A little background: For my first pregnancy I ended up developing pre-eclampsia and had to be induced. It was a hard labor that traumatized me a little bit. I spent 4 days on bedrest with a magnesium drip and bp checks every hour. After birth, it took another 2 days to get my bp under control and be released. I had little to no sleep throughout the whole experience. I started becoming really anxious when they'd take my bp because it was so off from the pre-eclampsia.

My bp issues are resolved now but I'm getting really anxious every time I need a regular bp check at the doctor. My heart starts racing as soon as the machine starts. I need to find a way to get over this. I'm pregnant again and don't want to prematurely go on bedrest because I can't control the anxiety associated with the bp checks. It only happens at the doctors. At home my bp is totally normal.

Any advice on how to move past this trauma and calm myself during those bp checks?