post pardom blues... Help...please.

I am a first time mom and soon to be wife. I just had my baby on 10-22-04. I love being a mom, most people want careers, I wanted babies. but I am having some bad anxiety and mild depression and not sure why? i do yoga and i meditate but i can't seem to shake these feelings. if anyone has any suggestions to what i should do please help me out. i really don't agree with taking anti-depressants, I've tried that route for depression before and all they did was make me feel like a zombie. HELP! also i'd love to find some moms to keep in contact with for questions i might have and advice so let me know. Thanks much!

 

Congrats on your new baby, that is beautiful news!

While I don't have advice on the depression, I would love to be there for you if you need advice, a friend, a link to sanity (believe me, sometimes you'll need it, lol). Drop me a pm and I will give you my email address and IM name

~SunshineDaydream

 

i know im not a mom or a woman and sadly enough not a father either, but its my understanding that post pardem depression is a natural thing to go through and its a reaction to the changeing chemicals in your body, and a new detachment from your child and new responsibilites that no one is ever ready for. depression can be tricky because it does comfort your self is you begin to feel sorry for yourself. its important to understand that you are going through something that is temporary, but it can lead to other problems or become permanent if you start believing things that your mind comes up with while youre depressed. i would say try to be patient and let your partner know what you are going through, so that he dosent misinterpret your behavior and you all dont start adding to a creating new problems for eachother. you kids should do fine.

 

hey, i had my boy on 27th october 2004 and am going through the same thing, i think a lot of it at this stage is the demands of the baby, however much folks help they are still your responsibility at the end of the line and thats a lot of pressure. if there are any specific issues, talk about them, to whoever will listen, even if you feel stupid, it really helps. im here if you want to chat. i know what you mean about the antidepressants, im on them at the moment and they do make me feel kinda slow and not myself, but they stop the worse symptoms and i feel its not fair for my husband to suffer how i get when its bad so i take them, one day ill be able to deal with it without the medication, but not yet, i think your doing really well not to go back to antidepressants. take each day as it comes, when your feeling really low have someone take the baby if you can and do something that you want to, stuff the housework, i know it sounds corny but its true, it helps, also, putting on loud music and singing along very loudly helps me, hard rock is great for easing frustration and getting your adrenaline going if you do the work you have to do while you do it...works for me anyway, sometimes quiet times and meditating on the way you are feeling wont make it any better, and you have to push yourself through it for the time being, that in itself can make you feel better cos you feel like you can still go on, that its not gonna beat you, even if you soon feel down again. just keep going, tackle any problems that are causing you grief and make sure your getting plenty of vitamins.

hope things get better soon hunny, message me if you like.xxx

 

okay, i've been where you are now, and i wish that i had someone to tell me then what i know now. there's a book that i wish that i had known about while i was pregnant...it's called A Natural Guide to Pregnancy and Postpartum Health

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1583331387/qid=1102030561/sr=8-12/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i12_xgl14/104-5888694-6709506?v=glance&s=books&n=507846


please please please read it!

also, there are some decent suggestions on kellymom's site http://www.kellymom.com/ppd/ppd.html but i disagree with her diet recommendations and for some reason she doesnt mention anything about essential fatty acids on that page anymore...she used to have evening primrose oil (epo) on that page. i took epo for my ppd and it helped a lot (i got the idea from the page that i linked you to, i dont know why she would take it off the list).

anyways, read the book that i linked you to. there's important information in there, that you really need right now.

 

thank you so much everyone for your help, i wish i would have come on here and asked for help a month ago, it helps just to talk about it.

 

Blessings on your new little baby!

Post partum depression is not normal, although it is not uncommon, and goes beyond the transient "Baby Blues" where new moms get weepy and emotional due to hormones. It is very important you get help and support.
There are lots of support groups for new moms with PPD. You may also wish to be treated holistically, with homeopathics, acupuncture and/or Chinese medicine, chiropractics, or herbs.
Here is a link to a listing of suuport groups;


http://www.ppdil.org/

Take care of it, it's a very real state of mind and has nothing to do with hormone fluctuations.

I wish you the best.

 

thank you brighid for the site, I'll try that.