SO MANY.
I have greatly desired to write about the experiences I have been having since having this new addition to our home. SO MANY things have been happening over here. And I have been having so many interesting thoughts and feelings that I want to share.
BUT....
Some things have been stopping me.
Mostly peer pressure-y things.
And that is silly.
SO.
TO get things MAYBE started again here are some really quick, brief thoughts I was thinking about my post partum experience today. Maybe if I write them down really fast I will get past the nervous energy I have been feeling about writing.
Here goes.
Heidi Rosalind is over two months now..(like over by four days;), and I have been blessed with a really awesome emotional recovery this time round! With Jane I honestly can not remember if I had bad PPD. What I DO remember is that when Denny came I was worried about it enough to secretly encapsulate my placenta and eat it in little "magic pills" and IT WAS AWESOME!!! SO much energy and well being and balanced hormones! WIth Alice the "magic pills" did not work, in fact they made me totally crazy and super unbalanced feeling. We have come to the recent conclusion that this might have been because I am estrogen dominant and with a super estrogeny placenta from having a baby girl might have been hormone overload instead of hormone balancing(ps. if you want to know more about the awesomeness of placenta encapsulation look here---->MAGIC PILLS ). I did find though that taking wheat germ totally balanced things out, and that was wonderful.
For this newest baby I prayed and studied and felt like the best thing I could do to prevent PPD this time round was to eat greens to the max and keep up on my herbs.
And it worked out pretty well!!
On further reflection I found several other things that made this post partum experience emotionally awesome. Here is a brief list:
-100 hours of therapy. Seriously.:) I was thinking about how calm I am this time around and I realized that I have had about 100 hours in the chair at a shrink's office over my lifetime, and I really think the things I learned in those sessions helped me out. This last round I had, after my Dad passed, was especially significant. I keep thinking about how my therapist would say, "Clair are you gonna die? Then I think it will be ok." Or "Clair are you gonna die? Then it really isn't that important." Kind of intense actually when you connect that to the fact I was in therapy because my Dad had just DIED. Anyways, very good advice that has absolutely changed my perspective on parenting and life in general.
-BREATHING. Much intentional breathing has also super helped me stay calm and in perspective. Good adrenal herbs have also super aided the anxiety and hormonal balance. Your adrenals and thyroid(both stress related systems in the body) secrete hormones too you know, it's not just the female reproductive parts you gotta worry about with hormone balance!
-A phenomenal support system. Friends, family, kids, and hubby. THANK YOU. Support from far and near. So important. Keeping BJ healthy also was key. I am so grateful that he made sure that he was in good shape so that he could be a good helper and support to me and the kids.:)
-Eating my greens. I already said this, but dude, SERIOUSLY. Eating lots of nutrient rich food was KEY. As well as keeping up on my herbs I take, and drinking RED RASPBERRY TEA. I drank two qts a day the first week and about a qt a day after that. I am still taking it, about a qt a day, combined with skullcap(a nervine) and sometimes catnip(also good for nerves and relaxation<---you can give it to your kids at bedtime ps...:).
-PRAYER and POSITIVITY. SO essential for me. (My baby is starting to beckon me for supper...so this is going to start getting brief....)
A few really important things to mention that DID NOT HELP:
-Entering the world too soon. Maybe it is because I am SUPER INSECURE, but letting myself back onto facebook, or having people over too soon was not so good for me this time. There is something about letting the world back in that just makes you a bit crazy and SUPER DOUBTFUL of every good decision you have ever made as a mother.
-Reading anything negative, especially about mothering too soon(OR EVER GOOD GRIEF). People can be really insensitive to others, not meaning to even sometimes, and it just isn't good for the well being of a new mommy(even the new mommy of baby #4) to be exposed to that kind of yuck. A mother should never have to feel that they are stupid, or selfish, or inadequate as a mother. NO one has that kind of right to judge you but yourself and God. For REAL. We need to be kinder to ourselves and each other and apply "benefit of the doubt" to ourselves and others. Basically at all times. Oi. I had several experiences of this negative nature way too soon after the baby was born and the days those experiences happened were THE ONLY days I felt anything like PPD. The adversary is very real, and it didn't take much for him to use those opportunities to make me feel like the absolute worst mother ever. It was horrible! And the truth is that I am a pretty good mother. We need to surround ourselves with truth. It is the good idea.:)
SO. I feel very blessed. PPD is ugly and very damaging to the mother and the whole family. If you have PPD please get some help. People love you. SO MANY PEOPLE LOVE YOU, and want to help you. Heavenly Father does not want us to be unhappy. Not like PPD makes you unhappy. A bad day is one thing, even maybe a bad WEEK, but longer then that is no bueno friend. And life does not have to be like that.
OK, there you go. First scary post done with. And it wasn't THAT SCARY...(to write that is).:)
THE END.
Thanks for reading my Mumma's blog. She is a bit crazy and weird but she is a good egg when all is said and done.:)
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