Baby Blues or Postpartum?

How do you know if this is just baby blues or if it's postpartum depression? How long can baby blues last? How long can PPD last? How can I feel better again? All of these questions are running through your mind as you begin sobbing during a diaper change. What's going on with me?! Why I am so sad right now? 

I've been there! These questions, along with the scariest question for new parents, is this colic or purple crying? (but that's a different blog post) have swirled around in my head for months. So I decided to do some researching to help you determine what it is. And guess what, if it is PPD, it's not the end of the world! You're not the only one suffering, which I know you don't want to hear right now because you feel like you're all alone and nobody understands. The truth is, many women understand but for some strange reason we all keep it a secret and let our friends and fellow mothers suffer alone. Well, I'm going against the grain and letting it all hang out... all of it.... so that you can know you're not alone. Hang in there!

Baby Blues vs. PPD

Baby blues are very common and most women experience them (60-80%!). They usually set in pretty quickly after birth. Mine set in immediately, once we were two people instead of one, I had baby blues! I remember trying so hard to suck the tears back into my eye balls as we had visitors at the hospital. I didn't even want my husband to see so I would hold all my tears in until I went to the bathroom and then the tears would begin trickling down my face. I don't know why I was so embarrassed. It's totally normal! Maybe it was because I was surrounded by all of these people that I didn't even know right after going through the most exhausting and body shocking experience of my life. I had this beautiful baby that I've waited so long to meet but I felt like I didn't even know her. Then I had nurses checking on me each hour and nurses changing shifts every 12 hours, and pediatricians on call that I've never met coming in, and my OB and the OB on call, etc. The whole experience was strange and overwhelming to me. Not to mention that I hadn't eaten anything in 15 hours following delivery and had been awake from 6 AM on March 15th - 5 AM March 16th. Sheesh! Not a good start to the sleepless nights to follow! Here are some of the symptoms of Baby Blues:

• Moody
• Emotional
• Teary, or in my case, dramatic sobbing for no apparent reason or over things that wouldn't normally make you upset. 
• Feeling Dependent
• Stress
• Anxious
• Afraid or unsure of being a mom

These feelings can set in right after birth or a few days later and last up to 2-3 weeks. If these feelings persist or become worse after 2-3 weeks you may be experiencing PPD. 

Ways to treat baby blues: Because the blues aren't an illness and they eventually go away on their own, there is not really any treatment. However, doing anything to reduce stress and gain more sleep will definitely help you feel better which will help the blues to fade away quicker. 

When the symptoms listed above persist for more than 2-3 weeks following birth, it's considered Postpartum Depression. Moms experiencing baby blues understand that it will end, and therefore are better able to cope. However, when experiencing PPD moms feel like it will never end and that they will always feel this way. These symptoms may not occur right after birth, but come on a few months later or anytime during the first year. If that happens, it's considered PPD. Below are some more symptoms you may feel if you have PPD:

• Difficulty sleeping, even if the baby is finally sleeping for longer stretches you still can't get your body to turn off and sleep. 
• Higher Anxiety
• Hopelessness
• Anger
• Irritability
• Change in apetite (not wanting to eat, eating more, only wanting to eat sugary / comfort foods)
• Frequently crying
• Lack of Energy
• Not Wanting to be Social
• Lack of motivation to do anything (which doesn't help with the messy house!)

Treating PPD: Anything you can do to reduce stress and feel more relaxed can help you to get over PPD. Here are some non-prescription alternatives: 

• Get some sunshine! If it's not that time of year, a few minutes in the tanning bed each week can help to lift your spirit. 
• Exercise. Put the baby in a stroller and go for a walk or when someone else is able to watch the baby go to the gym or do a work out routine at home. 
• Write in a journal or blog.
• Talk about it! Talk to your husband, talk to a therapist, talk to other friends or family members that care about you, but most importantly find others in the same situation and talk to them about it! Your husband may be a good listener but he doesn't know what this feels like. Finding other moms going through the same thing will help with some of those feelings of hopelessness. 
• Surround yourself with people that make you feel better, not worse! This may mean that you disconnect from some friends. (My husband had to delete one of my friends from my phone because every time I talked to her I felt worse and worse about myself). 
• Eat Well. Stop the sugar cravings and give your body some nourishment.
• Supplements: some women have found that fish oil, B-complex vitamins and vitamin D help their mood, which can then help you fight PPD. 

If after these natural remedies you're still feeling down, don't be afraid to get a prescription! Don't be embarrassed about taking a little zoloft. You don't need to take this medicine forever, just until you're out of this slump. Some women don't want to take drugs because they've heard from other women that it made them numb (not sad, but not happy either... just meh all the time). This can happen on certain prescriptions, so if it makes you feel numb call your doctor and try a new one or change your dose! Don't just try one medication and quit if it's not working, giving up is not going to help you overcome PPD. Personally, I would rather take a little bit medicine and feel normal again than continue trying to fight this uphill battle of mood swings and emotional unbalance. Depression is very cyclical and you may feel fine one day or even for a week or month, but then something discouraging will happen again and down you'll go back in this slump. Of course, you should always be working to fight PPD with natural remedies, but if those aren't working don't be ashamed to take some medicine. 

 

If you've struggled with PPD, what are some things you've found to help overcome it?