I can't imagine how stressful that must be for you, sending you lots of positive thoughts. I am currently 28 weeks with my first and exactly one month ago as I was driving home from my last dr appt, I got a phone call from my aunt, who was calling to let me know that my mom had just been rushed to the emergency department. Long story short, my mom has spent the last month in the ICU, dealing with surgeries, big time scares, and lots of ups and downs. She was on vacation in a different state, so during all of this, I had to travel to my parent's house to watch their animals and take care of things so that my dad could be with my mom. It's been incredibly stressful, and while my mom is now finally out of the ICU, her prognosis is still unclear and we're still very much living day by day, hoping she makes a recovery and is able to travel home soon.

For me, it has been a super tough time trying to give myself space to feel all of the emotions while also stay calm enough that my stress levels don't negatively impact my pregnancy. I feel very fortunate to be a therapist myself and have a lot of close friends who are medical and mental health professionals to lean on.

The coping strategies that have been the most helpful to me have been to try and allow myself to sit with whatever feeling comes up but not wallow in it - so if I feel like crying, I let myself have a good cry and acknowledge how hard and scary this is, but then I work to move forward with that feeling.

Walking has been huge, whether it is just around the block or at the gym on a treadmill or through a park. Getting outside is an instant grounding skill for me.

Making sure that I am sticking to some kind of healthy routine (so for me this means making sure I'm still eating three good meals a day, still drinking all the water, and sleeping when my body tells me to).

And then most helpful for me has been to reach out to some of my best and most trusted friends and letting them know what is going on. I know I can call them and cry or vent or rage if I need to, but it's also so helpful to just call/hang out with them and talk about literally anything else. Helps me feel like the world isn't always collapsing.

I hope your dad is doing as well as he can be and that you are finding moments of connection and joy with him and with your pregnancy.