PPD prior to birth?

[zonapellucida]

How much can I attribute to hormones?? I cry constantly and I have another 8 weeks or so to go. It scares me to think what after birth is going to be like.

[sharita]

Oh my goodness I am right there with you. However now that I am 39 weeks its gotten so much worse and I didnt think that was possible. Sure I have had an unbelievable amount of stress this entire pregnancy but still this is crazy. At about 38 weeks my emotions went from hanging by a thread to oh my god this woman needs to be commited! I feel completely out of control. What is crazy is, while im freaking out, yelling at dp, crying uncontrollably, etc, I know how crazy it seems and want to stop but cant. This is my 5th baby and I have never had this problem before and it scares the crap out of me because I know how emotional for a while I get immediately postpartum so I wonder wow, if its this bad already, whats it going to be like after birth? Will I skip baby blues and ppd altogether and go straight into pp psychosis? Im so afraid and am prepared to eat my entire placenta if nessesary, lol. (hear that helps if I could encapsulate it or smoothie it or something. Dont think i can manage the smoothie but could take it in capsules.

Just want you to know you arent alone and I think there are certain points of pregnancy that your hormones surge and fluctuate (like towards the end like I am) so I tell myself thats all it is. Still afraid though.

[sparklefairy]

I found research which indicates that depression peaks at about 32 weeks gestation. I imagine it gets missed because there seems more reason to be dragging in the last trimester than when you're "supposed" to be delighting in your newborn?

[zonapellucida]

Thanks ladies. I am 32 weeks now and I am bordering on certifiable. I have basically tried to let DH do as much as possible for fear of damaging the 7 chidlren who are living here. My 16 month Lachlann doesn't even call me anymore. It's "DAD!" rather than mum. It would make me cry (actually it does) but I know I am totally useless.

[Dandelionkid]

I felt really emotional my third pregnancy as the end drew near. Really tense and anxious. It didn't get better until about 6--8 weeks post-partum. You will feel normal again It's so hard!!

[LessTraveledBy]

I suppose it depends on what is causing it. I was really down throughout the pregnancy but felt better the moment dd was born, had 3 months of heaven, and then started to crash physically after she was one. However... turned out I had hypothyroidism, so that might be why it went like that for me.

[K-Mom3]

Yes, yes, yes you can attribute it to hormones. After I had ppd, my next pregnancy I was depressed from like 5 weeks on, to varying degrees. It actually didn't get worse after the baby was born but everyone is different.

You CAN treat it! Bring it up at your next prenatal appt. You can try a completely natural route first if you want--supplements, diet, exercise, light therapy, etc. Or if that is way too hard to carry out, just do as much of that as you can and start some antidepressants. I think Zoloft is the most common while pg? It is not without risks but if you are miserable and pretty dysfunctional.....it may be the best answer.

Anyway, mostly wanted you to know that you don't need to wait until post partum to get treatment.