I kept wondering what was wrong with me. Why am I not happy to be pregnant like everyone says I should be? Prenatal depression crept in on me slowly over months without me even realizing it. The thought of being a Mom was completely overwhelming. My pregnancy was unexpected…not planned. My boyfriend was excited for Read more about My battle with Prenatal Depression[…]
Three months after the birth of my second daughter I woke up in the middle of the night with terrible thought that I might hurt my baby. I got so scared that I couldn’t possibly fall back to sleep because I thought that If I can have that kind of thoughts that I might really Read more about My battle with postpartum OCD and anxiety[…]
It’s 2014. I have a newborn baby girl, Livia, and I don’t feel like myself at all. Our friends obviously want to come over and meet her right away. I don’t want to see any of them; I just want to be left alone. My parents, my parents-in-law, and some of my best friends come Read more about THIS IS POSTPARTUM[…]
Everyone asks me, “How did you get into the whole sleep consulting thing?”. I typically tell them about my non-sleeping kids, the lack of sleep, and about wanting to learn more about baby sleep so I could help other families. But…there is more to the story. It’s a combination of non-sleeping kids and mental health Read more about My PPD/PPA Story[…]
My name is Diane. I developed obsessive-compulsive disorder when I was 13 years old. Obsessions seemed to be a part of my life as long as I can remember, but it was during 8th grade that the compulsions to wash, count, and organize to stop bad things from happening started. I hid this from everyone Read more about Teenage OCD, Adult Depression, Postpartum Mania[…]
Years ago, when I went to a training hosted by Postpartum Support International, the powerful professionals and survivors there taught me something that changed my life personally and professionally forever. Others who had walked the same path shared the name for what I had experienced; postpartum anxiety. Thoughts that had tortured me and scared me Read more about From Suffering to Surviving and Thriving[…]
I have always been a positive and confident person, always uplifting others with the right things to say to make them smile. One day I woke up and I wasn’t that person anymore. What happened to me? Postpartum depression is a Bitch; there is no other word to describe it. It changes you and it Read more about Then came you..[…]
Sadly, I am well equipped to share this story. Having already lived with the darkness of anxiety and depression for more than 15 years, I fell instantly into the high-risk category during my pregnancy. In a way, I was grateful for that, as I was closely monitored and well supported throughout and beyond those 9 Read more about My PNDA Story[…]
I’m not originally from Alberta. I grew up in southern Manitoba on a dairy farm. When I was about 14, my parents took my siblings and I to Jasper to ski for the first time. That’s where I fell in love with the mountains. My husband, Dustin, and I moved to Claresholm over 4 years Read more about My Postpartum Journey[…]
My mother grew up in rural Ontario where mental health was a taboo subject. She started having children at age 19 and became more depressed as each child was born. I was the oldest and by the time I was 6 years old there were 4 children in our home (with me included). Depression was Read more about Unrecognized maternal depression affects children[…]