3rd tri depression
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I'm not much help, except to say that I feel your pain! I was hoping to avoid any more pregnancy and PPdepression because I dealt with a lot in my first few months of pregnancy. Now I am suddenly experiencing crazy hormonal swings, ups and downs, no energy, tons of crying for no reason - all of which are normal for the 3rd trimester, but all of which mirror my depression issues when they come up. So so frustrating!
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What I am trying to do for myself: improve diet (I turn to sugar and junky carbs when I"m low, which is making me feel especially unbalanced and exhausted now that I"m so very pregnant - like, within an hour of eating cookies I feel terrible, yet I keep going back for more) - focusing on veggies and lots of good protein. Slow down - things are taking me twice as long and even then I only have energy to get about half as much done as I normally would, and then I beat myself up with "but so and so worked up until her due date, what's wrong with me?!" etc. Take naps and rests when I can. When I start feeling that panic of "I can't deal with this", I'm trying to breathe into my belly and just be okay in the moment I"m in instead of trying to figure out how I"ll have the energy and strength to make it through the next months, birth, and caring for an infant.
Mostly I am trying to ask for help when I need it, forgive myself for when I need breaks, and remember that I will not feel like this all of the time - that there will be good times too. It's hard but I"m trying to learn from it.
That said, make sure you also are having times when you don't feel as bad - if it turns into an all-the-time, won't-go-away depression, ask for help!
I hope you feel better, and, yes, here's hoping we can avoid PPD because we're dealing with all this stuff now!
What I am trying to do for myself: improve diet (I turn to sugar and junky carbs when I"m low, which is making me feel especially unbalanced and exhausted now that I"m so very pregnant - like, within an hour of eating cookies I feel terrible, yet I keep going back for more) - focusing on veggies and lots of good protein. Slow down - things are taking me twice as long and even then I only have energy to get about half as much done as I normally would, and then I beat myself up with "but so and so worked up until her due date, what's wrong with me?!" etc. Take naps and rests when I can. When I start feeling that panic of "I can't deal with this", I'm trying to breathe into my belly and just be okay in the moment I"m in instead of trying to figure out how I"ll have the energy and strength to make it through the next months, birth, and caring for an infant.
Mostly I am trying to ask for help when I need it, forgive myself for when I need breaks, and remember that I will not feel like this all of the time - that there will be good times too. It's hard but I"m trying to learn from it.
That said, make sure you also are having times when you don't feel as bad - if it turns into an all-the-time, won't-go-away depression, ask for help!
I hope you feel better, and, yes, here's hoping we can avoid PPD because we're dealing with all this stuff now!
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Either way, my suggestion is to try to get outside a little everyday. Take a walk if you can - or at least just walk outside and breath in some fresh air. If there is sun, let it shine on your face and in your eyes. It really is uplifting!
PPs dietary suggestions are great - and taking daily cod liver oil (or at least D like Carlson's capsules) may help, too.
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I have been dealing with seasonal and pregnancy related depression. We've had maybe a week of sun since the beginning of December.
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And February is the month my best friend drowned, so historically its harder for me (he died 15 yrs ago, but its even harder now because now our neighbor's house backs the lake he drown in).
In addition to diet recommendations made, I make sure I'm taking fish oil and exercising as much as I can. Even if its mall walking.
In addition to diet recommendations made, I make sure I'm taking fish oil and exercising as much as I can. Even if its mall walking.
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649 Posts
I feel the same and agree that it has a lot to do with the season. Mine definitely does-this is my first time in yrs in a cold climate and i've already decided that we need to move back to the desert before next winter. Also a lot of it is the pain and the frustration that goes along with 3rd tri!
I find that yoga helps me, even if it's just some simple poses on your own. However, some days i can't even bring myself to do that bc of the aches and exhaustion!
Just keep thinking, it won't be that long now-we really are in the home stretch!
