Most women expect birth to be a reckoning. And so we spend the pregnancy preparing for it with childbirth education classes, endless books, carefully chosen providers and thoughtful birth support.
And then the baby is born.
We say goodbye to our birth team.
A new phase of life begins.
We settle in with this tiny new human that came with no instruction manual. And then we meet our second reckoning: the postpartum period. One we didn’t fully prepare for or even realize was coming.
A couple of days after the birth, endorphins drop and so do our feel-good sex hormones; progesterone and estrogen. It is normal to feel weepy, blue and emotional during those first two weeks, but it can take months for hormones to really recalibrate.
So often we talk about postpartum depression but we don’t talk enough about the things that can look like postpartum depression that are actually:
- Lack of postpartum support
- Isolation
- Nutrient depletion
- Neuroinflammation
- Hormone imbalance
- New-onset or flaring autoimmune disorder (which is common postpartum)
Other common feelings?
Overwhelm. Fatigue. Brain fog. Less stress resilience. Rage. Sense of guilt or shame about not being good enough. A sense of not coping well.
And ironically these states are the very states that make it difficult to ask for help. Here’s what I hear from new mothers all the time:
- “I’m too overwhelmed to schedule an appointment let alone get myself there.”
- “My baby is completely unscheduled and colicky. I wouldn’t even know when to come in.”
- “I am not coping well and I feel too ashamed to admit I need help.”
- “I can barely make myself breakfast. How am I supposed to carve out time for support?”
Listen, postpartum was not easy for me either but I don’t think it was postpartum depression.
- It was being home alone with a newborn and a 15-month-old.
- It was depletion from back-to-back pregnancies.
- It was exhaustion.
- And when my husband went back to work, it was a lack of support. Period.
I don’t want this to be your postpartum experience. The truth is, I had to live it to know just how important it is to care for the fourth trimester. But the trick is that you need to tend to the fourth trimester BEFORE you’re in the thick of healing from birth and caring for that sweet newborn.
I would love to help set you up for a successful fourth trimester because a healthy, happy mama is crucial for a healthy, happy family! Give us a call 970-963-6500.
Warmly,
Dr. Casey Bowen