Latest / Pretty In Pink Again / REWIND: Pretty Personal: When the Baby Blues Become Postpartum Anxiety & Depression
Transcript
- 0:00I'm Christina and I'm t And this is the Pretty and Pink Again podcast where Motherhood meets rediscovery.
- 0:17Hey, hey.
- 0:17Hi.
- 0:18I have a question for you.
- 0:19What's your question?
- 0:20What did you think of Yesteryear?
- 0:22Oh- my- Bet you didn't think I was gonna ask you that God.
- 0:27No.
- 0:27I'm just, like, so happy that I'm in an era where I can be reading.
- 0:31Doesn't it just put you in a peaceful place when you can read a book?
- 0:32Yes.
- 0:32Like, it's so incredible.
- 0:34So, oh my God, I have so many thoughts.
- 0:38Yeah.
- 0:38I, I, w- I feel like we need a whole episode just for my thoughts- on Yesteryear.
- 0:42If you guys have not read it, so it's about an influencer who is a tradwife, which is a trad- Well, she's also posing as a tradwife She's posing as a trad- She's posing as a tradwife which is, like, a traditional wife, so meaning, like, she doesn't work.
- 0:55She's home with the kids.
- 0:56She's homeschooling.
- 0:57She's, like, doing all the things.
- 0:58She's doing all the- She's serving her husband.
- 1:00Yep, she's serving her husband.
- 1:01She's very deeply rooted in faith.
- 1:02She, like, makes everything from scratch, right?
- 1:05And they live on a farm, and she wakes up one day and she's in 1853 So it's almost like a play on like,"Oh, well, you wanna live like it's 1853?
- 1:16How would you actually do in 1853?" Right.
- 1:18Like, without all of the modern- And grounds-'cause they had, like, groundskeepers.
- 1:22Yes.
- 1:23She has an oven, she has all of the things.
- 1:24Right, you wanna make bread, but you have, like, a$15,000 oven.
- 1:27It's like a joke.
- 1:28Like, and she actually wakes up in 1853, and obviously has no idea how to actually live in 1853.
- 1:37And it is unlike anything I've ever read, and the ending surprised me.
- 1:43Like, I, that's all I will say.
- 1:44Like, it was just not where I thought the book was going.
- 1:47Mm-hmm.
- 1:47And I was...
- 1:49Like, it was a page-turner.
- 1:50Yeah.
- 1:50I could not stop.
- 1:51I could not.
- 1:51It was excellent.
- 1:52Insane.
- 1:53It was excellent.
- 1:54And one of those books where I thought about it for, like, days after it, it, it imprinted something in me.
- 2:01Yeah.
- 2:02Like- It's a good read.
- 2:03Yeah.
- 2:04Go and read it.
- 2:05Oh my God, we should have a book club.
- 2:05I have the hard copy.
- 2:07The Pippa Book Club.
- 2:07It's really good.
- 2:07Maybe we should start, like, a Facebook group or something.
- 2:10I wanna, have something where we can actually, dive into more conversations and, like, chat, and I don't know if, anybody uses Facebook groups anymore, but, we need something where we can, like, chat more easily with the Pippas.
- 2:23Like an AOL group chat- Like more...
- 2:24Yeah type situation?
- 2:25Yeah, like a t- like a group chat.
- 2:27Like a group chat.
- 2:27I think people use Facebook.
- 2:28Okay.
- 2:29I feel like we need ideas.
- 2:30We just created a Facebook page, Archaic, but we just- So why don't we try that?
- 2:36created one.
- 2:36So maybe we could have a group and, like, maybe one of, like- Pippa Book Club?
- 2:39Yeah, we could do, like, a Pippa Book Club or something.
- 2:42Whatever we're reading or whatever we're watching.
- 2:44Yes.
- 2:44Yes.
- 2:45'Cause then we could watch and read things together.
- 2:47Well, you know what we're gonna start watching come September, is Dancing With The Stars.
- 2:50Obviously, right?
- 2:52Right?
- 2:52Because that's starting up again.
- 2:53Yes.
- 2:53Yes, I know.
- 2:54And then our books.
- 2:55Right.
- 2:56There we go.
- 2:56Okay.
- 2:56I think we have our, the answers to our question- Okay right there.
- 2:59Look for that.
- 3:00That will, we'll announce that on the Instagram page or here in a future episode, but I feel like we should do that.
- 3:06Yeah.
- 3:06Okay, cool.
- 3:07I think so too.
- 3:08Okay.
- 3:08Well, speaking of that, we are re-airing another one of our favorite episodes.
- 3:14While we take a little hiatus this summer- Mm-hmm from filming, we're working behind the scenes on a lot of stuff, guests and other episodes, but our traveling has just been off the charts for the last two months, and so we're giving ourselves a little break.
- 3:29This is the first time we've had face-to-face in a really long time- I know.
- 3:31Sometimes I'm like-'Cause we've been, like, coming and going- I haven't seen you and coming and going and coming and going.
- 3:34Or I'm just like,"Hi.
- 3:35Bye." Like, it's like a quick- Well, I haven't really...
- 3:36It's not like I've seen other people.
- 3:38I've seen, like, Nick- Yeah and the kids, and, like, my family.
- 3:40Yeah, family.
- 3:41Yeah.
- 3:41That's, like, what we've been doing this summer.
- 3:44Yeah.
- 3:45So- I know you've, like, popped over to say hi, like, with the kids, but we haven't really, like, sat down- Wait and had a conversation This is a really funny story.
