Crisis

"A crisis forces you to create a new life, one that responds to your deepest needs...A crisis shakes up the status quo, spurring you to reevaluate your life and to make the corrections that lead to joy and success." --Laura Day, WELCOME TO YOUR CRISIS: HOW TO USE THE POWER OF CRISIS TO CREATE THE LIFE YOU WANT

How did having a miscarriage create a crisis in your life? In what ways did it alter the way you view the world? In what ways did it alter your feelings about pregnancy...how is it impacting you today? Crises arise out of situations that come suddenly and unexpectedly; if one is completely unprepared for what occurs, it is not uncommon for a crisis to happen. In clinical terms, we call the crisis a "precipitating event." Often this event has a ripple effect that influences many areas of a person's life and functioning--both in positive and negative ways.

This week, spend a few moments reflecting on what impact the crisis of miscarriage had in your life and how you are moving forward from it. It is important to recognize if you allowed yourself to grieve the loss and move on when you felt ready. Now you are pregnant again--likely feeling excited and scared at the same time. Many women experience the crisis of miscarriage to take away some of the innocence and magic of pregnancy and motherhood. This loss of "innocence" can be saddening, yet remember that pregnancy is a means to an end. In other words, the end goal is to have a healthy baby not just to have a blissful and magical pregnancy. The crisis of miscarriage can help one be more realistic that having a family is a process.

What have been the repercussions in your life from the crisis of miscarriage? Do you view pregnancy and parenthood differently? Do you feel jaded and like the "Scrooge of Pregnancy"? Do you feel in crisis now that you are pregnant again? How do you best cope with crisis? How does your partner cope with crisis? Did you learn anything about your loss experience and your particular way of coping with it that can help you now or in the future?

This week, please help me to understand the ways that the crisis of miscarriage affected my life and feelings about pregnancy. It is important for me to feel calm, and not in crisis, as I am now pregnant again...and need to focus on taking good care of myself. This current pregnancy may have created a mini-crisis of anxiety for me. Help me to be strong and comfort me in the moments when I feel overwhelmed and full of despair. Help me to see that I can make it through no matter how this pregnancy turns out. Help me to identify coping strategies that were helpful so that I may utilize them in the future if the need should arise.