Could this just be baby blues?

[Mumoftwo134]

Hi there. I’m looking for some reassurance, which is naughty I know from experience with anxiety with my first. With my first born I had diagnosis of PPOCD/ PPA, put the work in after a self referral and got better after around 8 months. I absolutely adore him and have really enjoyed being his mum!

I had my second 7 days ago and the first three days were pretty blissful, however last night I had a huge wave of anxiety and the intrusive thoughts are back. very similar themes to my last ones with my son. Some positives are that the intrusive thoughts are not really bothering me as I know what they are and I know how to handle them. I’m using the strategies I know and I feel i can handle them. My mood is generally quite good. I’m not overly tearful or angry or an anything like that. Finally, I’m generally ok in the day and am really loving looking after my little girl, more then the first time around.

the main symptom I have is just that awful feeling of unease and anxiety in my stomach that kicks in around 6 and lingers until bed time. I’m trying not to catastrophise that it’s happened again and hoping it will fade over time. Could this just be the tiredness and hormones screwing me over? Does anyone have any similar or experiences or guidance they can give me? Please be assured that i would seek help again if needed if it continued. Thanks :)

Hi OP,

so I’m currently 11 weeks PP with my first so I’m not speaking from a great deal of experience here! However up until about 2 weeks ago I used to get really anxious as night time approached because the nights I found are just so lonely and hard. I literally dreaded them and then felt guilty for feeling this way which made the anxiety worse. Like you the anxiety wasn’t bad enough to effect my care of my baby and my mood too remained pretty positive. I think it’s just normal to feel this way, you have this tiny little human who depends on you for everything including their survival, that’s a massive responsibility and one I’m pretty sure warrants a bit of anxiety! Xxx

Sounds normal to me - the end of the day coming up to another night can make you apprehensive. You will be tired and feeding can be more intense.
Saying that. why not talk to your HV / GP and see if they can allay your fears? It sounds like you are doing really well.

Thanks so much for replying! It’s so hard when you had a rough first experience I’m almost waiting for it to go wrong, which isn’t the best mindset I know! I had a much better night last night and will take each day as it comes! I’m confident some level of anxiety is normal post partum and if it feels unmanageable or too much I will definitely self refer again! Xxxx

Im in a similar position - PND / PNA with first and now 10days post partum with DD2. I'm monitoring the situation until two weeks post partum as i know that the hormones can take that long to settle down. If it carries on after that point, then I'm planning on talking to the GP.

It’s in the back of your mind the whole time isn’t it and one bad feeling of feeling teary or anxious can almost send me into a spiral of “here we go it’s happening again” but I’m trying really hard to not over monitor and just go with the flow. It took me months after my son to feel how I do at this present moment, so if it is back it’s definitely not as severe or crippling! Good luck! ❤️

I strongly recommend the dare app from an anxiety healing perspective and the dare anxiety book. It’s like a CBT book and it helped me understand a bit more about what was happening to me. Xx