- 3:51What?
- 3:51I'm gonna tell it really quick.
- 3:52What?
- 3:52So me and the kids took our scooters, we have these ex- electric scooters- for a ride in the neighborhood.
- 3:57And the kids are always like,"Mommy, can we go see Leo and Leila?
- 4:00Can we go see..." Like,'cause they're obsessed- Yeah with your kids.
- 4:02Yeah.
- 4:02I think they're like so- I know.
- 4:03My kids love when your kids come over oh, and the cats, and they wanna see the cats.
- 4:06Obviously.
- 4:06So we ran into you while we were on our walk, and so you were like,"Yeah, come up." So we take the scooters up the driveway, and the kids are like,"We wanna go in the house." Yeah.
- 4:15"We wanna see the cats.""We wanna see the cats.""We wanna see the cats." And you were like,"You know what?
- 4:17Raja's on a work call right now.
- 4:18Like, you know-" Yeah"he's busy.
- 4:20We don't wanna go in the-" Not the best time.
- 4:20"We don't wanna go in the house." Yeah.
- 4:22Two seconds later, out comes Raja and the cats, and he's like,"Hey." He, he knows.
- 4:27You know?
- 4:28He's like,"Yeah, of course.
- 4:29I gotta bring the cats out." So he- It's like show and tell he comes out with the cats, and then he sees the scooters, and he's like,"Oh, this looks like fun." Electric scooter.
- 4:36So Raja hops on the electric scooter and takes it for a ride around the block, and he's gone for, like- 20 minutes a long time.
- 4:44I'm like- Long enough for the kids to be like,"Where's Dad?""Where's Dad?" Like- I'm like...
- 4:47And I'm like,"Where's Raja?" And I'm like,"Oh, also, I have to go back to work." Right.
- 4:51Like, it was the middle of the workday.
- 4:52And, and also, I think he was probably working too.
- 4:54Yeah.
- 4:55So where is Daddy?
- 4:56Okay.
- 4:57So Daddy comes home 20 minutes later, sweating, walking up the hill the electric scooter died Died on the way.
- 5:05And he didn't- You were like,"Oh, forgot to-" He didn't have his- mention that." He didn't have his phone or, like- Nope shoes.
- 5:10He was in slippers.
- 5:11So, so then he drove me and the kids home with the electric scooters.
- 5:19It's just another day for us, I know.
- 5:21I'm like- But it was just- What are we doing- I think I still had- on a Tuesday my helmet on too.
- 5:27Anyways, it's just one of those good memory- I know weekday memories.
- 5:31One of those funny memories.
- 5:33That was really, really funny.
- 5:33So our scooters are all fully charged.
- 5:35Okay, good.
- 5:36But I love those electric scooters.
- 5:38I know.
- 5:38They're my favorite.
- 5:39I love when the kids come, like, zipping up the driveway and it, it's just so cute.
- 5:43They're so much fun.
- 5:45I love it.
- 5:45Anyways, so yeah, that, that's all I got for you.
- 5:48Well, so we're gonna air one of our episodes from our Pretty Personal series- Mm-hmm on a much deeper note.
- 5:57It was our experiences with postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression.
- 6:01Mm-hmm.
- 6:01And so we're gonna re-air that.
- 6:04This episode aired last year at some point.
- 6:07It was a really personal episode.
- 6:10And also I just feel like it's important to talk about these things.
- 6:14I remember the feedback that we both got from this episode was so personal.
- 6:20People were coming to us thanking us for sharing the experience or just surprised that either one of us had these experiences, and I just feel like it was an episode that really, like, reminds me why we started this podcast.
- 6:34Like, having hard conversations and opening up and sharing things with other women to make them feel less alone.
- 6:42Right.
- 6:42You know?
- 6:43So you say that you sometimes have a hard time talking about things when you're going through them.
- 6:47Yes.
- 6:48And I think that this was one of those things that I didn't talk about when I was going through it either, because I didn't know what it was.
- 6:54Right.
- 6:54And it wasn't until later that I was able to- Like, recognize it share it and recognize it.
- 7:00Right.
- 7:00And I think even now, in my current life, having to put in so much work and so much effort- Mm-hmm to be in a better place- Mm-hmm I don't ever wanna forget about that time in my life, though.
- 7:13Right.
- 7:13Because it was very much there.
- 7:15And also, I think that it makes me remain sensitive and have empathy towards other women, because I don't know what's going on in their life.
- 7:22Yeah.
- 7:22They could be still stuck in that phase- Yeah of their life.
- 7:25Well said.
- 7:26And I think that it's important to, even though if you've moved on from something, y- just because you moved on doesn't mean everybody in your life has moved on from things.
- 7:33Right.
- 7:33Gives you, like, a very different perspective.
- 7:34You know?
- 7:35And I think you just have to be sensitive that sometimes if people are so reclusive and scared- Mm and anxious, it's because they still haven't recovered from something that's happened to them in their life.
- 7:46Yeah.
- 7:46And I think that a good point is that even if it's behind you, it's never really behind you.
- 7:52Because once you really go through something as big of a mental health issue as PPA and PPD, it never really leaves you.
- 8:00You know?
- 8:01Like, you always are working towards, bettering yourself and trying not to get back to that place.
- 8:07And I feel like it's very normal to have moments where you feel like you can be slipping, back into some of those issues, that you might have been experiencing.
- 8:18And so I always feel like it's a constant battle.
