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Parenting

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Post natal depression/ anxiety?

10 replies

Co84 · 16/01/2019 07:00

So I don’t know if I have the January blues/ post natal depression/ anxiety or what it is. I had a last minute Caesarian 2 months ago and gave birth to my amazing little boy. Labour was awful and the days after in post natal ward were awful as a midwife was really abrupt and mean to me as soon as I arrived with baby. She convinced hubby to go home first night and his parents agreed so the first night was beyond awful, in pain trying to cope with baby and failing miserably to breastfeed. Fast forward two months and I’m in a sort of routine with little one and feels ok now but am still bleeding which docs seem unconcerned about. I feel anxious still when looking after him though, nervous about holding him wrong etc. But I think I’m doing ok. But I’m beyond exhausted, hubby does his share but most nights it’s all me as he works. Haven’t been anywhere yet with little man apart from walks as he hasnt had his jabs,so nervous to take him out. Also nervous in general about taking him out in case he’s upset and I can’t calm him. So feel a bit trapped most days and it’s starting to get to me. Hubbys not keen on taking him out properly yet either so feel stuck. I love little man but I feel like days are passing me by and I’m not doing enough, this makes me miss our old life.
Anyway long story short anyone else struggling? How did you cope? To top it off everyone keeps commenting how great a father my hubby is and I just feel no one ever says anything to me despite me doing lions share. And the in laws are q overbearing and have opinions on EVERYTHING! Just would appreciate everyone’s ideas, thoughts on how they coped with the madness!! Also I cry every other day out of no where?! Not sure if that’s sadness or exhaustion! Xx

OP posts:
BritishRail · 16/01/2019 07:25

I'm sorry you're feeling crap. I'm 6 months in now and had many of the feelings you describe in the first 3 months.

We never went anywhere because I was worried about baby crying, I had no motivation, i was crying a lot, feeling like my husband was much better at it all than me.

I liken it to when you start a new job and you are clueless at it to start and know nothing, and assume everyone is laughing at you and judging you.

Things are much better now - due to time and in my case medication for PND which I'm hoping to come off soon. The baby and I are very attached and I feel very in control and am a pro at leaving the house.

One of the keys for me was not to put pressure on myself - if I'm exhausted and need to just focus on surviving today and not moving from the sofa with baby, so be it. The world can wait. It's not forever and while it doesn't seem like it, things will slowly start getting back to something resembling normal

Im sure others will have better advice but wanted to give you my perspective and wish you all the best!

Jackshouse · 16/01/2019 07:28

I had a similar ish story. I went a told the GP and she referred me to perinatal mental health team. A lovely lady came round and asked me some questions and then refered me to a clinical psychologist who only worked with pregnant and postpartum women. It made such a huge difference. Don’t be scared of going to see your GP.

anappleadaykeeps · 16/01/2019 07:30

Are your parents around too, or are in-laws the only grandparents?

You sound like you need a massive hug (and some sleep), you poo thing.

Do you have any friends around, with young children. I got some of my confidence back by meeting up with a friend whose baby was 3 months older than mine, and was a lovely kind person.

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anappleadaykeeps · 16/01/2019 07:31

'Poor thing", not "poo ..".

MeadowHay · 16/01/2019 12:00

Yes I was similar, I had 30 hr labour with poor care on the MLU, I had no access to pain relief til I was 8cm and then an ventouse delivery with episiotomy which a minor complication in healing when I was around 5 weeks pp and had a tiny open wound, BF was also extremely painful for me the whole way through as my baby couldn't latch properly, and there were no commercially available nipple shields large enough for me to use without pain and blistering. I cried all the time, didn't go out and about anywhere much really in those first 8 weeks, oh and not to mention I have a really difficult baby, she cries A LOT (now under investigation by GP and probably about to be referred to a paed), but was crying whenever she was awake and not feeding at that age, really. IT WAS HARD.

She's 7 months now. I can't tell you everything is magical now. It isn't. But it has just gotten gradually better and easier, slowly over time. I enjoy more of my time with her now. I hated probably 90% of the first 12 weeks. We get out and about every day even if it's just to visit my mum for a few hours, or to go the library or the local shops. We go to two regular baby groups and I am looking at upping that to three or four even. I go back to work mid-March and I'm actually starting to feel sad about it, although I am going down to 4 days. At 8 weeks I wished I could be at work rather than suffer as I was doing.

It's not all hunky dory now, but she doesn't feed in the night anymore so I'm not as tired, she doesn't cry as much (most days...she still has awful days tho), I've just been diagnosed with PTSD from the birth and I have my birth debrief next week, I'm just about to start CBT for anxiety this afternoon (although it is pre-existing before I had DD), I have a great, supportive GP and HV since I moved house at 8 weeks pp and changed GP surgeries, my episiotomy area is still severely painful to the touch internally so I have a gynae appt in a few weeks. So lots of the difficulties remain, but they are slowly getting easier and at least I am on the path to recovery and being taken seriously by my GP and HV. So on balance I feel much more positive now than at 8 weeks, and finally feel a proper bond with my baby, which I really didn't at 8 weeks.

You are doing a great job Flowers Wine

Wallsbangers · 17/01/2019 14:20

You're doing a great job! Please have a chat to your GP or HV about this, they will be able to offer support.

Babies are fine to go out and about, they get some level of protection from you anyway. I knew I'd find it really difficult if I had to stay in so we went out most days in the early days even if it was just a nip round the supermarket (we still spend a lot of time in the supermarket). I would go for a coffee a couple of times a week and there would usually be an older lady who'd pop over to coo at him and have a chat. Have a look for baby groups? They are usually free for little ones and it's a good opportunity to get out and chat to some other mums.

