Hello, I just wondered if anyone had any tips on caring for a parent with dementia whilst being pregnant... I’m finding it all quite hard.
just to give you some background... my Mum has aphasia and dementia and so is losing her ability to communicate, she has very limited understanding of words now so she can’t express herself or understand what we are saying in any meaningful way. I have a 2 1/2 year old with another one on the way and I have a chronic pain condition which makes life really difficult as well. Every time I go to visit my Mum (she still lives with Dad but we had the conversation today that we should probably look into homes soon) she is in tears- I think she is understandably terrified and I just find it so upsetting and hard to see. She used to have the loveliest bond with my toddler but watching that deteriorate over the last few months has been heartbreaking as she just can’t really interact with her anymore. I don’t think my Mum really even understands that I am pregnant again. I just miss her so much and would love nothing more than to just have a chat with her or go out for coffee with her or laugh like we used to.
I also feel guilty at the moment as I’m only seeing her every few days due to my poor health and when I do see her I just feel completely helpless as I don’t know what she’s trying to say to me.
Does anyone have any tips for how to cope with this situation or a similar one? I don’t have any aunties and my mother in law passed away a few years ago so I feel like I have no one to talk to. I’m still fairly young and all my friends still have their Mums in their lives and it’s hard to hear them all talk about the lovely things they are doing together.
I’m so sorry for the long post, I just needed to write it al down!
just to give you some background... my Mum has aphasia and dementia and so is losing her ability to communicate, she has very limited understanding of words now so she can’t express herself or understand what we are saying in any meaningful way. I have a 2 1/2 year old with another one on the way and I have a chronic pain condition which makes life really difficult as well. Every time I go to visit my Mum (she still lives with Dad but we had the conversation today that we should probably look into homes soon) she is in tears- I think she is understandably terrified and I just find it so upsetting and hard to see. She used to have the loveliest bond with my toddler but watching that deteriorate over the last few months has been heartbreaking as she just can’t really interact with her anymore. I don’t think my Mum really even understands that I am pregnant again. I just miss her so much and would love nothing more than to just have a chat with her or go out for coffee with her or laugh like we used to.
I also feel guilty at the moment as I’m only seeing her every few days due to my poor health and when I do see her I just feel completely helpless as I don’t know what she’s trying to say to me.
Does anyone have any tips for how to cope with this situation or a similar one? I don’t have any aunties and my mother in law passed away a few years ago so I feel like I have no one to talk to. I’m still fairly young and all my friends still have their Mums in their lives and it’s hard to hear them all talk about the lovely things they are doing together.
I’m so sorry for the long post, I just needed to write it al down!