- 8:22Even if I'm not down in the dumps like I was, it's still a constant thing that I'm working on.
- 8:28So we're just, we're grateful to be able to share our experiences and be open with you girls, and we love you.
- 8:35Thank you so much for your support, and we are so excited to be back with you guys next week.
- 8:41Bye.
- 8:42Bye.
- 8:43Hi.
- 8:43Hi, I just answered a call from Nick on speaker phone.
- 8:47I, and I feel like every time he calls me, I should always warn him ahead of time.
- 8:52Yeah, you're on speaker.
- 8:53You're live.
- 8:53Yeah.
- 8:54You're on speaker.
- 8:54You're live.
- 8:55Everybody.
- 8:55We're rolling.
- 8:56Everybody.
- 8:56Everybody is listening.
- 8:57So I'm gonna share this quick story with our listeners.
- 8:59'cause I'm pretty sure every mother listening has gotten a call like this from her husband.
- 9:03I said, this should have been recorded because it was the most relatable conversation and I was cackling.
- 9:09Cackling.
- 9:10So Nick got outta work early today.
- 9:12He operates and he, when he operates, sometimes he finishes early, depending on if he gets two rooms or whatever.
- 9:18So the takeaway from this is that he wants to help.
- 9:21I'm leaving for a trip with my mom and he's going to be doing some of the pickups.
- 9:26So he wants to help today with the pickups.
- 9:29So our children have gone to the same school for several years.
- 9:33They do the same activities for several years.
- 9:35But I do like most moms pick up, drop offs, whatever.
- 9:39So he calls and he's Hey.
- 9:41Where do I have to be?
- 9:42What do I have to do?
- 9:43I have to go to the office?
- 9:44Nope.
- 9:45Gymnasium.
- 9:45What school?
- 9:46Who's this for?
- 9:47What time?
- 9:48Yeah, what time does it end?
- 9:50So do I drop?
- 9:51I do you have to sign them off?
- 9:52Do I drop and do I sit there for the whole hour and a half?
- 9:55Nope.
- 9:55Nope.
- 9:55You just, you're just gonna drop'em off and then you're gonna leave.
- 9:58What am I gonna do?
- 9:59That's on you, that's on you.
- 10:01It was a list of questions.
- 10:03Lots of questions, but I stayed calm.
- 10:05You did.
- 10:05You were like very polite about it.
- 10:07I was like, know what?
- 10:07Just come home.
- 10:07I'll take care of it.
- 10:08No big deal.
- 10:09Come home, I'll take care of it.
- 10:11And no, he was insisting, he kept saying, no, I wanna do this.
- 10:13I wanna do this.
- 10:14Which I was like, that is.
- 10:16Honestly a forever effort.
- 10:17Even just for stepping up to the plate and trying to, oh yeah, he really deserves a pad back.
- 10:23So I stayed calm.
- 10:24I was very polite.
- 10:25And then what did he say, Christina?
- 10:26He said verbatim.
- 10:28He said, he kind of laughed at himself and he goes, I just reconstructed an elbow, so I should be able to do parent pickup.
- 10:36I should be able to pick a few kids up from school and drop'em at tennis.
- 10:40And I said, honey, I was gonna say that to you, but I didn't wanna sound like a bitch.
- 10:45So I was thinking it.
- 10:47But anyway, so when your husbands try to help, I know.
- 10:51Let them, I know.
- 10:53Be nice.
- 10:53Yep.
- 10:54They will realize how dumb they sound eventually.
- 10:57I know.
- 10:57Because you know what it is.
- 10:58It sounds so easy when you're not doing it, day to day it's just oh, pick a couple of kids up from school.
- 11:04How hard could that be?
- 11:05But it goes back to always what we say about the mental load and all the tracking, the little, the tracking and all the things that we keep have that we've talked about on every episode.
- 11:14Just about all the stuff that's usually on the primary parent, all the mental things that you're keeping track of.
- 11:20And so it's a lot, right?
- 11:21It's a lot.
- 11:22And when someone else steps up, who hasn't maybe done it day to day, they really see how much goes into the day and how much there is to manage.
- 11:30Right.
- 11:30And I appreciated the stepping up and try, trying to help you right.
- 11:34And obviously know what's going on, but also I appreciated.
- 11:39Your conversation, like just the entirety of the conversation, how you both were able to stay so calm and both very respectful of one another.
- 11:47So as an outsider, maybe that was because you were on speakerphone with you.
- 11:51But no, actually I have to say even if you weren't here.
- 11:53Yes, that is typically it's how I communicate with Nick.
- 11:56It's, and because I'm here all the time, me, we have a mutual level of do respect for one another.
- 12:01We do.
- 12:01And I think some of it comes from the early on days.
- 12:05When I transitioned from a working person to a home person taking care of Joseph and Nick went straight into being like a full-time like provider and he would give me these honey do lists on Monday and have and think oh, this is no big deal.
- 12:20She'll do the lists while raising Joseph and I'll go to work.
- 12:25And then when he had to watch Joseph, he was not able to do anything else.
- 12:32So I think that the respect grows over time when they have to do your job.
- 12:38When somebody else has to do your job, they have a higher level of respect for you.
- 12:42I think it, the grass is always greener or things might always seem a lot easier until you're like in it.
- 12:47And there should be such a mutual respect for one another when you like trade positions or when you know, when somebody does step up and sees what you do all of the time.
