Does anyone know how to prepare for the baby blues?

Question

I am going to have my fourth child and i am just not a person that believes in medication. I am the get up and get to being a mommy right after the baby is born but it never fails every time i have a child i feel depressed. No matter how much help i have. or prepared i am. Just wondering if someone does recommend medication is there any safe medication while nursing? Thanks Being depressed is just not me but every time i get very tired and cry alot

Answer 1

wow! first of all SO MUCH RESPECT TO YOU for being a mom of four. Your also being very responsible for asking this question ahead of time. Talk to God. Tell Him how you feel. I have a one and a half month old - my first child and I am going through this big time. I have yelled at God, cried, thrown fits with my fiance then felt so loving and understanding and in the mood to make love the next minute. There is usually a social worker you should be able to talk to for free especially if you have Medicaid. I think of it as an interview and am looking forward to getting a lot of things off my chest. Most of all this may sound crazy but choose to feel the depression. Exaggerate it and make it seem worse than it is. After a few weeks you'll get so tired of feeling sorry for yourself and you'll feel brand new. Don't avoid those feelings, embrace them and write them down because when you get over it you'll really be over it! Eat healthy (fruits, veggies, vitamins especially iron and b12, meat) take walks and time out for you, get a massage, prepare a weeks worth of meals ahead of time and freeze it or order take out, also remember that babies grow so quickly and when they're older you're going to miss having a lil' baby to hold.

Answer 2

Yea,

I understand what you are talking about. I went through the same thing when my son was born about 2 years ago. I didn't want to take any meds because 1st off I couldn't afford them and 2nd because I was nursing my son and I didn't want anything in the meds to go into his body and hurt him.

I coped with it because I have a really great friend that even if I was yelling, crying, or anything else she would listen and tell me I wasn't crazy or insain and that all this was normal and just to talking to her about it made me feel alot better. The best thing you can have if you have the baby blues is someone to lean on and tell you. You aren't crazy because those words will make the world of diffrence in your mood.

Also when I couldn't talk to her I would write down what was making me upset and It would make me feel better that I got it out of my head and on paper. Then I always look at it later on and laugh on how silly it was.

Also I took vitaim b-12 While this was going on and it made me feel, after I would take it, Alot better.

After you give birth. All the hormones in your body that had been there for 9 (actually 10 lol) months are just suddenly GONE! So it's basicly like your going through sudden withdrawl and your body and mind have a hard time copeing with the missing hormones it got use to over the months.

That is the reason alot of women suffer from ppd and some need meds from the dr and others don't there is no compelte right and wrong for everyone because everyone's body is diffrent.

Just try to relax when you feel yourself getting depressed and talk to someone that you know will understand you and not critize you. Also you might want to talk to your dr about taking b-12 while nursing mine said it was perfectly fine but yours might say something else I don't know. Anyway Best of luck to you and I completely understand what your going through.

Just keep in mind your not alone in going through this. I talked to alot of other moms in a big support ground on this website. I'll leave the link below. It's completely free and you get to talk to other women that are going through what you are now.

Hope everything gets better for you and even though I don't know you well *hugs* anyway :)

Answer 3

That's great that you are planning ahead to ease the transition as much as possible. Sleep deprivation, hormones and recovering from childbirth - it's a lot all at once. Taking care of yourself is the first step in taking care of your children.

See if any hospitals in your area have a department that specializes in prenatal and postpartum psychiatry. They would be best equipped to help develop a strategy with you. Massachusetts General Hospital has a webite listing different articles and books you might want to take a look at: http://www.womensmentalhealth.org/topics/breastfeeding.html

Also, look at your past pregnancies to determine how long your symptoms typically lasted. It may help to know that the end is in sight.

Good luck and congratulations on your newest addition : )

Answer 4

Hi...I wish you the best and hope the experience goes ok for you. I have been diagnosed with Massive Depressive Disorder so when I found out I was pregnant I was very concerned about post partum depression. After much research I went on Celexa, an antidepressant. As I had planned to breastfeed, I changed to Zoloft closer to the end of my pregnancy. This one is safer for use during nursing. With either of these drugs, the side-effects for baby are minimal (mine had no reaction to them). They may go through a short withdrawal period, but after my research, I decided that a baby who may be a bit cranky is a lot easier to handle than me going through that depression. I spoke to a lot of people about this and it was very hard. Make sure you have a lot of supports in place. Talk and let your feelings be!

Answer 5

The most important advise I can give you is talk to your doctor about it and don't be ashamed. It happens to lots of people, and there are medicines as well as diet and exercise regimens that actually help. If your doctor gives you the "give it a few weeks" speech, get another doctor. Postpartum depression is serious even in its mildest forms. Nobody deserves to be unhappy. Please speak with your physician about it.

And only take advice from those who've gone through it, trust me, others will not understand. They'll make rude comments to suggest that it's your fault or that you should just get over it. Do not listen to that. PPD is simply a chemical imbalance caused by pregnancy. It's not your fault.

Answer 6

sounds like post partem or a self fulfilling prophecy. you've already set yourself up for depression, so you are more susceptible to it...