I DIDN’T HAVE THE DEPRESSION PART BUT I HAD MORE OF A CRYING BOUT WITH MY SON BEFORE I HAD HIM I HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS AND FIBROIDS SO WHEN HE CAME HE WAS A UNBELIEVABLY WELCOME SHOCK I ALWAYS WANTED TO HAVE KIDS BUT AFTER HIM I WOULD LOOK AT HIM AND CRY AND TEAR UP OUT OF JOY LUCKILY HIS FIRST YEAR WAS UNBELIEVABLE NO SCREAMING NIGHTS FOR TEETHING AND JUST A HAPPY BABY AND ALL THE WOMEN WHO ARENT LUCKY THAT GO THROUGH PPD SHOULDN’T FEEL ASHAMED BUT I FEEL THAT THEY SHOULD GET HELP

I really identify what Katie is saying… you get tons of visitors… all lavishing over the baby… and when you’re already depressed, you can feel like everyone’s ignoring you and didn’t come to see you at all, that they only came because you had a baby.

I’ve had post pardum depression with both my boys… I didn’t have it with my daughter because I found out after going through all that with the boys that I am bipolar and I formula fed her so I could stay on my meds.

I had gone 1/2 the pg without meds… 2nd half tried a safe med… but the safe ones were like taking candy…

Sometimes you have to make tough choices and I made the best one for me and my family.

I didn’t suffer ppd. I still got a bit of the baby blues around days 4-11… but it was just bouts of sadness… not full-blown ppd. Most of it, ironically, was guilt that I couldn’t nurse her… I felt I was jipping her, when I’d nursed the first boy and tried (and failed miserably) at nursing my 2nd (due to dehydration and anemaia… he was not gaining and he was getting dehydrated, too, so we had to give up)… so when my milk came in on day 4 and I was just so engorged and everything and she would turn to the smell from her bottle, I felt guilty.

My husband reassured me and my psych and doctors reassured me and when the milk dried up and wasn’t a physical reminder… I was fine.

I’m glad Ms. Price is feeling well, but as the article said, PPD can hit any time in the first year. Mine hit when the twins were 6 months old. One week I was doing ok, the next week I was afraid to touch the babies in case of accidently hurting them, afraid to leave the house, socially isolated, etc.

I hope Ms. Price is successful and stays PPD free!

Like Candace, I also experienced postpartum anxiety but mine began when I was around 5 months pregnant with my youngest child. It began as fear of getting into a car accident than it spiraled into being afraid that we would be murdered in our sleep. Unfortunately it increased after he was born and I began having all sorts of anxious thoughts about everything it seemed like. When I saw my doctor about it he told me to go for walks and get exercise but I started getting anxiety about someone shooting me from their home..crazy isn’t it? Eventually my doctor realized there was a serious enough problem that he prescribed me with Effexor, which helped and I got in touch with a mood disorder group which gave me some ideas on how to change my thinking patterns. Although I still experience some anxiety and he is 19 months old I am more prepared for it now. I wish I knew about postpartum anxiety before I developed it because it would have saved a lot of grief and guilt.

I had PPD for about two months and did not feel jealous of the baby at all. I was actually relieved when somebody else was minding the baby, instead of me. I mostly felt helpless, embarrassed, anxious and cried a lot. I thought I was a bad mother, and I felt like running away a LOT. Thank God all of those feelings finally went away. I will definitely do something to nip it in the bud if I get PPD with my next baby. You just don’t always recognize what’s going on in time to help yourself.

That said, everybody is different and hormones are funny things. I can imagine that somebody else might feel jealous of their baby. Maybe Katie felt like she was so distraught and wanted people to give her more attention and make her feel better but instead they were caring for the baby?

With my first baby, I experienced moderate post partum anxiety, starting when she was about 7 weeks old. I let it go on, thinking it was just adjusting to being a new parent, for 6 weeks until my husband and I decided that the feelings I was having were not normal (ie, DREADING having to take care of my baby when I woke up, tightness in my chest, difficulty breathing, racing thoughts, etc.). I talked to my provider (she’s an ANGEL!) and I got started on some antidepressants. Worked great! I had my 2nd baby 13 weeks ago and I felt great until 6 weeks hit again! Those anxious, racing thoughts came again and I recognized them pretty quickly (took me about a week). I knew that I didn’t have to feel that way, so I again went to my provider, started on antidepressants, started seeing a counselor for congitive behavioral therapy, I did my best to eat right and exercise, and took time to take care of myself. I really feel great now. I am SO glad that I know I don’t have to feel like that. I feel like I was able to be proactive and nip it in the bud this time.

I had it with my first (daughter) but not my second (son). I agree that your feelings are completely irrational, but that’s just how you feel and you can’t help it. My depression centered around the fact that I was no longer the only one caring for my daughter and she was not ‘safe’ in my womb anymore and was so vulnerable. I would also cry uncontrollably because I was so happy! It only lasted a few weeks thank goodness. My cousin also had it and felt convinced that her Mother-in-law was going to steal the baby. She knew this was silly, but she couldn’t help but feel it.

thanks for speaking on that comment. Like I said, I have never had it and haven’t known anyone who did so I had no clue about what it involves specifically.

No, I didn’t suffer from it, but know many people who have including my SIL, best friends etc. What I find strange is the comment about feeling Junior was getting more attention than her. I have never heard anyone say that before…most people I knew felt in their depression they weren’t good enough etc.

Tink1217 my friend had PPD and she also said she was jealous that her daughter got attention from her the grandparents, hubby, etc. I also remember actresses brooke shields and lisa rinna who suffered from PPD talking about how they got jealous that the baby was getting more attention than them, so I think it’s one of the things that occur when you suffer from PPD.