- 12:56So I do appreciate that and we t and I have actually wanted to chat a lot more about relationships and marriages and just I guess how things ebb and flow and When kids come into the picture and even as they get older?
- 13:11Yeah, as they get older.
- 13:12Because we're at different points with our kids' ages and I guess what we could give to our marriages because of how intense it is at the beginning.
- 13:22But now your kids are busy.
- 13:23So we've wanted to talk about this, like me and you talk about this a lot.
- 13:26Like how could we tackle this conversation without throwing anybody under the bus?
- 13:33Because I feel like it's a tricky one when it's like a one sided, it would only be, from our point of view, I can't get behind the mic unless I'm like giving my honest opinion.
- 13:41And I can't give my honest opinion about a relationship that I'm in with somebody else.
- 13:45Without either them here or them like being on board with what I'm about to share.
- 13:50There's two people in a relationship.
- 13:52And then if you're only getting one point of view, it gets a little tricky.
- 13:55We've heard you guys, because that has been a very hot request.
- 13:59But we're just trying to tackle it very delicately and properly.
- 14:03So that it's fair.
- 14:04And we also are like thinking about, okay, so maybe we have a relationship expert, come on.
- 14:09Another expert.
- 14:10Currently I am struggling with experts because not that I'm struggling with the expert, I'm struggling with the execution.
- 14:18Of the knowledge that is coming from the expert like parenting experts and relationship experts and food experts.
- 14:25I think that if you took the roof off of their house they would even a professional would struggle with the execution of some of these tips and tricks and things that you are supposed to be doing because when stakes are high and emotions are high and you have a temper and you have feelings, it's hard to then follow through.
- 14:42Oh, I agree with that.
- 14:42So I'm just, I wanna have a relationship talk with you, but just to find out like what happens in a household.
- 14:49More or more relatable.
- 14:50More relatable.
- 14:51Like less about the advice or like what works and what doesn't work.
- 14:56Like just what is actually happening in our lives.
- 14:58Like you chose that person to marry.
- 15:01What happens between that day that you choose to marry that person to present day kids later?
- 15:07Why do all women struggle?
- 15:10You know, like Right.
- 15:11Looking at that person.
- 15:12Yeah.
- 15:12Being like, oh my God, I'm not looking at you the same way I am looking at you as I married you, but I wanna, whatever.
- 15:17It seems like that's very common.
- 15:19I, it's so common.
- 15:20I know.
- 15:20I think that what we're gonna save this topic for another day when it is just t and i, because I think we do, we wanna just rehash that a little bit.
- 15:29Yes.
- 15:29But we also wanna have our thoughts together and, yeah.
- 15:32But we'll, but it's a common one that keeps circling that it is like people, a lot of people are asking for it, but another one that people were asking for Yes.
- 15:40Is we've, because I think both of us have touched on things in other episodes when we've had experts on and when we've talked through other things, but.
- 15:51We have both had bouts with postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression, and we've both referenced this, but we've really never dived into each of our experiences when it happened.
- 16:05T obviously went through three pregnancies, has four kids, a set of twins, and I have two.
- 16:11And so we wanted to reintroduce our pretty personal series because we had done this at the beginning where we just unveiled a little bit about ourselves and some struggles that we had and I guess some inspiration for why we started this podcast, right?
- 16:28Was from those series.
- 16:30And so we wanted to talk about this.
- 16:31And I think that.
- 16:34Explaining these years and these emotions and these feelings also is a good segue into how that affects your marriage.
- 16:41For sure.
- 16:41For sure.
- 16:41So we talk about marriage at a later day.
- 16:43I think that it's good to have in the background this background there.
- 16:47Because we know we're not the only ones that deal with this, have dealt with this.
- 16:52And we're gonna also dive into how even when you've identified something you've gotten a formal diagnosis and now you are implementing new systems into your life.
- 17:02It is a daily, yearly, for the rest of your lives.
- 17:06Ebbs and flows, struggles of feelings.
- 17:08For sure.
- 17:09For sure.
- 17:10And we keep referencing that.
- 17:11We feel like we're in a stronger, better place, but we still, we don't have like tens every single day.
- 17:17No.
- 17:18That's not realistic.
- 17:19I'll feel like I'm making such progress in physical mental health, and then all of a sudden I'll have a couple of bad days and it feels like you go a few steps forward and you feel so good, and then 10 steps backwards.
- 17:33And it's so hard to have that realization, but I think that's very normal.
- 17:37Yeah.
- 17:38I think it's good to remind yourself that it's okay.
- 17:40Yeah.
- 17:41You're not always gonna be jet setting ahead.
- 17:44That's why when you look at like your heart is supposed to go like up this down.
- 17:48It's not just supposed to, that's a flat line that's dead.
- 17:50So I think it's like a good reminder.
- 17:52Yeah.
- 17:52But, all right, let's get into it.
- 17:54So we're gonna talk about the difference between postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety.
- 17:58And what are some of the, things associated with it, and some are, what are some of the misconceptions So what exactly is postpartum anxiety and depression?
- 18:07And I guess how do they differ?
- 18:09And how do they overlap and when?
- 18:12And where do they show up?
- 18:14So what I thought was interesting is that they don't necessarily have to show up immediately after you have a baby.
- 18:20Yes.
- 18:20That is very interesting.
- 18:21And that postpartum anxiety, it says can happen like years after.
- 18:25And that's what happened to you.
- 18:26And that's what happened to me.
