Is This Post-Partum Depression

Call you doctor. The office staff has had others call with similar complaints and they will help you immediately. Don't delay.

Feeling on edge for a while is normal. If it goes on for more that a few weeks...REACH OUT FOR HELP!

I had anxiety after my daughter arrived. And my sister has 2, so I know it is H-A-R-D! You may find talking to a good friend who is a Mom would help you. If you want more privacy, many hospitals have free post-pardum phone support... usually on the other end of the phone is a fellow Mom who completely understands your feelings. I found that to be a very helpful band aid before I could see my doc and get referred to a therapist. Not sure therapy helped all that much, although it forced me to get some "me" time REGULARLY and uncovered some sources for unneeded, self inflicted pressure/expectations. Hang in there!!! It'll get better and you've already taken a good first step!

Hi A.!

I found that it was very helpful to have a support group of friends. Preferably someone who has been through it or going through it or both! Your best lifeline is to be able to talk to other women who understand and can be compassionate to your situation. We love men but they just don't get it!

Good luck and enjoy your children!

J.

Hello A.. I'm an RN and a midwife. I'm glad you recognized that anxiety can be a symptom of PPD. To be on the safe side, please call your doctor or midwife and ask for a depression screening. Its a simple series of questions you answer with the doctor/midwife. You may also get a blood test to check your iron and thyroid levels. Please call tomorrow and make an appointment.

Good luck!

D.

Congrats on the new baby! I know how you are feeling. I have three and each time I brought a new baby home from the hospital I was nervous and anxious for a few weeks. I think it's normal because newborns are so fragile, and it just feels like something could go wrong at any minute.

I would give it a few weeks. If you continue to feel really anxious and it doesn't get any better I would call the doctor. Good luck!

I would talk to your doctor. I had post partum and it started to manifest as extreme anxiety. I couldn't eat much, my stomache hurt all of the time and I was certain that something awful was going to happen to my new baby. (SIDS, or maybe she wasn't getting enough breast milk, etc. ) My husband convinced me to call the doctor and they immediately put me on Zoloft. Man, did it make a world of difference! It took a few weeks, but I started to feel much better. Less anxious and much happier about having the baby. This is a really hard time for women. The "idea" of having a baby is a completly different reality from actually having that baby at home with you, dependent on you for everything.
So, talk to your doctor ... it can't hurt! Also, just remember, this does get better ... so much better! The sleep deprivation and complete shock of having a baby will take time to adjust to, but once you do, you will be able to enjoy your family!
Hang in there!
A.

At this point, I would not consider this post partum depression. Your hormones are still evening out after the birth. I am sure the unpredictable sleep schedule isn't helping either. If you still feel this way in a few weeks, then post partum depression could be the cause. See if you can get some extra help the next few weeks. Life with a brand new baby (and a sick 2 1/2 yr old) is tough. I hope you feel better, if you are concerned about PPD, call your Dr's office. I'm sure they can refer you to someone to talk to.

Hi A.,
I'm so sorry you are going through this. I've never had PPD but I do think I had undiagnosed Baby Blues after my son was born. If you are very concerned, I would suggest to go see your primary care doctor.
Also, can you set something up for the next few days to have a family member come by for the afternoon/evening hours? I'm sure grandmas or friends would love to help you out. Having another adult might ease your anxiety and give you something to focus on other than your worries.
Good luck and Congratulations on your new baby!!!
L.

A., congrats on your new baby. What you're feeling is very common, so you're not alone. Regardless of if it's baby blues, or PPD, or too early for PPD or whatever. I think it would help and be prudent to talk to someone know just in case. I don't think ppd has a definitive line you cross when it's ppd or baby blues. Lots of moms have depression during pregnancy too (me included)

Trust your gut. You reached out and are concerned, so take some action now. It's better to be addressed early, even if it's just run of the mill first few days anxiety. You shouldn't have to go thru that alone.

As another poster said ENH had a great program. Please call 1.866.ENH.MOMS (866.364.6667).
http://www.enh.org/clinicalservices/maternityservices/pos...

Good luck and hugs!!

