Category: post-partum

depression · inspire · inspired · life · love · mom · post-partum · quote · quotes · selfhelp

Anxiety

darklightness1 Comment

Waking up in the middle of the night,
Feeling an all too familiar feeling
I ’m gasping for air
But i’m not taking any in.
I try to steady myself.
Just focus on my breath.

Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.

It’s not working,
I’m suffocating.
Why does this keep happening?
Why do I feel so vulnerable and exposed?
I feel as though the world is judging me
And I’m consumed with insecurities.
I think I am a good person,
My intentions are pure.
But I suffer from a case of word vomit
Where I can’t help but be honest.
My truth is my truth,
Perhaps that is my downfall.
I speak from the heart,
I vocalize my thoughts,
I seek understanding and guidance
With a little dose of support.
Why do I feel so disappointed in myself?
Why do I feel so frustrated?
Why do I feel as though I’m letting people down?
I feel as though I’m living in a glass box at the edge of a cliff.

One wrong step,
I fall and everything shatters.
My failures are front and center for everyone to see.
If only I could catch my breath then everything would be okay.

Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.

It’s not working.
I’m suffocating.
I’m in a state of panic.
I want this feeling to go away.
I want to go back to feeling like myself again.
Who have I become as a person?
I don’t recognize this person.
I used to be so confident and reassured.
But this person,
She’s different.
This person dissects her every action.
Criticizes her every thought.
She creates insecurities where there should be none.
I try to steady myself.
Just focus on my breath.

Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.

It’s starting to work.
I can see that these insecurities aren’t real,
Just made up scenarios in my mind.
My mind is playing tricks on me,
And I can’t let it win.
I think I am a good person,
My intentions are pure.
But I suffer from a case of word vomit
Where I can’t help but be honest.
My truth is my truth,
And there is nothing wrong with that.
I want to learn and grow as a person,
But I can only do that if I’m myself.
I can’t do that by masking myself form the world,
I can’t do that being someone else.
I need to be confident in myself,
And not allow my mind to control me.
The mind is a dangerous thing,
When it acts like your enemy.

Anxiety.

babies · baby · canada · depression · family · inspire · inspired · life · love · mom · parent · post-partum · quote

Why Can’t I Breathe?

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For the first 3 months postpartum, every morning when I opened my eyes I was consumed by fear and sadness. I was scared that I would have to go through another entirely new day full of the unexpected. Would my son cry a lot today? Would he feed okay? Would he want to be held for most of the day? There were too many unknowns and I had no idea what to expect. It was unfamiliar territory and it made me feel very vulnerable. Waking up in the morning was a challenge, and I hated it. I would wake up and have a panic attack. And if I am completely transparent, I wasn’t a single mom, I had a lot of support, but there was something in my head that kept telling me I wasn’t good enough. That I was somehow going to mess this all up. That my son would need something, and I wouldn’t be able to figure out how to help him. I just wanted him to be okay, and because of this, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect. I felt I had to be perfect, so that he would happy.

I became a very anxious person. I never understood the power anxiety could have over a person until I experienced it myself, and boy was it an awful feeling.

But when he turned 3 months, its like something changed in our relationship. Its like we started to connect. Perhaps it’s because I started to speak to people about my struggle. But for the first time, I felt like I was actually starting to bond with my son. When we locked eyes, I felt like I could take care of him.

Make no mistake, I was still very very far from feeling confident in my parenting skills, but I was starting to build a support system to help me through some of my concerns.

I also stopped Googling for “help”. Whenever I wanted to understand a behavior my son’s exuded, or a solution to help him with a struggle like gas, I would Google. I found that Google left me confused and it stressed me out. There were so many solutions, I became overwhelmed. So, with the guidance of a doctor, I decided to stop.

Best. Decision. Ever.

When I started to slowly trust my own instincts and to reach out to people I knew, instead of a comment wall, I started to feel more confident in my own skills. If a solution didn’t work, I could reach out to the people who initially guided me and say “hey that didn’t work, got another idea?”. The open dialogue helped me work through my anxiety.

I still suffer from anxiety today – but I feel like I have the tools to work through it, and with time, I hope that I can overcome it.

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My Girl Squad

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When people think of a group of girls, they often associate them with “cat fights”, “being bitchy” or the movie “mean girls”. But when I hit my lowest point, I found myself being uplifted by some truly exceptional women. The more I opened up about my negative self-reflection, the more determined these women became to rally around me to provide me with the support I didn’t realize I needed.

It was a strange feeling.

When it comes to my emotions, I have a history of being more introverted. I don’t really engage in friendships and I like to keep my circle very small. I have acquaintances, but not friends. Yes there is a difference.

But in this instance, I knew I needed help. I had to expand outside my regular circle. If people reached out to me and asked me how I was doing, I told them the truth. I told them I was struggling. Those who didn’t want to support me brushed over the topic, and those who wanted to help constantly checked in on me. I was okay with either. If you didn’t want to help me, I appreciated the indirect honesty. But, if you did, god bless you, you have no idea how much solace I found in our conversations.

I appreciated the advice and I appreciated the support. I truly felt like they were my pillars when I couldn’t stand on my own. I also appreciated the people who were around me who didn’t necessarily have the life experiences to guide me, but were around to just be around. To step in when I felt like I was going to have a mental breakdown. To fill in the gaps where I felt I was weak.

My girl squad was and has been my greatest blessing throughout this experience. I started to understand the importance of expanding my circle and investing my time and energy in relationships that I may have otherwise overlooked.

babies · baby · canada · depression · family · inspire · inspired · life · love · mom · post-partum

January 21, 2019.

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Hello Everyone!

I’m back! After a year and a half long hiatus I finally feel ready to write again.

As many of you know, I had a baby in December of 2018 and its safe to say that the experience didn’t go quite as planned. I joined a group of millions of women who battle a mental condition called post-partum depression.

Much of my future blogs will detail my experiences as a mom.  I intend to share my real life experiences and emotions. I refuse to sugarcoat them to make myself look/feel like the perfect mom. I’m a real mom with real experiences. I am looking for guidance on how to get better – so if you have any tips/tricks. THEY ARE WELCOME!