- 18:27Postpartum depression, usually they flag you for it within those six weeks after you have a baby.
- 18:33Yep.
- 18:33And if you're still continuing on with those baby blues, that's when they categorize you with postpartum depression.
- 18:40But I think if you have both of them together, that can really where it becomes a little murky, because you might be slightly depressed and then it might roll into this anxiety that I was gonna say that pings up months later.
- 18:55Postpartum anxiety is heightened worry racing thoughts, obsessive checking.
- 19:00And it could be obsessing over anything.
- 19:01It could be like obsessing over the schedule.
- 19:03I think just obsessing is the key part there here it says fear of harm to the baby.
- 19:10But I think fear, just fear in general, fear of needs to be highlighted there because that's what, that's those intrusive thoughts that you always hear people mention.
- 19:18I think that's, yeah, that's a huge part of that.
- 19:20And postpartum anxiety may or may not come with depression.
- 19:26So I'll share what, yeah, I'll share what happened with me a little bit.
- 19:29I had my first when I was 26.
- 19:32Mm-hmm.
- 19:32And I had no postpartum depression or anxiety after Joseph.
- 19:35I was like, I felt light as a feather.
- 19:37I was happy to be a mom.
- 19:38I was happy to have him.
- 19:40Life was easy breezy with him.
- 19:42He was easy, baby.
- 19:44We had an easy life.
- 19:45We lived in a small house.
- 19:47Life was so simple.
- 19:48I wish I could go back to those simple days.
- 19:50Then I had my second son.
- 19:52We had a larger home that I had to maintain.
- 19:55I'm just like giving you some of the examples.
- 19:56Yeah.
- 19:57In which I thought my postpartum anxiety was just environmental from Right.
- 20:01And I was like, oh no, I just, it's because I have this baby.
- 20:04Another baby.
- 20:05It's because I have this home.
- 20:06It's because I have this.
- 20:08And what I found out was, is that I didn't necessarily fit the part, I looked calm on the outside.
- 20:15I looked productive.
- 20:16I was getting a lot done.
- 20:19I looked like I was thriving on the outside.
- 20:21Mm-hmm.
- 20:21Because I was doing all of these things that I would usually do.
- 20:25I was like going, I would still go to an exercise class.
- 20:27I would still get my nails and I would still have dinner with my girlfriends.
- 20:30You were functioning, but I was running away from my house is really what I was doing.
- 20:35I was hiding behind doing these things, like functioning'cause I was running away from them.
- 20:40'cause I was a nervous wreck on the inside.
- 20:43Were you having the intrusive thoughts?
- 20:45My thoughts all day were intrusive, were ridiculous.
- 20:49They made absolutely no sense.
- 20:50Tell me what some of'em were.
- 20:51I thought if a balloon popped, I thought I would have a heart attack.
- 20:54So I was in the doctor's office like three times a month.
- 21:00For like for every single thing.
- 21:02Like I thought I was being ail, being strangled.
- 21:04I thought I was having a heart attack, so I would have such bad chest pain.
- 21:07I couldn't catch my breath.
- 21:08I was like, I need a chest x-ray.
- 21:09I'm constantly chronically stuffy.
- 21:12My head is constantly hurting.
- 21:13I must have a brain tumor.
- 21:14Or I was constantly like dizzy and I had vertigo.
- 21:18Like I was having extreme anxiety the doctor diagnosed me with this after having my second son was about like, and how far was that?
- 21:26It was about like eight or nine months after he was born.
- 21:28I was in that office every freaking day.
- 21:31So you were still in the window of that year after second baby?
- 21:35Yep.
- 21:36I was still in the window, but because I was on the outside, I looked like everything was fine.
- 21:41My kids were healthy the house was clean.
- 21:43Everything was in quotations.
- 21:46Good.
- 21:46But I was like dying a slow death on the inside.
- 21:49Were you having any.
- 21:51Intrusive thoughts about the kids and like the fear of the kids.
- 21:54'cause I know the most common one that I always will hear is you're like walking with the baby down the stairs and you have a feeling that you're gonna fall with the baby down the stairs.
- 22:03That's a huge trigger for a lot of women.
- 22:06I never had thoughts about the kids.
- 22:08I had thoughts about myself.
- 22:10I had thoughts like, if I fall down the stairs, who's gonna take care of you?
- 22:14Okay.
- 22:14Those were more my thoughts and they never stopped.
- 22:18And it was very hard because.
- 22:21Like mental health is, was not really like on my forefront.
- 22:24I had never had anxiety before.
- 22:25I was never a depressed person.
- 22:27Even through this whole very dark time in my life, I was still not depressed.
- 22:32I was just so high, like hyper aware, strong.
- 22:36Like I would call my mom and be like, mom, I feel my heartbeat.
- 22:39And she's good, that means you're alive, right?
- 22:41I'm like, no, I don't think you understand.
- 22:42I feel it like through my shirt, like I was having these visceral reactions to what was happening around me.
- 22:49I couldn't catch my breath.
- 22:51So finally my primary care doctor said to me, you have postpartum anxiety.
- 22:57We are going to categorize you as this.
- 22:58You need to get help.
- 22:59We're going to put you on medication.
- 23:01And that really was a tough pill to swallow.
- 23:04Yeah.
- 23:04To have somebody say those words to me because i'm very outspoken and I am very close to my friends and even to my husband.
- 23:12And nobody knew that this was going on with me.
- 23:14'Cause it was a, that's a very internal thing.
