Postpartum Depression

Postpartum Depression also known as PPD sounds serious and scary. The act of giving birth can be dangerous and even if you experience no complications can still be terrifying.  All new moms could use an abundance of love a support from their friends and family.
Everyone is different and your experiences will very.  Not just as an individual but each time you go through the processes of creating a new life.

I remember the first time I lay eyes on my little boy,  it was love at first sight.  Happiness and relief. We were alive! We made it.  I was also exhausted.  Too tired to think straight.  It had be a long hard journey to get here but at least I was in the clear, or so I thought.

After the celebration had died down and the well wishers had gone back to the hum of their daily lives, after paternity leave was over.  I was home alone with my son.  And though you might argue that if I had my baby in my arms, that I wasn't really alone.  While a three month old is definitely a person, a three month old is not much for conversation.  And while I did talk to my baby, I felt more than a little barmy doing so.  What I needed was time with my friends.  Friends who were busy with lives of there own.  Long hours at jobs and chores to be done.  No one had time for me, not even myself.  I felt sad and alone.  I felt like my time was not my own.  Being a caregiver 24/7 is not as easy as it may look.

Not every day was dismal.  Some days were just fine.  Some days though I would find myself in tears without knowing why.  And it's hard when you reach out to friends and get little more than "Postpartum's a Bitch".  Yes it is, and if you were actually my friend you would have picked up the phone when I called rather than keeping our conversations text based and online.

You don't know what tired is until you have needed to breast feed a child every two hours regardless of day or night.

It was clear I needed some new friends.  Friends who knew what I was going through first hand.  I joined my local mother's club.  I don't know why I didn't do that sooner. Spending time with other stay at home moms made a huge difference in my mental well-being.

Another thing I did that helped was I started a daily photo journal of what made me happy. As the days passed it got easier.  And as unexpectedly as the unprovoked sorrow had come, it was gone.  I was me again.