Normal to feel like you’re dying after birth?

[Anonymous]

Generally I am very pro-breast feeding, but plenty of women report they had PPD until they got their period back. If you breast feed it will take longer to get your period back. Something to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you are at a tipping point if not already past it. Something physiological is occurring inside your body and you need a detailed exam and bloodwork to determine what is wrong. Your body is in a negative feedback loop and you need something to break it.

I agree with the ER and/or you need to call your OB and say I am feeling x y and z. It is not resolving. It is increasing. I am requesting evaluation immediately and he/she will most likely refer you to the ER. Be very clear that you are having physical symptoms. Because you are already on anxiety meds it will likely be viewed through psychiatric lens but I need you to be adamant about the doctors also looking for a physical reason and running a wide range of tests to err on the side of caution. It could very well be a mismatch on anxiety meds that can happen but you need to demand a full sweep.

Infection, low iron, thyroid issue- rule them out. Say you cannot continue like this - REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE BREASTFEEDING OR NOT. DMER is a possibility, but it sounds like you are experiencing it all day/continuously and I dont know if DMER can manifest as such.

If your mother and wife are resistant please let them know that you are asking for help and feel as if rest/sleep are not sufficient for regaining function. If they refuse to help, you need to take yourself. Dont let your OB say give it 1-2 more days.

Even if it is anxiety, if she is getting literally 1 hour a sleep at a time she could kick into post partum psychosis

Can and WILL. This happened to me after 3 months of surviving on 1-2 broken hours of sleep per night. Almost went Lindsay Clancy on myself and baby and tried to take my husband into surrendering baby at a fire station.

In these situations, why don’t you just let the baby cry a bit? I get tending to a one month old every 2 hours. But at a certain point you have to stop that. Babies cry, it’s what they do. A baby going 4-5 hours in a crib is preferable to a mother about to commit suicide.

This nonstop obsessive parenting is newish and terrible for women. It wasn’t possible for women decades or centuries ago to be up all hours of the night. Mothers being up all night for older babies seems to coincidentally be women who don’t have other children and are at home.

Hahaha what novel advice! I have never heard of this! If only I had heard of sleep training and tried it.

Oh wait. I did. Then you sleep training zealots shamed me for letting her cry too much and too long because it didn’t work. You have no idea all the things we tried, medical and otherwise. Some children simply don’t sleep. I’ll believe our neurologists over you, thanks.

[Anonymous]

Maybe not if your hemoglobin is okay, but I was nauseous and had no appetite, and it was a bleeding ulcer from NSAIDs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PS. also - despite PPs saying this is not normal, it's actually incredibly common for new moms to have feelings and symptoms like this. I remember feeling like I had never felt so terrible in my entire life as I felt about a week into being a new mom. I felt physically terrible from the birth, I was exhausted and stressed about breastfeeding and experiencing major anxiety. I think PPs are saying instead that it's important that you get help from your doctor and also a therapist/psychiatrist. Also more moms feel this way than you might think. It's a hard transformation into motherhood. You're just at the hardest part right now - hang in there.

It is absolutely not normal to be exhausted and not be able to shut your brain off for more than an hour to sleep.

It is absolutely unkind to repeatedly tell a woman with PPD that she is not normal. Yes she needs help and yes a lot of women experience this. PPD needs to be treated and a LOT of women experience this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PS. also - despite PPs saying this is not normal, it's actually incredibly common for new moms to have feelings and symptoms like this. I remember feeling like I had never felt so terrible in my entire life as I felt about a week into being a new mom. I felt physically terrible from the birth, I was exhausted and stressed about breastfeeding and experiencing major anxiety. I think PPs are saying instead that it's important that you get help from your doctor and also a therapist/psychiatrist. Also more moms feel this way than you might think. It's a hard transformation into motherhood. You're just at the hardest part right now - hang in there.

It is absolutely not normal to be exhausted and not be able to shut your brain off for more than an hour to sleep.