- 23:16And I think it was all internal with the anxiety, it's, it is an internal mental thing.
- 23:21I think sometimes with the depression that can also come with some physical symptoms.
- 23:26So that might be easier to detect than maybe postpartum anxiety.
- 23:31But I guess I'm just curious.
- 23:33Yeah.
- 23:33What did you feel, I know this is something that you have struggled with on and off.
- 23:38Yeah.
- 23:38And you've had periods where you felt like you had a better handle on it than others.
- 23:43Do you feel like things help you or hurt you?
- 23:47That's a good question.
- 23:48So my doctor prescribed me medication.
- 23:51And I feel like that took the edge off enough for me to realize that what I was feeling was anxiety.
- 24:00Okay.
- 24:00And I think I had to get like a win under my belt.
- 24:05To know that what I was feeling was anxiety.
- 24:08But the craziest thing of it all is that I was on the medication for a couple of years.
- 24:12I didn't do therapy at this point, and then I got pregnant with the twins and I went off the medication and I knew I had a strong mind and I knew all of those things.
- 24:21All of those crazy thoughts.
- 24:23All of those fears were anxiety, postpartum anxiety.
- 24:28I had the twins I didn't have a nightmare for the twins, and so I was a little sleep deprived with the twins.
- 24:36I was doing all the nighttime stuff.
- 24:38And once that film lifted with the twins, all, everything came back again.
- 24:44And it was like a exact repeat of what happened with Vincent happened again, like twofold with the twins, like muscle memory.
- 24:50It happened again and it was worse and it was like 10 times worse.
- 24:54Do you feel like, did you know, because you were having a second.
- 25:00Out of it.
- 25:00Do you feel like, because you knew you had come out of it the first time, were you like hopeful or were you like, no, this is too now this is, no, I was mad at myself.
- 25:08'cause I was like, what?
- 25:09How did this happen?
- 25:10Again?
- 25:10S is wrong with you.
- 25:10You know what this is?
- 25:12This is, your head is spinning because you're in this position, but yet I still was not mentally strong enough.
- 25:20I think that just defines why mental health is an ongoing struggle to fix it.
- 25:24I still couldn't fix it, Christina.
- 25:26So years went by with me having this internal struggle.
- 25:30And again, nobody would know because everybody looks at me and thinks, oh, she's got her head together.
- 25:34Which I do,'cause I'm still productive.
- 25:36I'm still doing what I have to do.
- 25:38I'm still showing up for my kids and for my husband.
- 25:40But it took up so much space in my mind to do.
- 25:45To do this stuff and it's so fatiguing, it was so fatiguing.
- 25:48So the last straw for me was my physical symptoms where I would get such a stomach ache that I would make myself ill, like I was so nervous every day from the second I woke up in the morning until the second I went to bed what is gonna happen today?
- 26:04And that is such a horrible way to live.
- 26:06It is, yeah.
- 26:07Thinking every day what is gonna go down today?
- 26:09What is gonna go down today?
- 26:11And I went back on the medication and I started doing cognitive behavioral therapy.
- 26:16Yeah.
- 26:17And those two coupled together have improved my life so much.
- 26:22And I don't wanna say it's changed my life because this is still an ever going thing.
- 26:26Every single day.
- 26:27I can't just wake up and be like, Nope, I'm good now forever, because that's not true.
- 26:32That would be lying to you.
- 26:33So I have to.
- 26:36Practice every single day.
- 26:38Things that keep me on track.
- 26:40And that is just, the cold hard truth.
- 26:44Yep.
- 26:44And it's hard to think about the old you, because the old me wasn't like this.
- 26:51The old me woke up without a care in the world.
- 26:53The new me wakes up and cares deeply about every single thing that's gonna happen that day.
- 26:58And I can't change that.
- 26:59I know it's a very hard shift.
- 27:01And I think that's my version of postpartum anxiety, because none of this occurred until I was a mom.
- 27:09And I don't wanna blame my children because it's not their fault and it's not.
- 27:14Them that makes me anxious.
- 27:16It's everything else.
- 27:16It's weird.
- 27:17It's like just everything together now in this new life that we have that has created this within me, it is, it's a huge shift for anybody to go through.
- 27:27It's such a huge lifestyle change.
- 27:29And it was interesting hearing you say that.
- 27:32It's all part of growing up too, right?
- 27:35Like it's a huge shift to get married, to have a family, to have a house, to have all of these responsibilities, to, to be juggling work, to be juggling a social life, to be juggling health of other people around you.
- 27:48It's a lot.
- 27:48And so I think for anybody, it's a lot and I think it's very relatable to hear that it's, a lot of the times it isn't the actual kids that you bring into the world.
- 28:00It's like everything else that goes along with it and trying to adjust in a crazy world that we live in now.
- 28:07So that was more so I guess my, mine is more postpartum.
- 28:14Anxiety.
- 28:15Anxiety.
- 28:15I didn't have postpartum depression.
- 28:17I didn't have baby blues.
- 28:18I was always like pretty jovial and happy.
- 28:20I, did you experience baby Blues at all?
- 28:22No.
- 28:23You didn't?
- 28:24No.
- 28:24Okay, so I know that, so that's I know that baby blues, I remember being like a lot of people experienced baby blues, and I think that's why sometimes the postpartum depression is a little bit more hidden as well, because it's very natural for women to experience baby blues.
- 28:43So baby blues, by definition, are described as mood swings, tearfulness, emotional ups and downs, that many mothers experience within the first few days of giving birth.
