post partum depression?

In article , wrote:

Amy,

You are a gem!

Seconded!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.

You are a gem!

Seconded!

thirded, really insightful, though I'm amazed you seem as well as you do
now, I can't remember exactly when your baby was born, but I know it was at
least 6 weeks after Ada (10th June) and I can look back to the time after
Nathanael was born (28th May) and compare how I was at the same time of year
as we are now. Zoloft may seem like a miracle cure, but you are really going
to have to look after yourself over the next few months and don't even think
about coming off the drugs until you are a year after the birth.

If it helps at all, I can tell you I was a hell of a lot iller than you have
been after my first and here I am 7 months after my 2nd and am clear other
than slight niggles, I took Zoloft all the way through pregnancy, then upped
the dose immediately after the birth. I think someone who doesn't know my
history would probably think I have had (or am going through) a mild case of
PPD, but actually to be that well is a miracle. We did think hard about
whether to have a 2nd and whether to do it now, but in the end, I said to my
husband, I will never actually get over this PPD if stops me from having
more children, but if we have another, it may happen, but we can get through
it and by being prepared it isn't likely to be so bad, but if we don't then
all my life I will be mourning the children I never had because life sucked
after the first and blaming it all on him. In some ways having a 2nd has
really helped my relationship with my 1st.

Cheers

Anne

I think that sleep is more important to you right now than getting out.
When Mr Mogget & I realised how bad a state I was in with PPD, he did some
reading which suggested that PPD is best helped by resting. So every
opportunity he had - EVERY one - he packed me off to bed. And it did
help. We soon found that I had a much better chance of sleeping at night
if I had had a daytime sleep. That is still true, three years later.

I'd back that one up, rest is vital, I've been forced to rest since Ada was
born due to the traumas of her birth, I'm sure it is one of many factors
that has kept me well this time.

Anne

Boy, I hope not. It was hideous. I'm a little afraid of having
another one, myself.

Amy, I was petrified, I didn't deal with it and when it came to labour I
paniced and I mean paniced, to the extent that my blood pressure, heart rate
etc. were harming me and harming the baby, what they did was give me a
spinal, I don't quite understand the difference, but they put the drugs
straight in, not via a tube and probably different drugs, I think it works
faster than an epidural. Anyway by taking away the physical thing that was
causing my distress it calmed me down, at which point I cried, for at least
an hour. But, labour has been the biggest problem in terms of my mental
health this time, I was concerned and I tried to talk to people, but no one
listened. To me labour marked the point of change from a happy, pregnant
state, to the potential horror of postnatal depression, which was why that
was what was so much of a problem, I was not afraid of the act of labour
itself, all the time I was trying to deal with contractions, all I could
think about was the misery of the previous postnatal period all the
horrendous memories came flooding back. However that was literally 2hrs that
could have been much better dealt with by medical staff (everyone had a
preconcieved idea of what my problems were and didn't bother to listen to
me). The fact that I was petrified meant I knew what I was doing, what the
risks were and was being treated, the last 7 months haven't been easy and
I'm very vunerable, but the alternative, not letting nature take it's course
and trying for a 2nd child would have been much much worse.

Anne