to ask for positive pnd outcome stories?

[CailinDana]

Have finally admitted i have pnd. I've had depression before so i know i have a slow road to recovery ahead. I would so appreciate anyone else's stories of how they overcame pnd. I need some reassurance at the moment.

I think its often best to carry on as if nothing has happened when I do that sort of thing too badvoc that must have been a real workout getting to the top!

Oh yes, I was the epitome of insouciance!

I feel remarkably well this evening, like there's hope ahead. I know i'll have low points again but i'm enjoying the up while it lasts.

:)

Dd took some milk from a bottle earlier then i had a nice bath with her.

That sounds positive! :)

Just checking in and I see DD has had some milk from a bottle - that's really good news .

Reading a bit further down (after jumping in feet first) it's great to hear that you're having a good evening,Cailin. It's just lovely when you start feeling "normal" again.

I have oodles of funny stories about dippy things I've done if you want yo read something funny.

Dippy stories are always welcome. I'm forever making a tit of myself.

Well this week so far has been somewhat 'challenging', shall we say.

On Monday I was off (bank holiday) so all good except..I forgot to pay for DS lunch and got an (understandably) stroppy phone call from the school - this sort of thing always leaves me feeling like a badly behaved small child .

On Tuesday, racing out the door, I get on the bus and realise I've forgotten my lovingly prepared thrown together from leftovers-- lunch.

Today, I managed to remember my lunch, but did manage to forget my purse.

Perhaps tomorrow I may actually have a day without something going wrong, thanks to my own ineptitude :D

It appears I have forgotten how to format as well . Oh dear..

So glad today had been better Cailin- well done you and well done to your dd! Xx

Anyone have any advice on how to get dd to sleep in her cot? I feel a total novice, you'd never think i'd already done this once!

I'm not sure if this will be any help but DS always went down really well with baby sleeping bags.

I know my sis has had a lot of success with a stick on black out blind - her wee one was having 5am starts. Will DD sleep at all on her own?

Nope. She used to go down in her basket every night around 9 for 5-6 hours but she suddenly stopped and now wakes up after 5 mins so then i just co sleep as it's easier.

Just saw this. I hope you are continuing to feel better.

I have terrible pnd with ds2. My notes after ds1 actually said to look out for Pnd in any future pregnancies as they had deemed me borderline with ds1 but just kept an eye out rather than addressing it. Which worked out fine.

With me, it came to a head the day the new washing machine was delivered. You can imagine what the laundry basket looks like after a week, when you have a new baby, and a 3 year old. The delivery people dropped the washing machine, and it broke. I was quoted another weeks wait for a new one. My gp rang and queried why I had not turned up for my appointment. I had forgotten. I burst into tears. I ranted about mountains of laundry and broken washing machines. I was in such a state. The same evening I got out of the house at 2 am, grabbed the car keys. My dh woke up by the front door slamming behind me. The next day I rant the surgery and screamed "I cant take any more, I want to F*&^ing die" They sent the emergency mental health team out. And my health visitor came out to chat every day for two weeks, until I got counselling going.
I never took my ADs. DH said "anybody looking at our life can see it is shit. Lets try address this first".

He bought me a bicycle. The idea was fresh air, exercise and time out together as a family. Good food played and important part too. He started cooking. He made healthy salad and veg based meals with fish, and started buying smoked salmon. For the omega3. Omega 3 is a natural anti depressant. Sleep-training ds2 was also a vital part of my recovery as I was awfully sleep deprived. a Life turned around slowly. We got an au pair to help also. Vital, as I had spd and mobility issues, could not carry much etc. Nor walk a lot.

I hope you get there!

Is there any comfort object (apart from your boobs :)) that could be used to help her settle?

Just off the top of my head, but have the sleeplessness/not wanting to be in her own room coincided with the longer daylight hours?

No comfort object and the waking is only since last week so not a big change in the light. She literally changed from one night to the next. So annoying.

Thank you for sharing your story qod. I'm glad you got through it

I was hoping that it might be the light cos then blackout blinds might h Not much use I know, sorry x

The sudden change in sleep could also be a growth spurt. I recommend that you buy 'the wonder weeks' book. It helped me SO much during PND, as I could understand why his behaviour changed suddenly.

(like this evening for instance - normally goes into cot no problem. Tonight, it took 1.5 hours and I ended up giving in and sneaking out for a fag, and OH had a go. He just kept crying everytime I went to leave the room. Check the wonder week book, and d'oh he's slap bang in the middle of the 55 week growth spurt!)

Glad to hear that the bottle thing might be working again - and there is nothing like sharing a calm bath with your baby...warm and snuggly. If you do want to get a comfort object, try wearing it down your top so it smells like you (never wash unless it's covered in poo or something), and try having it in her hands when you're feeding etc.

I have/had PND, just starting to come off my meds now after 16 months...it isn't easy, and its been a long journey and I've finally come to accept and cherish the person I've become, and cannot give my little girlie enough cuddles and kisses.

Take all the help you can get, never be afraid that people will think you are a bad mother, and try to get out of the house for a walk every day, exercise works wonders. I also find that if I know I'm going to have a bad day, getting involved in a task that involves lots of concentration, or 'active thinking' seems to help avoid the worse bits....baking does the job for me, my DH knows I'm not doing so well when I've made 2 cakes, brownies, a pie, scones and biscuits before midday!!!!

Something else I found was keeping a diary, but I would always rip out the pages when I was having a bad day, so that a) I could look back through it to remind myself of the good times, and b) as if to acknowledge that that day was done and dusted and wouldn't be repeated. Gradually, I've done that less and less.

Good luck with your journey, please PM me if I can do anything to help, even just a chat x

Thanks mrs

I'm in the middle of getting DD to settle in her cot as she's mobile now and not safe in her Moses anymore! I put her down awake when I know she's tired and she cries immediately, I sit next to the cot with my hand on her tummy/back making shhhing sounds quietly. 80%of the time she grizzles and cries for a bit. I'm waiting for the pauses in between grizzles/cries to get longer, once they have then I sit on the bed, in the same room making shhhing sounds when she cries. The pauses get longer until she dozes off.

At the minute I stay in the room till she's asleep, soon I'll try waiting on the landing. If she's upset and there are no pauses in her cries I pick her back up, have a cuddle, nothing very stimulating just to settle her down. Then she goes back in and we start again. She is starting to settle more quickly (around 15 mins now).
When I first began, it easily took 40 minutes or so, I don't leave her to cry for many minutes I find she goes past her sleep then and it's counter productive for us both. All babies are different though, my method is one Ive cobbled together from endless googling coupled with trial and error!

DS is 6 and the little I do remember from his early months (relationship at that point was v abusive so memory here is quite sketchy) is to stay as consistent as possible. I'm so glad you had some lovely positive experiences today

What age is your dd coffee? Does she sleep through?