- 28:56That's what it is.
- 28:56However, they're considered normal and short term because of the big hormonal shift, physical and emotional shift that happens postpartum.
- 29:04But.
- 29:06Within one to two weeks they should subside.
- 29:08Okay.
- 29:08It's when it persists.
- 29:10After that six week window.
- 29:12And so my experience, I had two extremely different postpartum experiences.
- 29:18My first, I definitely experienced some baby blues, I think, which I talked about on my original pretty personal series where I talked about the infertility struggles and that kind of being coupled with being in the pandemic and all of that.
- 29:33There was a lot going on before I got pregnant.
- 29:38And then I had a pregnancy complication during my first pregnancy.
- 29:43And so I think when my son got here, I was so relieved that.
- 29:50Yes, I did experience some baby blues, but they really felt very physical right?
- 29:55It was just like coming off of the birth, and I felt oh okay, wow.
- 29:58That was just a lot, but I don't think I really felt them mentally as much.
- 30:04Then I did the second time around, the first time, I remember those first couple weeks.
- 30:09It's just an adjustment period.
- 30:11You're not sleeping a lot.
- 30:12It's just like a huge shift.
- 30:15So I remember feeling some anxiety and kind of baby blues around the nighttime.
- 30:20I felt like the night would start coming and I would be like, okay.
- 30:24Okay, we're bracing for a rockier night, or, an interrupted night of sleep.
- 30:28But I remember that subsiding.
- 30:31Yeah.
- 30:32Within the first, I would probably say the first month, I felt like that it subsided once we were on a schedule with him and everything just clicked into place and I went back to work.
- 30:41I was feeling really good.
- 30:42I went back to exercise.
- 30:43I felt like pretty normal for just having a baby.
- 30:47And I felt, after you had Leo, it was like Christina and Leo and to, yeah.
- 30:52I just, I feel back, like he just followed back.
- 30:54Yeah.
- 30:55We don't like the phrase bounce back.
- 30:57We don't like the phrase bounce back, but I really do feel like I bounced back and I felt pretty, quote unquote, normal for the most part.
- 31:05Oh, it's Romeo.
- 31:06Yeah.
- 31:06He chooses you over me.
- 31:08Yep.
- 31:09But with my second postpartum experience, I, it was night and day different.
- 31:15I knew the baby blues were there except they never left.
- 31:20It was just.
- 31:21Okay.
- 31:22Months went by.
- 31:23I remember getting flagged at my six week appointment, and it was also a huge night and day experience in terms of sleep deprivation.
- 31:35So with my first, with my son, I don't think I ever knew what true sleep deprivation was.
- 31:42I had what I would now refer to as interrupted sleep.
- 31:46Yes, I would get up in the middle of the night.
- 31:49He needed to be fed.
- 31:51I would feed him.
- 31:52I would burp him, I would change him.
- 31:53He would go back to sleep.
- 31:54And so would you.
- 31:55I would go back to sleep and then maybe a couple hours later, do it again.
- 31:58We might start the day or we might do it again.
- 32:01And it was very predictable and it was just very interrupted.
- 32:06And as time went on, those wake up were less and less, and I started getting a full night's sleep and we had our evenings and life returned to normal.
- 32:16And so with my second.
- 32:19That was not the case, which was my daughter.
- 32:20That was not the case.
- 32:22I experienced what I now know was like true sleep deprivation for me.
- 32:27I'm sure everybody has a different threshold, but there were so many nights where I didn't get a wink of sleep.
- 32:34And then since I had a toddler at home, my son and daughter are only like 20 ish months apart.
- 32:39I had a very young toddler at home, and even though I did have people around to help me, I was still the mom and I felt like everybody needed me.
- 32:48So I never even gave myself like permission to go offline in any way.
- 32:53So there were so many days where I wouldn't give myself a break.
- 32:56Even if I had it available, I wouldn't for guilt reasons, but that's also one of these symptoms associated with postpartum depression and anxiety that you can't.
- 33:06You are unable to turn your mind off.
- 33:08Yeah.
- 33:09So you couldn't, even if you did have a whole slew of people there that were saying to you, Christina, detach, I'm here.
- 33:17And I'm here.
- 33:17Go sleep.
- 33:18You actually chemically could not, and I just wanna point that out to you.
- 33:22That is so that you Yep.
- 33:23Cannot, like I had twins, but I had no problem saying to my 18-year-old sister, can you come over and do the night shift?
- 33:32'Cause I haven't slept in a week.
- 33:33That's how I was with my f.
- 33:34And I went down to the basement and I took my one night of sleep.
- 33:37Yep.
- 33:37And I woke up refreshed.
- 33:38Yep.
- 33:39You physically were unable to turn your brain off.
- 33:41It was so crazy because were spinning even with my mom, like my mom was so instrumental in both of my postpartum experiences, my mom would come even with my son and she would take over and my son didn't really even wake up that much, but she would come over and alleviate both of us and take the night shift and we were able to get a full night of sleep.
- 34:00She would come even for my daughter and.
- 34:04I still couldn't sleep.
- 34:06It was like, and also my circadian rhythm was so thrown off with this postpartum experience that if I had a window to sleep, if it was during the middle of the day, if it was somebody giving me the full night, I couldn't, you couldn't take it.
- 34:19It was insane.
- 34:21I felt insane, and because when you're so tired and you finally have an opportunity to sleep and you can't sleep, then that also started this like cycle of anxiety.