It is absolutely unkind to repeatedly tell a woman with PPD that she is not normal. Yes she needs help and yes a lot of women experience this. PPD needs to be treated and a LOT of women experience this.

Wrong. You know what was unkind? My lazy midwives telling me It'S bABy BlUeS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! because they were too lazy to do a mental health referral. I didn't realize how bad it was until 6 months post partum when I got my period and my brain back. No, it's not normal. Get over it.

A label will get her help. If the label offends you, too bad.

You know what else it is? It's dangerous for the baby because if she goes from PPD/A to PPR she is dangerous to be around her baby.

Would you please reflect on your internalized sexism that you think it is normal for women to suffer as they give birth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just saw that someone suggested retained placenta. That is worth looking into.

But i still think it’s sleep.

Your LC is so wrong. Typical for them, but wrong. It’s actually great to introduce a bottle right away so they’ll get used to it and can take it if there’sa need later on. Pump milk and take shifts, that is what I did to recover. One person does bedtime to midnight, another does 12-3, another does 3-7. You have all this venmo! Use it. I breastfed for 2.5 years. I combo fed from birth to 2 months, then exclusively breastfed from 2-6 months, then back to combo feeding plus solids. No trouble at all with any of those transitions. Nipple confusion is a myth used to scare women into exclusive breastfeeding. It isn’t real.

This is what I did too on doctor's advice when I was exhausted and not doing well. Pumped and DH fed baby #1 one bottle for one of the overnight feedings so I could get a longer stretch of sleep. Did not interfere with BF'ing.

for baby #2, did the same thing except used formula for that one bottle feeding instead of pumping. (I hate pumping).

[Anonymous]

I'd be worried about sepsis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be worried about sepsis.

Wouldn’t I be running a fever.

I think it’s PPA and possibly PPD. Anxiety causing a lot of physical symptoms add on extreme insomnia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be worried about sepsis.

Wouldn’t I be running a fever.

I think it’s PPA and possibly PPD. Anxiety causing a lot of physical symptoms add on extreme insomnia.

Just go get checked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be worried about sepsis.

Wouldn’t I be running a fever.

I think it’s PPA and possibly PPD. Anxiety causing a lot of physical symptoms add on extreme insomnia.

But these are a big deal, OP. I am the pp who experienced postpartum psychosis due to extreme, prolonged sleep deprivation. Being this anxious and unable to sleep is very, very dangerous for your baby because it will turn you into a a very bad mom. You must trust me on this. Doctors, plural, ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Op I’m so sorry you are feeling this way! I would go get checked out ASAP. Sending a virtual hug.

[Anonymous]

Any chance this is a bad reaction to the anxiety meds? Have you been on this particular drug before? SSRIs can cause increased anxiety and insomnia in some. Maybe it’s time for a psychiatrist to weigh in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be worried about sepsis.

Wouldn’t I be running a fever.

I think it’s PPA and possibly PPD. Anxiety causing a lot of physical symptoms add on extreme insomnia.

Just go get checked out.

I did on Friday. Everything normal. I’m getting my thyroid checked this week.

My doctor thinks it’s exhaustion and anxiety. My OBGYN & PCP are the same person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be worried about sepsis.

Wouldn’t I be running a fever.

I think it’s PPA and possibly PPD. Anxiety causing a lot of physical symptoms add on extreme insomnia.

But these are a big deal, OP. I am the pp who experienced postpartum psychosis due to extreme, prolonged sleep deprivation. Being this anxious and unable to sleep is very, very dangerous for your baby because it will turn you into a a very bad mom. You must trust me on this. Doctors, plural, ASAP.

Who else do I reach out too? I am on medication and seeing a therapist. What else can I do to be vigilant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any chance this is a bad reaction to the anxiety meds? Have you been on this particular drug before? SSRIs can cause increased anxiety and insomnia in some. Maybe it’s time for a psychiatrist to weigh in.

I’ve been on this medication before and did well.