Category: Postpartum

Postpartum

What You Need To Know About Postpartum Depression

Posted on by wellborn.madeline

Postpartum depression is more common than you think. There is a difference between postpartum depression and the baby blues. The Baby Blues are very common, the baby blues are- being just very sad and emotional after you have a baby. There will be moments where you will start crying when you normally wouldn’t cry. The baby blues are short term mental condition that happens right after birth. They shouldn’t last longer than a couple of weeks to a month or two.

Postpartum depression is – depression that occurs after giving birth. It is a mix of emotional, behavioral, and physical changes. The symptoms can last from a couple of months to a year after you have a baby.

Ill list the signs and symptoms below but just keep in mind that everyone experiences Postpartum depression in different ways. So you may have some of these or you may have all but together lets figure it out.

Signs and Symptoms of Postpartum Depression

  • 1. You feel overwhelmed. Not like a, “This is hard and I am tired.” It’s more like, “I can’t do this at all. I don’t think I will ever be able to do this.” 2. You may feel like you can’t be a mother and may question why you became a mom at all.
  • 3. You don’t feel like you have bonded with your baby. And you may not want to bond with your baby.
  • 4. You feel guilty because you feel like you are not doing a good enough job as a mother. You may think that your baby would be better off without you.
  • 5. You feel irritable and angry
  • 6. You have no patience
  • 7. You feel nothing. Empty and numb on the inside. You are just going through life without feeling.
  • 8. You may feel sadness like you have never felt before. You can’t stop crying even when you don’t know why you’re crying.
  • 9. You can’t seem to eat or eating is the only thing that fills the void.
  • 10. You can’t focus or concentrate. Your brain feels constantly scattered. Cant remember what you were doing or what you were going to say.
  • 11. You can’t sleep. Not even when the baby sleeps. If you do sleep its restless sleep.
  • 12. You feel disconnected. You feel this weird barrier between you and everyone else and there is no expiation for it.
  • 13. You may think that something is wrong but you don’t know what it is. You feel like you’re going crazy.
  • 14. You may think that you are doing everything right. Or everything you would do as a normal person. Like, eating healthy, exercising, going out with friends, being spiritually minded but you just can’t get over the deep feeling that you have.
  • 15. You may feel like running away, taking pills, or crashing a car.
  • 16. You are afraid that if you tell someone else that they will judge you.

Something you need to know about Postpartum Depression-

If you are feeling any of these things above it isn’t normal yes 1 in 7 women suffer with PPD but its not something you can wait out. There are so many resources that will help you.

Therapy and group support are the best things that you can do for yourself.

My Story with Postpartum Depression

Postpartum Depression after my first baby –

Postpartum depression runs close to home. I struggled with it after I had both of my kids. After I had my first baby I knew that I had it but I was in denial. I thought that a happy person like me would never struggle with something like depression. Everyday I felt like there was a dark cloud that loomed over me. It made it hard to get out of bed and to leave the house.

I was slow to do anything which wasn’t normal for me. I was unable to focus on the small conversations that my husband and I would have, I was uninterested in anyones life and could care less about how anyone felt. The days turned into weeks which then turned into months. I felt alone and disconnected. I forced myself to get out of the house and to connect with other moms. This helped me immensely. I felt connection and I felt like we all count relate to the hardships of early motherhood. I never sought help but looking back I severely needed it.

Postpartum Depression after my second baby –

We moved to Arizona right before we had our second child. My husband was in grad school and we were not close to any family or friends. I was alone. I was prepared this time about for what was to come. Or so I thought. My postpartum hormones got the best of me. I was darker than I had ever been. My toddler was a mess and always screaming and crying. My newborn had a tongue tie and a lip tie. All 3 of us cried everyday for 4 months. There was no light in my life. I didn’t have anyone to watch my kids so I could go see a doctor to get on medication and I couldn’t leave the house to see a therapist. So I just pushed through everyday feeling like an empty shell just going through the motions.

Postpartum depression is a thief!

I was unable to enjoy my time with my babies. I couldn’t love my life and I felt unable to love my husband. On the inside I felt bitter and empty. I had no one close to help and I just stayed inside.

My biggest mistake was not taking advantage of ONLINE THERAPY. I Have so much regret about not doing that. Even if my kids were watching TV in the background I know it would have been something that I needed. I found a program that is online that I think would help a bunch of women please click here to check it out. It is called onlinetherapy.com.

Let me help you with postpartum depression

If you feel like you are struggling with anything that I listed above PLEASE reach out HERE.

I want to help you find a therapist in your area or a support group. There are MANY free support groups in every state. Please reach out!

If you feel like you cant go to therapy like I felt but click this link to check out online therapy HERE.

Don’t wait to get help! Get help NOW! I promise it will be worth it.

