I think I might have PPD. Now what?

[jmjZelie]

Excellent. Now that you know what it is, you, your physician, and your hubs can formulate a plan of action to remedy the situation.
God bless you!!!

Thank you and God bless you too.

 

[jmjZelie]

“Sleep deprivation and burnout” may not sound as serious as PPD but I know from experience how painful it can be and how much havoc it can wreck on your life. Good for you for seeking help. Here’s to a positive therapy experience, a consistent sleep schedule, and feeling like your normal happy self again soon!

God bless.

Thank you!

I had kind of come around to the idea that it might not be PPD, although I did mention it to the doctor. He asked such great questions that made me really able to think about my symptoms and the length of time. I realized it has been nearly two years of this, since around the time I got pregnant with my youngest. We had wanted to try for a baby, and then things were getting really stressful so after the first month of sort of trying, we decided to postpone the pregnancy for a few more months. Too late. I was already pregnant. I was overjoyed but overwhelmed at the same time. And things just kept building from there.

It is tough because I love my family and even overall have enjoyed my duties, but man things got hard very suddenly. I miss the mommy I used to be. I want to be her again.

 

[Xantippe]

Thank you!

I had kind of come around to the idea that it might not be PPD, although I did mention it to the doctor. He asked such great questions that made me really able to think about my symptoms and the length of time. I realized it has been nearly two years of this, since around the time I got pregnant with my youngest. We had wanted to try for a baby, and then things were getting really stressful so after the first month of sort of trying, we decided to postpone the pregnancy for a few more months. Too late. I was already pregnant. I was overjoyed but overwhelmed at the same time. And things just kept building from there.

It is tough because I love my family and even overall have enjoyed my duties, but man things got hard very suddenly. I miss the mommy I used to be. I want to be her again.

It’s just a matter of time and a tweak her or there. And the more rested you are, the more creative you will be in thinking up solutions. I think you’re going to find that in a week or so, you’re suddenly much smarter than you are this week. You’ll see all sorts of solutions that you can’t right now.

I also find that there is a surprisingly small difference between the conditions that lead to wigging out and the conditions that lead to you being rested, creative, calm and clever. Mommies need to be clever!

 

[UbiCaritas]

First thing I asked for from my husband is to handle bedtime routine for at least a few days so I can go to bed earlier. I will take the nursing baby with me and try to go straight to sleep after I tuck her in her crib. And on Saturday morning, I will be getting my sleeping in time, too. I have gotta get some sleep or I am gonna crack.

I just feel so guilty about making him do all the extra work of bedtime routine and tidying up.

Your DH may well enjoy handling bedtime.

I usually do, but DH does it about once a week or thereabouts, a bit more if I’m tired/having a rough time. I don’t enjoy as much of bedtime because there is SO much stuff to do (kitchen cleanup, tidying, bath, PJs, milk, story, prayers, bed…) and I’m tired/burned out by the end of the day. DH, on the other hand, hasn’t spent time with DD all day, so from his perspective it’s “Yay! DD and I get to spend one-on-one time together!”

I second everything that people have already said about sleep deprivation. It does horrible things to a person’s mental health, so get every extra bit of it that you can! Maybe even fit in a 20-minute bath (lukewarm, not hot or cold) just before bed? Lukewarm baths make most people, especially ones who are already tired, good and sleepy so that they can fall right to sleep as soon as they get into bed. When DD was a newborn, I was often so tired that I couldn’t fall asleep, which sounds completely counterintuitive to anyone who hasn’t experienced it.

Something else that helped me (and do bear in mind that I have all of one kid and you five, so take this with a pound or so of salt) is, when I had a little downtime at a difficult stage of DD’s baby/toddlerhood, I wrote out a list of things to do when I found myself getting angry/frustrated/hysterical with her. It’s easier to think of those things when you aren’t right in the middle of it. For example, I noted that I often got stressed in the afternoon if it rained, because then going out was less likely to happen and we’d both feel a bit trapped, plus she tends to be grumpier in the afternoon and I can only handle so much screaming. Solution? Either deal with the rain annoyance and go to the library anyway, or put on some music and dance with her, or bring her upstairs to the playroom where we don’t go as often and where she has less-familiar toys. Etc.