It sounds like you have had a lot of tension surrounding you since you got home. Yes, your body has gone thru a traumatic experience and you are fretful that the little boy and baby girl will / will not get along. It has been hard to deal with introducing a new life into the family with one being sick and you are stretched between caring for the one you already have (being sick on top of that) and then caring for the one you just brought home (who is totally dependent on you for everything). How is the husband handling this? Is he helping at all? You didn't mention if he was. Sometimes just the support of the spouse can make a big difference with how you feel. I cannot tell you how to make it go away. But I do understand how you feel. If you are able, try to get some fresh air. Try to get out of the house alone once in a while. Give yourself a breather. What you are experiencing is the pull of too many distractions at once. Learning to deal with two children is harder than learning to deal with just one. And you say you are a work at home mom, which also makes it tough on you because that is more stress. Hun, I think you are just overstressed. Your hubby needs to take you out for a romantic dinner, a night on the town. Something to make you feel special. You are feeling overwhelmed. Get the grandma(s) to babysit for you a weekend and take a get away. It will help. You need to relax and just remember.... It WILL work out. Give it time. Get your stride and things will smooth out.
Just to let you know, when I had my 3rd child, I had the same situation. And the weekend really did help. Fresh air also helps. Just an hour alone to soak in a bathtub is very refreshing. So, you need to find yourself your little piece of heaven. Your few minutes of solitude where you can just let go and relax. No worries, No frets.
Good Luck. My prayers go with you.

A.,
I just went to a speaker on Natural Family Planning and he talked about how the estrogen and progesterone levels after giving birth can cause PPD. He recommended getting the levels checked and even getting estrogen or progesterone shots. IT might be worth asking your doctor or NP about. Best of luck. J.

A.,
I had a similar experience with my daughter. I experienced horrible anxiety and panic attacks. My family doc did not diagnose it as PPD but she did say it was directly related to my daughters birth and the subsequent hormonal fluctuations. Being that I cannot take anti depressants she prescribed me Klonopin 0.5 mg twice per day and that helped immensely. Unlike Xanax I was not groggy and was able to function completely and my anxiety was almost non-existent. It was a long rough road but I can tell you that I am mostly anxiety free and totally medication free and have been so since right before my daughters 1st birthday (she is 2 now). If you have any questions or just need a supportive ear email me at ____@____.com

J.

P.S. My doc also told me that my tubal ligation probably made it worse. She says thats why I probably still experience anxiety right before I start my period.

Call your OB. I had a very hard time when my son was born - I had had a difficult c-section and right after the baby was born, my husband was out of town for a week on business. At 10 days I got mastitis in both breasts and because I'm allergic to most antibiotics, I was on an antibiotic that wasn't safe to pass through breastmilk so I had to pump and dump for almost 14 days. Every time my mom or mother-in-law went to feed my son (every 2-4 hours, you know), I went upstairs to pump. I figured I was spending 3-4 hours a day pumping. I was so down, I cried every day several times a day. I felt really desperate and I was not enjoying being a mom. I was terrified to be alone - I remember after a few weeks, when my husband was back at work and my mom and MIL had used up their vacation days to help us, I was so scared of my first day being left alone that I didn't think I was going to be able to do it.

I think that after a baby is born, we hope that things are normal and beautiful and that is rarely the case. Illness, out of control hormones, sleeplessness and stress all contribute to make an already challenging situation seem unbearable. Although I was not diagnosed with PPD, I wish that I had called my OB sooner to tell her how I was feeling so that I could get on my way to feeling better. I would definitely call my OB if I were you and mention your sisters' histories and that you are feeling anxious. Only a professional can give you a diagnosis, but I think getting answers is the responsible thing to do for you and your family.

Good luck and I wish you all the best. You already have a toddler so you know how it goes, but just remember the worst is over in a month or two. Just take it one day at a time.

HI A.,

Sounds like you've had a stressful time. Or a distressful time, to be more accurate.

Plus you just have given birth, so your hormones are still getting back to normal.

I wouldn't rush to start diagnosing yourself for at least a couple of weeks.

If you have a good working relationship with your pediatrician or ob/gyn schedule a visit to simply talk about your situation.

Share your feelings with your husband. Ask for what you need and want.

If you're still feeling edgy, nervous, or jittery, combined with significant sleep changes and appetite changes, and pronounced feelings of unreasoning sadness, and feeling helpless and hopeless, then you might want to consider talking to a psychotherapist (psychologist or social worker etc.), and after a few sessions if things aren't improving you might want to consider a short, emphasis on short, trial of an antidepressant.

But my hunch is that your emotional reactions are in response to your recent childbirth and the physiological and social changes that birth entailed.

R. Katz, Psy.D.

A.,

First of all, congrats on the birth of your daughter. You're probably going through a case of the blues, as it is still too early for PPD. In any case you've just given birth and your hormones are readjusting to everything. You are probably hardly sleeping at all, and all these things lead to the blues.

If you can, try to get someone to watch the kids and get some sleep -- that should help a little. Also, talk to your OB. They have experience with situations like these and should be able to help you. I see you're in the North Shore -- Evanston Hospital has a great perinatal support group, and they also have a hotline for new moms who are experiencing PPD. Their number is 866.ENH.MOMS. It might help giving them a call.

Good luck!