9 Amazing Tips To Help Postpartum

Posted on by wellborn.madeline

I’m a mommy of two so I have been around the block a couple of times now. I have also been a postpartum doula for many mamas. Let me tell you something that I have learned, the after birth is nothing like an after party. Yes it is so wonderful to be able to hold your little baby in your arms but, little do they tell you about all the things your body will go through AFTER you have the baby. Let me help you be prepared for your postpartum journey with a couple of tips!

Something You May Not Know:

Before we get into the tips let me tell you something you may not know about postpartum. During pregnancy your uterus grows from the size of a lemon (its natural size) to the size of a watermelon in 40 weeks! Once you deliver the baby your uterus shrinks from a watermelon to a lemon is just 6 weeks! Your body goes through contractions to push a baby out but it ALSO goes through contractions to shrink back down to size.

This is where breastfeeding comes in handy. Breastfeeding stimulates your uterus to contract back down to size. If you’re not breastfeeding don’t worry it still will go back down to its original size it just may take a little but longer. This is why you are told to REST after you have a baby. Your body is healing back to its original size in a very small amount of time.

9 Tips to Help you Survive Postpartum:

  1. Cold/warm packs: I think hot and cold off and on helps any injury. But man after birth the downstairs can hurt so dang much! Its nice to have small soft ice packs that you can place on your vagina after birth, then to switch it off and on with a warm rice pack or heating pad.

2. Pads: Apply aloe to the pad, add some witch hazel essential oil, then place in the freezer! Those are awesome for immediate postpartum. What I like to do is to place witch hazel oil into a spray bottle with some melted coconut oil and spray into onto the aloe that is placed in the pad. Makes it pretty easy!

3. Diapers: Some women love the mesh panties they give to you in the hospital. Personally I don’t like them. I think they move around too much a sneak in places I don’t like. (Just a personal opinion.) What I do love is using a good ole diaper! I’ll take a maxi pad place it in the diaper first thing in the morning. Then towards the middle of the day I’ll remove the maxi pad then just wear the diaper by itself the rest of the day. Make is easy and convent! I have a specific brand that I absolutely LOVE! They are a super cheap price and feel like normal underwear (Score!) The link for it is right HERE. Make sure you purchase the right size. If its too big it can cause chafing.

4. Rest: Like I said above. REST REST REST. Your body NEEDS the time to heal. Even if by day 3 you feel like you’re good and don’t need to rest. You do. Give your body the time it needs to heal. If you decide that after 2 weeks you want to go outside walk around or exercise you many notice your pad/underwear have more blood than normal. This usually means that you have pushed it a little too far and need to go rest some more.

5. Keeping it clean: Your vagina postpartum is very tender. Especially if you tore. The best way to help it heal is if you keep it nice and clean. The hospital or your home birth midwife will make sure to leave you with a peri spray bottle. They are awesome to have. If you want an upgrade from that version Frida Baby sells this one. I highly recommend it. It helps to got get your hands all messy and it provides a really awesome angle. Its not very expensive and is a total game changer.

6. Medicine One of the best things about not being pregnant? You can finally take Advil again! Use the dosage recommendations. Or course Tylenol is still a good option.

7. Lidocaine spray: The hospital may send you home with a lidocaine spray that will help a lot but if they don’t or if you run out there is a spray that you can buy here that helps a lot. I really recommend this product to help with pain management. I used it so much after I had my babies. You can purchase it here.

8. Witch Hazel: I talked about this in the pad section. Another way you can use witch hazel is through and brand named “tucks” pads. They help heal the vagina and also help with hemorrhoids. This is something that isn’t talked about much either. I would love to shed some light on this too. When you are in the pushing stage of labor sometimes the pushing can cause a woman to have hemorrhoids. A hemorrhoid is a swollen vein or group of veins that occur in the anus when there is extreme pressure. They don’t usually show up immediately. It can be a couple of days or weeks postpartum that they become painful and noticeable. Things to help with this are stool softeners and tucks pads. I strongly recommend getting some of these. Witch Hazel does wonders.

9. Be willing to ask for help: Personally I am so bad at asking for help! One thing that helps me is forced help haha! And by that I mean, scheduling people to come help you when the baby arrives. Planning moms, mother in laws, sisters, friends, or a postpartum doula. Yes postpartum doulas are a thing and they are amazing. Planning out people to come can also make people feel overwhelmed and pressured into doing more than they should.

Side Note:

There is a combo pack with the lidocaine cream and the tucks pad that you can buy here. The bundle pack makes it cheaper to buy together!

I truly hope that you consider all of these pain management tips. I truly believe they will help you after you give birth! Hang in their mama! This stage can be hard but you have got this! If you are at the beginning of pregnancy and are struggling with morning sickness visit this blog post. 10 tips to help with morning sickness.