Yeah, some days I fear I am headed down that road again. My ppd was pretty bad with Sofia, and I have been praying and hoping that it would be better this time. It has, a little. Ellen is a much easier baby than Sofia was, and that definitely helps. But I am still dealing with grief/loss issues over Amalie, wondering what she would have looked like, and what our lives would be like right now had she lived. All normal, I know, but still hard. And made harder by the fact that Sofia keeps asking when Amalie will "get out of heaven" and come join our family. Sigh.
I looked up some advice on dealing with/preventing ppd without meds. One of the biggest factors seemed to be to get enough rest. They advocated shelving housework or hiring help, as well as hiring help with childcare. Uh, yeah. Obviously written by someone who either does not have children, does not mind living in a pigsty (for me, it only adds to my depression) or who has unlimited funds or doesn't mind going way into debt for this stuff. Good grief.
Mine is better when dh is home too, which I have heard is pretty usual for ppd. As when Sofia was a baby, I find myself almost sitting on my hands some days to keep myself from calling and asking him to come home early. He has been trying to be a little extra helpful and kind to me since one morning when we got into a horrible fight and I was pretty explicit with him about what I am going through. I try not to talk to him too much about it, though as I have in the past been accused of whining or wallowing. He seems to handle it much better if he sees me struggling but doesn't hear me talk about it. Weird. Maybe its a guy thing...
(((Hugs))) to all of us. I too wish we all lived closer! How awesome would it be to be able to meet and let our older dcs run wild while we sat and relaxed and commiserated!
I looked up some advice on dealing with/preventing ppd without meds. One of the biggest factors seemed to be to get enough rest. They advocated shelving housework or hiring help, as well as hiring help with childcare. Uh, yeah. Obviously written by someone who either does not have children, does not mind living in a pigsty (for me, it only adds to my depression) or who has unlimited funds or doesn't mind going way into debt for this stuff. Good grief.
Mine is better when dh is home too, which I have heard is pretty usual for ppd. As when Sofia was a baby, I find myself almost sitting on my hands some days to keep myself from calling and asking him to come home early. He has been trying to be a little extra helpful and kind to me since one morning when we got into a horrible fight and I was pretty explicit with him about what I am going through. I try not to talk to him too much about it, though as I have in the past been accused of whining or wallowing. He seems to handle it much better if he sees me struggling but doesn't hear me talk about it. Weird. Maybe its a guy thing...
(((Hugs))) to all of us. I too wish we all lived closer! How awesome would it be to be able to meet and let our older dcs run wild while we sat and relaxed and commiserated!
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