Post Pardum Blue's

[OhMari]

It is so sad, did you see on the news of the police officer, who saved the lady in Green Bay from jumping off a bridge. She had a 3 week old baby, and she was being treated for the blues. Her husband called the authorities to report she was suicidal. When she left the house he called again and a police office found her and caught her just in time, his squad car camera caught it all.

Then this past week an award winning teacher of the year for 1st grade had her first child 5 weeks ago and she sufficated it and herself.

This makes me so sad. I had post depression with all 4 of my, but it only lasted 2 days, and by my 3rd child I knew enough to just sleep. They key is to accept help those first couple of weeks. If you have no one, try to find a neighbor or friend to stay with you for awhile.

A friend from the Neverlands was visiting with her child and husband and she gets 18 months maternity leave in Finland. She can put in another 18 if she chooses. She says the U.S. is unbelievable how they treat mothers with new-borns, but I think that is just part of the picture with baby blues. There is just too much stress to face.

 

[browneyes]

Yeah, I've heard about these. So sad. Post Pardum has a lot more to do with it than just lack of sleep though.

 

[CruisingCA2005]

That's too bad....

I do agree that post partum depression is more than a lack of sleep. These mothers can be suffering from hormonal & chemical imbalances and it's too bad that a lot of times all they hear is - "you'll snap out of it." I hope the lady with the 3 week old baby gets the help that she needs.

 

[binny]

There is a big difference between post pardum blues and full blown post pardum depressin. I had PPD with all three ( not so bad with Kaylee but still there ) but no one really noticed it ( or said anything to me at least) until after my third.
It IS terrible how much pressure is put on new moms in this country but I think it happens a lot! Pressure to be all things to everyone.
Part of my depression after Karissa (#3) was I felt SO great after Kaylee (#2) was born! I was on a dr regulated diet while I was PG with Kaylee and walked out of the hospital 35 pounds lighter than I got pg in the first place! It was wonderful! I had energy to burn and while I still struggled with hormonal things I was fairly optimistic. Then I got pg again 6 weeks later and the whole world felt like it crashed down around me!
Now please dont misunderstand me, I am thrilled to have all 3 of my children but it is a terrible shock to your body and mind to get pg again so quickly.
After Karissa was born my Husband, doctor and my best friend all cornered me about the depression and really helped me through

Anyway, Im rambling Im sorry. My point is PPD is very common and people should be more aware of what the signs are!

 

[hydster]

As a survivor of suicidal post partum depression I can definitely attest to the fact that the post partum depression is NOT helped by sleep!!! It requires MUCH more than that and goes much deeper than anyone who hasn't had it understands! It is debilitating and scary. I tried various ways of killing myself after each of my children were born and one of the first things people said to me was "Oh it's just because you are tired"..NO... it wasn't because I was tired it was because my serotonin levels were out of whack and it took drugs and therapy to get me out of each post partum depression. With each child the depression got worse and my thoughts were darker with each. Thankfully I had a wonderful husband who took me seriously enough that he would start me in therapy as soon as I came home and would make sure I took my medication every single day. He took care of me and the baby and other children everyday for 3 months sometimes until I was mentally able to cope again.

You bring home this child and everyone is saying how lucky you are and how cute the baby is and you just look at them all like they've been smoking a banned substance. Then the guilt sets in that you are a terrible mother and if you were a good mother then you would be under the thoughts of how wonderful life is with a brand new baby instead of thinking of ways you could kill yourself!

I believe that sometimes it is exacerbated by trying to put up the "perfect happy front" that is expected of new mothers. The responsibility, the hormonal changes, and just the emotions make post partum depression one of the worst mental things a woman can go through. I'm sure this isn't going to sound the way it is intended but for me it was like a split personality going on in my head. I loved the child because it was my child and how could you not love them but in a sense I hated my child because I was not mentally able to deal with all of the emotions and pressure of being a new mom. After trying various ways to kill myself after each child I look back and I am ashamed of my behavior! I can't imagine doing something like that to them now that I am mentally stable again but at the time it seemed like the perfect thing to do. It was rational to me at the time and now the guilt and pain associated with the thoughts that I had are horrible.

Unless someone has experienced it first hand it's one of the most difficult things to understand. It is definitely something that should not be taken lightly or ignored hoping it will go away.

I feel for any woman who feels her only way out of the place she is at at the moment is to jump off a bridge and kill herself. I have the scars to remind me of the stupid things I did and I think about it now and can't imagine not being here experiencing things with my children.

Heidi

 

[OhMari]

Sorry I didn't mean to imply sleep was the way out of Baby Blue's.

I meant to say that I had all those horrible symptoms and I was actually lucky enough to have it only 2 days and I was able to sleep thru it.

I remember thinking terrible thought about how I could kill the baby by dumping it over the railing, with me going after her. Yes, I still feel guilty too. For a blank second I would think it, then hold her tight then kiss her and wonder why I just thought of something so horrible.

I was told my great-grandmother had terrible depression, then my grandpa, her son did and I always thought I would get it really bad, but I didn't. But I do see signs of it in my oldest 20 year old DD. She is going back to the Nurse Practioner this August, cause she takes the shot for birth control where you never get a period and one bad side effect is depression. About 2 weeks before she gets the shot, she really has deep depression.

Sorry for being so long winded again, but post pardum depression needs to be recognized as just not baby blues. I think more and more people should be made aware of this. I guess Marie Osmond wrote a book, cause she had it really bad too.