What no one tells you : a guide to your emotions from pregnancy to motherhood

Your guide to the emotions of pregnancy and early motherhood, from two of America's top reproductive psychiatrists. When you are pregnant, you get plenty of advice about your growing body and developing baby. Yet so much about motherhood happens in your head. What everyone really wants to know: Is this normal? -Even after months of trying, is it normal to panic after finding out you're pregnant? -Is it normal not to feel love at first sight for your baby? -Is it normal to fight with your parents and partner? -Is it normal to feel like a breastfeeding failure? -Is it normal to be zonked by "mommy brain?" In What No One Tells You , two of America's top reproductive psychiatrists reassure you that the answer is yes. With thirty years of combined experience counseling new and expectant mothers, they provide a psychological and hormonal backstory to the complicated emotions that women experience, and show why it's natural for "matrescence"—the birth of a mother—to be as stressful and transformative a period as adolescence. Here, finally, is the first-ever practical guide to help new mothers feel less guilt and more self-esteem, less isolation and more kinship, less resentment and more intimacy, less exhaustion and more pleasure, and learn other tips to navigate the ups and downs of this exciting, demanding time "Your guide to the emotions of pregnancy and early motherhood, from two of America's top reproductive psychiatrists. With a combined thirty years of counseling new and expectant mothers, Dr. Sacks and Dr. Birndorf have seen firsthand how the pressure to be perfect, and perfectly happy, leaves women feeling confused and even ashamed of the emotions that can bubble up during pregnancy. Now, in What No One Tells You, the two psychiatrists show why it's natural for "matrescence"--the birth of a mother--to be as stressful and transformative a period as adolescence. From the swirl of trepidation and joy of seeing that plus sign, to the complexities of bonding with a tiny and mighty newborn human, Drs. Sacks and Birndorf provide a roadmap for mothers-to-be, detailing the emotions (both positive and negative) that can develop, explaining the psychological backstory as to why, and offering women a practical guide for managing the ups and downs of this exciting, exhausting time. After years of hearing their patients say, "But how come no one told me?" Drs. Birndorf and Sacks are ready to share their secrets with the world"-- Provided by publisher "Your essential guide to the emotions of pregnancy and early motherhood, from two of America's top reproductive psychiatrists"-- Provided by publisher