I looked at my husband and said, "Call him right now, and tell him to get his wife to the doctor. Now."
The look on his face broke my heart. He said, "I saw the signs. I already told him."
This woman, if you hadn't figured it out, is suffering from severe postpartum depression.
The reason that I know?
I had the same thing after my boys were born.
It wasn't as bad after Nicholas was born. I was hospitalized but they didn't recognize it as such at the time--he was four months old.
By the time I had Darrin, a mere eleven months later, the doctor knew I was sick.
Everyone expects the baby-blues. It is a normal progression of the hormones getting back on track.
The reason that I am blogging this is that I want women (and their significant others) to understand that this is NOT normal behavior, but it okay and necessary to seek treatment. People sometimes have a tendency to want to dismiss any and all the symptoms. I am not sure why really. But ladies, there is a YEAR of my son's life that I don't remember. My sister-in-law won't talk to me anymore. (Story for another day.) Had my husband had this sort of information, we may could have cut this thing off at the pass.
My hope is that as women, if we band together, we can keep this happening from another person.
I found this great site:
What is the difference between “baby blues,” postpartum depression, and postpartum psychosis?
Educate. Recognize. Accept.
What I wouldn't give for that first year....
7 comments:
So true. The significance of post-partum depression is ignored or unrecognized all too often.
A few years ago, one of the doctors I work with came home to find that his wife had taken the life of their 3 month old son as well as her own. The signs were there. No one recognized them.
This is so true and in the past I didn't really believe in it all that much, I couldn't figure out how a mom could have those feelings after bringing home her sweet baby. But, I know so many women and have heard so many stories that I now KNOW it is very real and very scary. It is so important that people know the signs and symptoms of this scary disease.
Very good advice! I had a hard time with post pardum depression after my daughter. It took me a while to get my family to understand what I was going through because it was so taboo to talk about things like that. No one else in my family wanted to admit that they had felt the same way after having a baby. It was tough.
Thank goodness for Zoloft or I don't know what I would have done after the birth of my youngest. Depression is putting it mildly- it was difficult to even get out of bed on some days. It is so important to educate women about this so they don't feel alone. Kudos to your husband for recognizing the signs!
Excellent, excellent advice Heather.
I don't think anybody, including the women suffering from post-partum depression actually take it seriously.
I'm so sorry you missed that year...I really am.
XOXO
it has to be very hard to feel like you really missed that year.
good post
I did fine with the first two but that was because I could jump right back into work. With Munch I went over the edge. I went deep and took forever to recognize what was going on. Definitely tune in to yourself! And be ready to get help. You don't have to be a super hero!
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