Hi A.,

I had really bad PPD. But I never felt depressed. My blood pressure shot up as soon as I came home, I was FREAKING out. I would panic and cry, pace, couldn't hold my daughter. With my son I could hold him and felt no rejection but felt that my husband was sick of me, that he'd leave me, that I couldn't handle both kids.... At one point mi MIL attempted to take me to lunch and I panic in the car crying telling her to bring me back.

The only way I can explain it is that my head and I were no longer one, I couldn't control my thoughts. It helped that my hubby kept grounding me, reminding me that it was the hormones, I wasn't going crazy.

I took zoloft for 4 months and was fine. I stopped the meds and had nasty withdrawals but I needed them at the time to function for my baby boy and little girl who are my life.

I can't believe now that I wanted to run away!

I contacted my Dr. immediately, I don't know what it would have turned into otherwise (severe depression or nothing?)tell your hubby to be watchful, he can assess if ur abnormally anxious too. My hand were aleays sweating, I could not eat anything, lost like 8 lbs in 3 days (quickly gained them back hahaha)

Be watcful, there's no shame in meds, you're not alone... it can be very scary, talk talk talk to plp.... who are compassionate and patient.
A.

For now I would take it as the baby blues. You are going through so many changes (internal & external) that it is very normal to feel anxious, inadequate, etc. etc.. I hope you can give yourself a break and have support available.
Congrats on the new baby!

When I had my oldest son, 9 years ago, I started to give him his bath. He was only 2 days old, I think. Anyway, I got everything together, started doing what I needed to do and out of the blue it hit me. Suddenly I was in a panic. I started to cry and worried about my competence for taking care of this child. It is scary when you start to doubt yourself like that. This only happened the one time. Sounds a lot like what you are going through to me. Give it a bit and if you don't start to feel better then call your doc but to me it sounds like the normal overwhelming feelings of being mommy. Perhaps this time you got hit a bit harder with the emotions because you had more going on at home with another little one being sick. Take a little time for you and see if you feel better. Hope your little one and you are both feeling better. Remember you're not superwoman. If you need help, ask for it. Shannon
PS. CONGRATS to you on your new little one!!

I can very much relate to this. When I had my son 3 1/2 years ago, I went thru this myself. I was very anxious & constantly worrying that something would happen to me, my husband or my son & crying alot. My husband was going on a business trip 3 weeks after my sons birth & was going nuts worrying about it. I spoke to my doctor & it she felt it was a form of the "Baby Blues". She gave me the choice of taking a medication to help me not feel so anxious or waiting a week to see if I calmed down. I opted not to take the medicine & just see if I was able to control my emotions. Not that I don't believe in taking medicine, I just really wanted to try to overcome this on my own. I did eventually calm down over several days but it was very emotional. I tried to surround myself with my freinds & family to keep busy & keep my mind off of it. I also tried to get out of the house even if it was to go for a walk or just stroll the mall. That helped alot to keep busy!!!
Best of Luck! Hang in there!

Usually, PPD comes with thoughts of harm to yourself or your baby. If you are only anxious, it's probably anxiety and restlessness. Do you have a way to get out of the house for an hour to yourself. Or, if you are breastfeeding, you should go to a support group, you can take both children. Talk to your doc about the anxiety, there are meds you can get if herbals don't work first. PM me if you want info on support groups.

Are you taking vitamins with copper in them??? Stop taking them that may help. You can take a vitamin divertive of B called inosotal it will help calm you. Get extra sleep! Start a diary of everything you are worried about. Make sure you write before bed.

Have someone you know and trust spend time helping you with the housework and kids.

Ask for help! Less stress will help you. It is very overwhelming to have two children.

I was worrried that I had a post partum anxiety disorder, but it turned out to be a postpartum thyroiditis. I was shaky, anxious, sweating, exhausted, but couldn't sleep - all things I attributed to hormones. Went to my doctor at about 14 weeks postpartum and she tested my thyroid. I started noticing symptoms at about 6 weeks postpartum. Just something to consider.

I think you could a little and should call your OB.

Usually postpartum depression is considered to start at 2 weeks after birth- so technically you're in the "baby blues" window. I know I was very emotional after both of my kids were born- I started bawling at our doctor's office because my husband said he didn't want to go out to dinner:)
Have you been getting any sleep? Often that is the biggest contributor to depression. Also, if you are alone a lot. Do you have someone to help with the kids? Sometimes even a two hour nap can totally change your outlook.

So, anyway I don't think there's any reason to think you are going to suffer from postpartum depression at this point. But you are the best judge of things. I think if you aren't feeling better in a couple of days you should definitely call you OB/ midwife and get a referral to someone to help. I would caution you against just taking a med and not getting counseling. Also if you are nursing, there are many meds that are compatible so make them do the work of finding one. Congrats on the new little one.