I find that yoga helps me, even if it's just some simple poses on your own. However, some days i can't even bring myself to do that bc of the aches and exhaustion!
Just keep thinking, it won't be that long now-we really are in the home stretch!
I'm in a similar place, except that my depression is secondary to the anxiety and more frequent panic attacks I've been dealing with. I wasn't like this at all during my first pregnancy so it has taken me a while to fully admit to myself how low I'm actually feeling.
All of the suggestions about diet, exercise, relaxation, being easier on yourself are excellent. For me, sleep is a huge factor-if I don't get enough of it, I feel 10x worse.
I actually just made the (very difficult) decision to start taking a low dose of Celexa. I never thought I would be comfortable taking meds while pregnant, but my anxiety and panic symptoms were really getting worse and I was starting to see that it was affecting my entire family. I realized that I really need to be in a much better mental place just a few weeks from now so that I can be ready to birth this baby-and then be a great mom to 2 afterwards, and all of my efforts to get into a better place myself were not quite cutting it.
Similar to what a PP said-if you feel like the depression is really getting beyond what you can manage you should definitely get some help. I met with a doctor whose specialty is reproductive psychiatry so she was well-informed about treating women during pregnancy and post-partum. She said that it's estimated that 50% of PPD cases start during pregnancy.
Good luck and hugs to you! It's so hard for me at least not to feel some degree of shame and guilt for feeling this way, since it seems like pregnant women are "supposed" to just be elated and glowing all the time....ha!
All of the suggestions about diet, exercise, relaxation, being easier on yourself are excellent. For me, sleep is a huge factor-if I don't get enough of it, I feel 10x worse.
I actually just made the (very difficult) decision to start taking a low dose of Celexa. I never thought I would be comfortable taking meds while pregnant, but my anxiety and panic symptoms were really getting worse and I was starting to see that it was affecting my entire family. I realized that I really need to be in a much better mental place just a few weeks from now so that I can be ready to birth this baby-and then be a great mom to 2 afterwards, and all of my efforts to get into a better place myself were not quite cutting it.
Similar to what a PP said-if you feel like the depression is really getting beyond what you can manage you should definitely get some help. I met with a doctor whose specialty is reproductive psychiatry so she was well-informed about treating women during pregnancy and post-partum. She said that it's estimated that 50% of PPD cases start during pregnancy.
Good luck and hugs to you! It's so hard for me at least not to feel some degree of shame and guilt for feeling this way, since it seems like pregnant women are "supposed" to just be elated and glowing all the time....ha!
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Depression and other mental health issues are not related to pg or situational related for me. Mental health issues run wild through my family although I have wondered if how many of us were raised has something to do with it. The medications I have to be on to stay out of in patient care and keep me safe are part of the reason this is a high risk pg. I tried many things over the years including light therapy when I lived much further north and that helped some. There are some great lists of vitamins and herbs that will help in the PPD forum. For me getting plenty of sleep and taking a multi B vitamin helps. Even with medication those 2 things are still very important for me to keep up on.
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I think that being aware of it is is vital. When I was pregnant with my second i had horrible Pre-partum depression. It was crippling but I had no where to go with it. There was a ton out there on PPD but nothing on pre. My dh was unsupportive not because he's a bad guy but because he has some personal issues with being unwanted during his mother's pregnancy. He saw my depression as a manifestation of me not wanting the baby and couldn't see beyond that. i slept all the time, cried constantly, was really nasty to my ds. It was HORRIBLE and it carried over into after I gave birth.
With my third pregnancy, I was much more educated about PrePD and just being open about it helped me a lot. I journaled a lot about what I was feeling, talked on boards, and with friends, saw a therapist, etc. I also exercised and tried to eat well. It all helped. I had vowed though, as I did this time, that if it got as bad as it did with my second, that I would risk taking meds to help.
