Just had to share a few photo thoughts.
Last night was our Christmas party/picnic (I know... oxymoron) for home group.
This is Alistar - the first baby I held after losing Joshua. He's almost 10 months old. And he's GORGEOUS!
Here's his chubby little hand ... he's crawling now. And eating by the looks of it. I guess he's not too picky.
Last night was our Christmas party/picnic (I know... oxymoron) for home group.
This is Alistar - the first baby I held after losing Joshua. He's almost 10 months old. And he's GORGEOUS!
Here's his chubby little hand ... he's crawling now. And eating by the looks of it. I guess he's not too picky.
This is his big sister Hanya (Hahn-yuh) who is Oceana's best friend. They make quite a pair. And yes that's red hair you see on both kids. Their older brother's is just like it. Too cute!
And this is Belinda - one of the other ladies who helps out at Stretch & Grow. We wanted shots of each other taking shots. :) I'll have to get my preggo-belly shot from her. It looked pretty good on the LCD
In other news. My parents are getting home today (10 weeks in the US).
And I'll be speaking at S&G (Teen Moms) about the signs of Post Partum Depression. If you have any stories, resources, or thoughts - please let me know. There are four of us expecting, and I'd like everyone to be able to take a list home to their boyfriends/parents to keep - "What to look for" in terms of PPD signs. I want them to be aware of it.
Regarding the PPD: I think an important note is to distinguish there are varying levels of PPD. Just because you don't have radical thoughts about hurting yourself, your children or others doesn't mean there isn't something wrong. When I had it, I was just stressed out and overwhelmed all the time. I felt like I never felt "in love" and "overwhelmed with joy" about my baby. I had this fierce urge to protect the baby, to the point where I didn't want anyone else to hold/touch her. It sounds borderline normal but there was no happiness - just this sense of overwhelming responsibility and then one day I just totally flipped a switch and all those stressed out feelings were gone and I was just happy. It took about 4 weeks. Just sharing! Hope it helps someone.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought on PPD is that it doesn't necessarily take place IMMEDIATELY after birth, not even in the first few months. The worst cases happen after 6 months, when you assume that you are in the swing of things, things are in control, etc. and then the world's bottom falls out. My friend had a severe, severe case, when her second son was almost a year old. But thankfully, she lives in a location with outstanding counselors. It was quickly diagnosed and she was the MOST surprised for it, thinking she was WELL beyond the scope of PPD. It actually can happen ANY TIME in the first two years and the later it happen, the harder it might be to get out of it if nothing is done to help in a quick time frame. Just thought this was worth mentioning, since many people assume it's over by the time baby is 4 months old or such, while in reality the risk is still very present...
ReplyDeleteI probably just had your normal everyday baby blues (few days of teary eyes/sniffles). What no one ever talked to me about though is that I wouldn't necessarily fall instantly in love with my daughter. I mean, I didn't want anything bad to happen to her, but it was not some huge overwhelming experience that everyone made it out to be. It made me feel like something was wrong with me in all honesty. It took a good 6 weeks for me to fall head over heals in love with her, but it did happen. After I've mentioned this to a few people, they've felt the same way they said. It's just that no one talks abou it.
ReplyDeletebeautiful kids!!
ReplyDeleteon the PPD...nervousness, checking things constantly (like the stove, candles, etc). totally irrational worries...these are things that really, really made me realize something was wrong. I was never really down and depressed, but I did have lots of frustrations with baby and my husband. I didn't cry a whole lot..so not what most think
ReplyDelete