The Postpartum Trifecta

Postpartum depression is a very real phenomenon that occurs in varying degrees to many, if not most, new baby mothers for multiple reasons.  I have been pondering the possible causes of postpartum depression and have pinpointed three key "F" words that have been huge factors in my own mental and emotional distress following pregnancy.  The problem lies in the conflicting state of mind that comes with feeling "fat", "fatigued" and "famished" all at the same time.  Allow me to elaborate:

Factor #1: Feeling "fat".  Face it.  Bringing a new life into the world requires some weight gain.  And if you happen to be in your mid-30's, having just delivered your sixth child, you may have packed on a few more pounds than in previous pregnancies.  And you might not be as quick to shed those pounds as you have in previous pregnancies.  Your baby could be more than three weeks old and you could still be wearing maternity clothes with no hope of fitting into anything otherwise for the forseeable future. You might weigh more than your husband does.  You might not like that very much.  You might think it's time to start a fitness routine to work off those extra pounds.  But that would require expending some energy.  And the fact is, you're tired.  Which brings me to factor #2...

Factor #2: Feeling "fatigued".  A new mom can expect to feed her baby about every two to three hours for the first several weeks.  Between feedings, there are diaper changes, occasional baths, and plenty of fussiness to navigate through.  So even if mom did manage to "sleep when the baby sleeps", at most, she's only sleeping in two hour increments.  That's hardly restful sleep.  And if she happens to have five other kids in the house, and a 2000-piece jigsaw puzzle lying on her coffee table, chances are, she's got a few other things to do besides sleep while the baby sleeps! 

Factor #3: Feeling famished.  I swear I'm hungrier when I'm breastfeeding than I ever was when I was pregnant.  I complain about my baby wanting to eat all of the time, but the truth is, I want to eat all of the time!  And if your baby, like mine, happens to be born around the holidays, you can add a couple of extra "F" factors into the mix with all of the "festive foods" lying around the kitchen counter this time of year.  You're not leaving the house anytime soon because it's cold outside, and it's a pain to go anywhere with a newborn, and you're too tired to shower or put on makeup, and you don't want anyone to see that you're still wearing maternity clothes, so you stay home and walk by the tower of treats on your kitchen counter 100 times a day while your milk-producing body thinks it's starving even though your maternity pants and bathroom scale confirm otherwise.  So you're in constant conflict between the need to incessantly eat Christmas fudge, while fearing the very real possibility that your "maternity" pants will forever become your "regular" pants. 

Is it any wonder why postpartum moms tend to fly off the handle once in a while?  Really?  Can you blame us?  What else can you expect when the conflicting factors of feeling "fat", "fatigued" & "famished" are all pulsing at extremely high levels through our hormonally charged female bodies?  It's overwhelming, to be sure.  

Now, I wonder if there's any of that delicious peanut butter fudge left on my kitchen counter...