Co84 · 17/01/2019 15:13

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied with your experiences. It’s reassuring that it’s not just me. I did speak to hv and doc but they were both pretty vague and just suggested cbt online which I’ll have a look at. I have a couple of friends who have been through similar and been amazing to chat to. My parents are around and have been great but I probably try to put on a front a bit as I cried so much the first two weeks I think they thought I couldn’t handle looking after him. But that’s not the case it’s just my emotions feel all over the place. I know I definitely need to get out more, I don’t have much locally but il investigate. I’m a bit frustrated by one group of friends who want to meet my baby but are wanting me to drag him out to one of their houses as it suits the group and their kids. I want them to come over to mine and just feel frustrated that they don’t really understand the effort involved considering they all have older kids. I can see myself just not going rather than creating drama.
British rail, jackshouse and Meadowhay thanks for sharing your experiences and I’m so glad you got through some really tough times and things have improved for you. You have given me hope that it will get better. What did you find helped you the most to feel better? My other half is struggling a bit too, how are your partners?

Wallsbanger and an
appleadaykeeps thank you so much for your support. I get out at least for walk with him every day but shame we’re not near a town so we could go different places. But I’m definitely going to push myself to try more things. I don’t drive so do have to rely on public transport which makes me nervous too! I’ve always been anxious and think the feelings have been heightened. It’s such an emotional rollercoaster!!

OP posts:
MeadowHay · 17/01/2019 19:47

You can do it - you ARE doing it!

Not sure how to answer your question about my partner as not sure exactly what you mean by struggling, iyswim. My partner does/has struggled too, I mean it;s a huge adjustment for everyone, especially when you have a baby as difficult as mine with hours of endless screaming for months on end Hmm. But it has never affected him as much as he only had 3 weeks paternity leave and then obviously he was away at work away from it all so he had more patience and could cope better with all the screaming when he was back as he lots of peaceful hours away from it! He sometimes says that when she's really bad and screaming loads, it's actually me and my reactions to it that make him feel more stressed than just her crying, but I don't think that's fair because if he had to deal with it day in day out all day every day like I do with no breaks then I think he would react more like me Hmm. But he is great honestly, super hands-on, he adores DD and always has. He does get super stressed and exasperated with her constant crying sometimes too but not as much as me, given he has more peace from it. He is really supportive of me and always tells me I'm doing an amazing job ad infinitum and supports me in getting the help and support I need. In the first few months there were a few occasions when he would call or text my mum and ask her to come over when I was struggling and bawling down the phone but refusing to contact her (my mum has been a great help, she lives a few mins walk away and doesn't work).

For me, most my struggles were related to specific things, like the birth itself and my physical and mental recovery from that; breastfeeding difficulties; DD crying all the time. It has all been slow processes but just gettting on the right paths to deal with those things has helped me feel more in-control. Stopping BF helped me a lot. Not instantly, as I was then wracked with guilt and really upset about not being able to successffuly breastfeed, but I gradually weaned her onto formula between week 6 and 12 and the more bottles I introduced the easier it was for me and then after I completely stopped I had a few weeks where I felt awful about it but once I'd gotten over that I saw how much better I felt from it and I wish I had just done it much sooner. Also finding a really good, supportive GP, and my new HV is great too so I know I'm being supported and I can contact either of them if I need help. And accepting lots of help and support from DM. Getting out every day helped me too but I didn't routinely manage til she was about 4 months old and even then often it was just for a walk, or just to DMs and sit about in her house all day Grin. We are much more active now, going for more walks, playgroups in churches and childrens' centres, go to the library, I met some parents through the app Mush who I sometimes meet up with in the play café for coffee etc. I would recommend Mush, The Wonder Weeks, and Hoop for apps for your phone btw. I also don't drive but where I live there is loads of stuff within walking distance to take DD to, I couldn't take advantage of them earlier due to anxiety (pre-existing) and the added problem of DD crying all the time, but now she's much better when out so jsut starting to explore more of the stuff going on. I do get the bus with her sometimes though, into town for the baby cinema, or to one of the childrens centres for the baby group. The first time I had to get the bus I went with DH as a practice to and from town Blush. I was very anxious the first time on my own, and the first time I had to get an unknown bus route on my own to the children's centre, but it was always fine and I've never had any problems. I do have quite a light, small-ish pushchair tho (Cosatto Wow).

Loopytiles · 17/01/2019 19:52

Unless your partner has a job that is risky when sleep deprived he could do a bigger share of the night or v early morning parenting - it’s not just feeding, if indeed you bfeed.

His need to be OK for an ordinary job is less important that yours to be OK to care for your baby and recover from surgery.

Sleep deprivation is v bad for mental health.

Still bleeding after 2 months sounds awful.

I had bad anxiety after DC1, had a pre existing condition, think some sleep would have helped massively.

BritishRail · 18/01/2019 03:18

To your questions OP, honestly anti depressants are what has helped me the most! I've never taken them before but I was so low, anxious, irritable etc it helped with those feelings so I could deal with the actual challenge of being a new mum to a tiny baby.

Aside from that, I've just got better at looking after the baby with time. If she's crying and won't stop I can stay calm because I know eventually I'll figure out a way to soothe her. Whereas in earlier months I'd panic and feel like a failure.

You asked about partners -he struggled when I was very low, and he's definitely had moments of "what have we done, where has my life gone". But they are fleeting of course.

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