I know that I have taken my sweet time with a follow-up post concerning the birth of my son. My apologies. In a nutshell, shit happens. What kind of shit? Oh, I dunno. An unscheduled c-section because your son's heart rate is not responding very well to the contractions which led to unbelievable pain afterwards. That pain prohibited me from rising out of bed to tend to my crying baby. But how can I soothe my baby when he refused to latch on so I could feed him? That was just the start.
The Baby Blues came in full force. I already felt like a failure for not being able to properly birth my son so not being able to tend to him and feed him added to it. But, the Baby Blues will happen to just about anyone. It's the Post Partum Depression that one has to be on the lookout for afterwards. (And here is my warning because I am about to open up more than I am prone to.) I have battled depression before so I knew very well that I could go back there after giving birth. I knew what I was supposed to look out for; the thoughts, the pain and the tears. For a few hours, after the BNC went off to work and before my mom came over to help me as I recuperated, I would cry. I would cry as I held my son and begged his forgiveness at my inability to be a good mother to him. I begged that he forget how awful I was being. It was a dark hole that, at the time, I didn't see any light. I heard nothing but static in an empty room and I just simply couldn't find the door. The anxiety was absolutely horrible. I dreaded stepping out of the house for simple things such as buying bread. I hated being outside as well as being away from my son.
But then, upon my own realization of the type of hole I found myself in, I visited my doctor and cried to her about it all. God bless that woman. She handed me a tissue, put her hand on my shoulder and told me that all was going to be okay. She gave me Zoloft and kept me from returning back to work for a few more weeks. I love her.
And, just like that, I got better. I woke up with energy and a smile. Yes, it takes a while for the medication to kick in but the simple fact that I was doing something about it made me feel a bit better. I was on the road to getting better. A month later and I am calm and happy. If I am alone all day with my son, I don't panic at all whereas previously, I had a mini-meltdown when my mom was unable to stop by and lend a hand. Of course, it helps a great deal when you have a very happy baby.
Noah is now 2 months old and I finally able to feel like his mother. I still marvel at him. I am amazed that I am a mother to a beautiful and healthy baby. My diabetes didn't affect him at all. That makes every sacrifice I did while pregnant worth it.