Pregnancy triggers hormonal changes and physical symptoms that can make you feel anxious, tired and irritable. Your feelings of excitement and anticipation are dampened by apprehension about the birth and the demands of a newborn, while impeded mobility and an expanding abdomen can make even everyday tasks seem exhausting. Mood swings are common throughout pregnancy, but are most likely to occur during the first and third trimesters, which are peak times for discomfort from raised hormone levels, physical changes and anxious thoughts.
Self-Image
You may feel increasingly irritated about changes to your appearance. For example, pregnancy can trigger skin changes, such as dark patches that are called melasma and chloasma, over the cheeks, forehead, nose and upper lip, especially if you are dark-skinned. Stretch marks, which are brown, red or pink skin streaks, may appear over the abdomen, breasts, thighs and buttocks. You may experience mild swelling in your face, hands and ankles, and varicose veins are also common. Normal weight gain may cause you to think that you look "fat." Even though changes to your appearance are often cosmetic, harmless and temporary, you may develop a negative self-image, and feel increasingly unattractive as your pregnancy progresses.
Anxious Thoughts
Recurrent anxious thoughts are exhausting, and an over-active mind can become a major irritation throughout pregnancy. Becoming pregnant and giving birth are life-changing events. During the first trimester, as you adjust to the fact that you are pregnant, your concerns may include the financial cost of a new baby, especially if you plan to give up work when your baby is born. You may wonder how you will cope with the demands of a newborn, and how your new arrival will affect your relationship with your partner or with your other children. During the last trimester, as the time of birth approaches, you may feel increasingly anxious about your ability to cope with discomfort during labor and delivery.
Physical Discomfort
Physical discomfort is a major source of irritation during pregnancy. During the first trimester, hormonal changes trigger feelings of nausea and exhaustion. As your pregnancy progresses, you may experience dizziness, constipation, heartburn, indigestion and leg cramps. Frequent urination and urine leakage are common because an enlarged uterus puts pressure on the bladder, urethra and muscles of the pelvic floor. Stretched skin may cause intense itchiness, while increased blood volume can cause hemorrhoids around your anal area, which are enlarged veins that are itchy and painful. Insomnia is extremely common throughout pregnancy, and especially during the last trimester, when your baby's movements become stronger and more frequent and when Braxton Hicks contractions, or preparatory uterine contractions, are felt more intensely.
Professional Advice
Irritability during pregnancy is common and normal, but you should seek professional help if your mood swings, anxious thoughts and feelings of irritability become increasingly frequent, intense and unmanageable. Depression is prevalent in women of childbearing age, and more than 11 million American women experience depression each year, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Further warning signs of depression include adverse changes to sleep patterns and eating patterns, inability to concentrate and short-term memory loss.