With my third pregnancy, I was much more educated about PrePD and just being open about it helped me a lot. I journaled a lot about what I was feeling, talked on boards, and with friends, saw a therapist, etc. I also exercised and tried to eat well. It all helped. I had vowed though, as I did this time, that if it got as bad as it did with my second, that I would risk taking meds to help.
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DDCrashing to offer some hugs and commiseration (and get some tips for myself). Naturally my situation is a tad different like everyone else's, but I posted pretty much the same thing in the Pregnancy after Loss forum a few weeks ago. Seems like once I hit 30 weeks, depression kicked in terribly for me and is still going pretty strong. I echo all that has been said on this thread, so at least we all know we are not crazy, lol it is a different type of normal and we will all survive!
Hugs to OP and all others struggling with pregnancy and depression!
Hugs to OP and all others struggling with pregnancy and depression!
This is my first winter pregnancy. The other two were early fall babies so I was hot in the summer but I got out and got exercise and fresh air, very unlike now with the BLIZZARD on the east coast and getting little to no exercise or fresh air. I am also under a lot of stress from selling/buying a house etc.
Sigh, we move to the new place in 15 days and although that will be nice (a new place with more space!) I loathe the confusion and comotion of moving and asking help from people for whom I know I will not want to be around. I am having a lot of social anxiety, which is hard when you are in a postion to NEED people so much....moving and late pregnancy!
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Sigh, we move to the new place in 15 days and although that will be nice (a new place with more space!) I loathe the confusion and comotion of moving and asking help from people for whom I know I will not want to be around. I am having a lot of social anxiety, which is hard when you are in a postion to NEED people so much....moving and late pregnancy!
Ugh, moving is the WORST! Every time we do it I think "next time we are doing it totally differently" and every time it is the same chaos and stress. I hope you have lots of help, and that you get a nice boost of nesting hormones
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right around the time you need to start making your new nest!
I think winter is a really rough time to be anything, much less pregnant. I get that we are lucky to be big now in one sense, when it's not humid and hot and so on - but it's so easy to feel isolated and sluggish, harder to get out and get any kind of sunlight.
I would definitely try the vitamin D3 supplements if you can, I think they've helped me.
Although a trip to Hawaii would be nicer
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I think winter is a really rough time to be anything, much less pregnant. I get that we are lucky to be big now in one sense, when it's not humid and hot and so on - but it's so easy to feel isolated and sluggish, harder to get out and get any kind of sunlight.
I would definitely try the vitamin D3 supplements if you can, I think they've helped me.
Although a trip to Hawaii would be nicer
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I think winter makes it harder. For me it's the constant gray days and being stuck indoors that make my usual depression worse. I'm supposed to be taking meds but I always forget so I don't know how much they can really help when I miss them every other day.
For me though it hasn't been so much a sad feeling as really bad anxiety (like keeping me up all night worrying.) Plus my wardrobe is in really bad shape so I feel ugly all the time, which doesn't help. I keep telling myself that all my worries are manageable...we're poor, yes, but we have a home and food, ds is not the first child in the history of the world to get a younger sibling, etc etc. I'm a perfectionsit so it is really really hard for me to accept that I'm bringing a baby into the world and I can't give her everything (from a material standpoint, she is very much loved). That turns into pressure on myself to make more money, which leads to guilt about leaving ds so much to go to work since these are our last weeks "together" and it just goes on and on.
For me though it hasn't been so much a sad feeling as really bad anxiety (like keeping me up all night worrying.) Plus my wardrobe is in really bad shape so I feel ugly all the time, which doesn't help. I keep telling myself that all my worries are manageable...we're poor, yes, but we have a home and food, ds is not the first child in the history of the world to get a younger sibling, etc etc. I'm a perfectionsit so it is really really hard for me to accept that I'm bringing a baby into the world and I can't give her everything (from a material standpoint, she is very much loved). That turns into pressure on myself to make more money, which leads to guilt about leaving ds so much to go to work since these are our last weeks "together" and it just goes on and on.
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