I can't believe I'm saying this

[Helena1993]

After months of severe depression and feeling that having a baby was a big mistake that ruined my life and my marriage I'm finally happy.
Seriously. Read my old threads. I was in an awful place.
I'm not 100% happy all of the time and I can get annoyed sometimes or have days where I think I'd rather be alone.
She's almost 11 months now and things really started to get better from 8 months onwards. She will start nursery in a month too. So I'll get even more time to myself while she can play with other kids. They can offer her so much more than I can as a stay at home mum.
Staying at home just isn't for me and I feel guilty sometimes for wanting to go back to work in a job that fulfills me.
Now when I'm in a bad mood she smiles at me and gives me a reason to move on and sort things out. She giggles for no reason when we drive.
PPD is serious. I can't explain in words how desperate I was and how trapped I felt. Now she's almost 1 year old I wish I enjoyed her more. The lack of sleep was a nightmare. The constant neediness. Now she's happy most of the time, crawls, laughs and keeps herself occupied for up to 30 minutes at a time sometimes.

So to anyone struggling with PPD or the infant stage. It will get better. Yes there are other challenges. Trying to change or dress her is like wrestling an alligator. She gets into everything so I always have to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get hurt. But she can feed herself and hold the bottle and sleeps 12 hours straight since 9 months old.

So glad 🙏❤️

Great news - thanks for sharing.

That is wonderful news and I think it will give hope to a lot of women here. 💐

This is brilliant news - I am so pleased for you, and it's good that you can see and recognise the journey you had.

I am pretty sure I suffered from undiagnosed PPD with my DS1 over twenty years ago and I still feel upset that nobody noticed/ helped/ suggested anything when, looking back, I very clearly needed help and support. I'm pleased this topic is much more widely discussed these days. x

That’s wonderful @Helena1993. I remember reading some of your old posts and am so glad you feel much happier now. I don’t have PPD but was so regretful and upset the first few months of dd’s life and things are slowly starting to feel better for me. I hope when she gets to your dc’s age I’ll feel as happy as you!

How lovely to read! Those are army days can be so dark and lonely and it's important we talk about it x

So pleased for you

I don't think I saw any of your old threads .abut so lovely to read something so positive! I struggled with antenatal depression and I understand the struggle.

Lovely post OP, and thanks so much for your honesty! I have two DDs (age 4.5 and just turned 2) and there is no way in HELL I would want to be a SAHM. I'm part time, and love my 2 days with younger DD and doing older DD's school runs, but by the time Wednesday rolls round, I'm ready to go to work! We also have no family local to us, so in the school holidays, older DD goes to a holiday camp once a week while younger DD attends nursery. I am not ashamed I do this, as I value time to myself, and it does me the world of good. I enjoy my time with them so much more now I have time for 'me'. So glad you're in a better place now.

It's lovely to read this update! Thank you for sharing. It offers hope for others. I also found the first few months a real slog and started enjoying it more from around 10 months.

its lovely to hear positive stories on here, really pleased for you. I went through a really rough spell with my little girl. I was never diagnosed with PPD but I would cry most days until she was about 6 months. Now she’s 10 months and happy most of the time I feel like the constant anxiety and stress has shifted. I wish I could tell my past self.

That’s really wonderful to hear.

That's a wonderful update thank you

Aww brilliant! So nice to hear this. Having a baby is bloody hard, parenting is bloody hard. It sounds so cliche but it is sooo worth it. You will still have hard days but honestly, I have a 9 year old, almost 10 and no stage has been as challenging for me as the newborn stage. It was a horrible time, so in my eyes you're over the worst.

Omg she’s almost 2 1/2 and this kid is the love of my life! Sounds weird but I could never love a man as much as I love her. And it’s been better on a consistent basis. So so so cute. I can entertain her for an hour by turning on the tv. She runs to me and gives me cuddles and kisses and is speaking more each day. I don’t have to carry her and she’s so awesome and fun to be around.