Baby Blues

In the hospital I was warned that about 80% of women experience some form of "baby blues" after the birth of a child. I laughed and "yeah right! not me".  I was so in love with our little girl that I couldn't see how I would ever feel down.

Coming home was an exciting time and my mom was staying with us to help out with the transition for the first week. I thought it would be easy and I wouldn't feel lonely like so many moms warned me I would feel.

Right as rain, about 2 days after our return home, I sank into a dark place. I felt like I was alone even though I was surrounded by friends and family. I just couldn't get out of my head.  Even though I knew I was ready to be a momma I just couldn't shake the feelings of:

• Am I really ready for this?
• Did I do the right thing?
• When will I ever get a good nights sleep again?
• Can I really do this?
• Our life will never be the same
• We won't ever be able to go out to dinner, to the movies, ....anywhere!
• Am I going to be a good mom?
• Oh the list goes on and on of the thoughts that went through my head.

The good news....It goes away! Those feelings only lasted for about an hour and then I was back to my old self.

I started to look for answers as to why I felt the way I did. I discovered that it is simply hormonal and that there are tons of moms that had the same feelings as I did.

Over the next week I noticed that I experienced these feelings between 4pm and 6pm (when the sun went down). I was able to predict but not prevent these feelings. As per the advice of my knowledgeable Momma I started to plan on doing something for myself, by myself at those times. This REALLY seemed to help A LOT! Here are some things that worked for me:

• Reading a book (baby related)
• Taking a shower 
• Going to visit my horse
• Talking about my feelings to my husband or my mom
• Writing in my blog (thanks guys!)

Writing my feelings down was the best solution for me. It is very cathartic in that I am able to get it out and put words to my low points.

In total, the blues only lasted about 2 weeks. The worst was when my mom left. I didn't have anyone to bounce my feeling off of. Fortunately, I started feeling better in just a few days.

So for all of you mommas-to-be, don't be surprised to experience these so-called "baby blues". They are totally normal and you should NOT feel guilty for feeling any regret. You will feel better in no time at all :)