Why is pregnancy so stressful?

My first pregnancy was stressful just because it was filled with the unknowns and the fact that we'd waited for so long for a baby that I made sure to do everything just right. That didn't help, I still ended up with bleeding and spotting very early on in pregnancy that lead to several trips to the ER to get checked out. The rest of my pregnancy was relatively uneventful except for the last week when my blood pressure went up and that lead to an induction but it was a week closer to meeting our precious little one for the first time.

I figured if or when I got pregnant a second time that I would be an old pro at it but apparently not. The beta hormone levels started out low that caused me to worry, the bleeding and spotting started much earlier but at least it quit sooner and I only had to go to the doctor once because of it. I've been to the ER twice for heart palpitations and braxton hicks contractions (BHC). I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another.

I had BHC with my first pregnancy and got a bit intense around 23 weeks and we spent the day in Labor & Delivery hooked up to a monitor. After a day spent laying around and watching the monitors go off, they gave me some medicine to stop the contractions and I went on my merry way, no more issues with those thank goodness.

So when they started up earlier this time around, I figured I knew what to look for and what to do. For precaution reasons, I went to the doctor and got it checked to be sure they were in deed BHC. I saw a midwife instead of my doctor (for the record, I do not like midwives) and she checked me and sent me along, nothing to worry about. The weekend was rather uneventful, nothing special except cleaning and laundry. Sunday afternoon they started up again so I retreated to bed with a bucket of water and some rest. I called the on call nurse and she informed me to keep an eye on the times and if need be, head to the ER. So off we went, they were still coming despite the rest and buckets of water I'd been drinking. I knew that because I was less than 20 weeks, they'd probably keep me in the ER. The doctors down there don't know squat but I wanted to be in the medical professionals hands instead of my own. The good thing is that I learned that I have a bacterial infection which is probably what's causing the BHC so after some antibiotics, I hope to have a clean bill of health. Again, the ER docs don't know squat about OB so he kept throwing around terms that scared me regarding the baby is sitting low and words like 'miscarriage' SERIOUSLY? I'm 17 1/2 weeks along, we can't lose this baby. That guy doesn't know what he did to me because I've cried more after that visit than I have this whole pregnancy and we all know that hormones are wacky and lead to lots of crying. I went to the doctor yesterday for a follow up and they reassured me that things should be fine after a few doses of antibiotics but I have a repeat follow up next week.

I beat one hurdle with the bleeding and I plan on beating this hurdle too. This baby just needs to get settled in and comfortable for the next 4 1/2 months!