a disaster for us. I let dd's doc convince me that I was just being over protective. And because of that dd ended up spending her first year in pain, not meeting milestones, and failing to gain weight. Took 2 years of physical therapy to get her almost caught up to her age in gross motor. She will likely never play any kind of sport. I have followed my instincts since. And even when I sometimes thought I might be over doing it, they were still right. Everyone, including my self, thought I was being a little weird about not introducing peanuts until after she was 2. I just had a feeling. Turns out she has a severe peanut allergy (we did not give her peanuts she had an accidental exposure at day care). I had the same feeling about coconut even though its a rare allergy- she allergic to it too.

I have anxiety about ds popping up with food allergies too. He is so much healthier than dd but he is right now the age she was when she had her first reaction. So far so good.

I use to question whether it was instinct or paranoia. I have found the more I listen the better I get at telling the difference. I decided to jump every time and by doing that I have been learning the difference between instinct feelings and straight anxiety. In general I have always listened to my instincts, but with the kids there is so much more at risk anxiety does sometimes overwhelm the true instinct. But the more I jump the more I learn the true feeling.

[sisu]

Other? I don't worry that something is wrong with my children, but I am terrified that something might happen to them. I don't know if I could bear that.

[Kmccall08]

Originally Posted by MarchMama2010 Other? I don't worry that something is wrong with my children, but I am terrified that something might happen to them. I don't know if I could bear that.

i guess its both for me i love my son so much that i couldnt bear if something happened to him so i worry that something is wrong and i wont catch it or be able to "fix" it