This topic is something I knew nothing about before my first child was born, and I wished desperately I had the information that is available today. To begin with, forget the controversy, post
partum depression is real and deserves very thorough attention. It is my deepest belief that that its causes are an accumulation of many issues. Sleep deprivation, hormone surges, the transition of adding a child to your family, nutrition and exercise are all factors that can lead to the baby blues. My hormone surges were so dramatic that every time my milk came in, about 20 seconds beforehand, I would be overcome with panic. Then as soon as my baby latched on and the milk started to flow, the panic passed. Now that was pretty wild, and difficult to explain to my provider. So the early days of my first
born's infancy were about survival. Mine as well as his. I was sleeping horribly, worrying constantly about everything, trying to figure it all out-like if I let him sleep in his car seat will that be a bad habit to form..., and I was crying a lot. I wanted to go back to the way things were before. I found comfort in chocolate chip cookies and my mom's cooking. Weight and fitness were not in my realm of thought. It was close to 6 months before we really started enjoying parenthood, Jacob started to mellow out as well and actually began showing signs of loving us back. When he was able to laugh and move around he became a much happier baby, which helped us all. There was still little fitness in my life. I recall when he was between 1 and 2 years old, I started to do
Tae Bo to try and get the last 15 lbs. off. I came close but never reached my
pre-pregnancy weight before I became pregnant with Evan. I was concerned about the possibility of post-
partum depression again, and my midwife and I watched for signs throughout my pregnancy. I didn't experience it the second time around and again I believe there were several factors that came into play. One, I was induced because he was 2 weeks late, so I went to the hospital one morning and he was born in the afternoon, and I had a good night of sleep the night before and the night after. When I look at what was going on in our lives, there was very little stress. My husband was finishing his masters program and literally finished classes the week Evan was born, so he was around all of the time. I didn't worry about him going off to work and leaving us for 8 hours. He had a job lined up beginning in August, Evan was born in April, so we had 4 months to enjoy our family and get things down before he had to start working. Evan was also a very easy baby who nursed efficiently. I still had the waves of panic before my milk let down, but I knew what they were and that they would pass. I think all of those factors helped me to not experience the baby blues this time around, and having been through it once certainly helped me to tune into those issues. Then came baby number 3, which was more
reminiscent of number one. I had two toddlers, Brent was working long hours, I was still carrying extra weight from the two previous pregnancies, and the only fitness in my life was going for walks and watching sports on
tv. My midwife put me on anti-depressants pretty early in my pregnancy as I kept saying, how am I going to manage? I am a strong believer in anti-depressants, they really helped take the edge off and allowed me to enjoy my kids and appreciate my pregnancy knowing it would be my last. My labor with Charlie started in the middle of the night, so I again started this journey off lacking in sleep. He was also a bit of a high
maintenance baby; kind of fussy, spitting up a lot. Things were a little tough you could say, 3 kids in 4 years. By October, he was born august 26
th, I was feeling the need to get some breaks and get out of the house. Getting healthy became a priority as I started to have the belief system that if I felt good about myself, the better mom I would be. I began swimming first, it was very soothing to get into the pool. I really began to feel good, and saw the correlation between exercising more=having more energy. Gradually I added biking and running and did my first sprint triathlon when he was almost one.
We know that exercise releases endorphins, those chemicals that make us feel good, and it should be considered when prescribing treatment for post partum depression. Extra sleep, healthy foods, exercise and possibly anti-depressants, alone or in conjunction with each other can help you enjoy your baby's first year much more. Most practitioners recommend waiting until your 6 week post-partum check before beginning or picking back up your exercise routine. If you had a c-section, it is often longer than that. You want to be sure that everything is healing appropriately before you add any strain that could cause injury or infection. Remember that post partum depression is very real, you are not alone if you are experiencing any of the symptoms I mentioned earlier. For some women it can be very severe and you should never be ashamed to mention it to anyone. Find girlfriends to talk to who have had similar experiences, let your practitioner know how you're feeling, and get out there and go for a walk. Sitting on the couch eating Bon Bons won't make it go away, I tried that route only with chocolate chip cookies. Remember who you are, what you're about, and what you loved before you had kids, and find a way to reconnect with yourself!
Get Fit=Get Happy