- 34:33Because while I was so sleep deprived and so sad, and so exhausted and so depleted, my mind wouldn't turn off.
- 34:41Yep.
- 34:41And so I just couldn't.
- 34:43I, there was so much anxiety that was there.
- 34:46And that was why I couldn't sleep.
- 34:48So I think because I was dealing with postpartum depression, there was also like anxious things sneaking in there.
- 34:54So it was a cycle.
- 34:55Yeah.
- 34:56It's like one led to the other.
- 34:57Yes.
- 34:58And that heightened worry racing thoughts.
- 35:00Obsessive checking, obsessive planning.
- 35:02Just obsessive over everything.
- 35:04Do you guys remember when I told you the story?
- 35:05I don't remember what episode it was in, but I think it was the letting go of control episode.
- 35:11I had a point where my mom was coming, we had a couple of family weddings and so my mom had to be with the kids like overnight while we were at the wedding.
- 35:21And I remember giving her this list of what to do overnight with my daughter when she wakes up because I was crazy in control of, or I thought I was, but what's crazy is that it wasn't even working.
- 35:35It wasn't even oh, do this and it works.
- 35:37It was do this so that it might work.
- 35:40And I remember it would be like pat the baby on the back Yeah.
- 35:45A couple of times and give her the bke and then, lay her down, but only on this side, and then turn her o it was so specific walk out and make sure the nightlight is only on it.
- 35:55It was just so hyper controlled, right?
- 35:59That it.
- 36:01Like looking back on it, I remember like seeing the note in my phone and being like, oh my God.
- 36:07When your mom read that note, was she flagged?
- 36:10Yeah.
- 36:10I think that it was like, was that something that flagged her?
- 36:13Oh gee, for sure Christina is not okay.
- 36:15Okay.
- 36:15Like I'm saying to you, it wasn't even working.
- 36:17It wasn't even oh, do this and you'll have a very successful night.
- 36:20It was like, just do this and we don't even know if it's gonna work.
- 36:24You know what I mean?
- 36:24Yeah.
- 36:24It was just one of those things.
- 36:25I just think, but I think it's a good example of how when you have these two things Yeah.
- 36:32You have these impulsive, irrational thought.
- 36:35Irrational.
- 36:36Yeah.
- 36:36They were, and you're trying to control situations that are uncontrollable, and so I think that the first step for me was once we got through the nine months of my daughter not sleeping.
- 36:51It was, that was like the first kind of fog that got lifted.
- 36:55When I started to experience like a true real night of sleep when it was a little bit more predictable and I could actually go to sleep and not worry that she was gonna wake up or if she did wake up, I would know how to handle the situation if she woke up it, that was like the first kind of like breath of fresh air in this experience.
- 37:15So once you were able to sleep a little bit some of this cloud started to lift only just a little bit.
- 37:25Yep.
- 37:25But were the people around you noticing.
- 37:28Like, all right.
- 37:30Christina's not herself for sure.
- 37:32I think that, first of all, I was very honest even at my six week postpartum checkup that I was already feeling like the baby blues had not subsided at that point.
- 37:43So my doctor had flagged it immediately she had recommended medication, but I honestly was very wary at that point to take any medication.
- 37:51I at that point was hoping that I would just start to lift out of it on my own.
- 37:56And you were hoping it would fix itself.
- 37:57I was really hoping that it would just, it was just taking me a little bit longer and I knew that the sleep had a lot to do with that.
- 38:04So again, I was really holding on hope that it would just fix itself.
- 38:08And I would say that as we started approaching like the 4, 5, 6 month mark and stuff, still really was.
- 38:17Not only not fixing itself, it was getting worse.
- 38:22Worse, it was because it had just been so prolonged at this point and I was still not sleeping yet.
- 38:27So I think that was just it.
- 38:30It was us.
- 38:31It was cyclical.
- 38:32At this point, it, I was not on any sort of like regular schedule.
- 38:37I wasn't eating well, I wasn't treating my body well.
- 38:39I wasn't able to take care of myself.
- 38:41So I think that it was very evident to people close around me that things were off for sure.
- 38:49I was barely able to have a conversation.
- 38:52I was barely working it.
- 38:53It was just, you were a part of that.
- 38:55Like it was, I wasn't right.
- 38:57I know and I had never said this to you before.
- 38:59I didn't know what to say to you.
- 39:00I didn't know what to do because I was afraid that anything I said or did would make it worse.
- 39:05Because I think when you're in a situation like this, nobody can pull you out of it.
- 39:10No.
- 39:10Which is the scary part because you can be mad at the people around you for not helping you, but yet the same time, you are the only one that can know I need to be pulled out of this.
- 39:22I know.
- 39:22It's a lot of, it's a lot of responsibility for you to put on yourself.
- 39:26It is To have to be the one to be like, help me.
- 39:28Yeah.
- 39:29And if you think about that, it's a lot of.
- 39:32Responsibility to put on yourself after you've just gone through a very like life altering event.
- 39:38Yeah.
- 39:38And really you're the only one that can flag and say, no, I'm really not okay.
- 39:43And also I wanna do something about not being okay.
- 39:47It's really just, it's a mental health problem.
- 39:49So if you think about any time that there's depression, addiction, that's always what they say, right?
- 39:56It's like you're the one that has to raise your hand and say I'm not okay and I need help.
- 40:02And so I think it is one of those things where I'm sure a lot of people around me noticed people had said things to me, but there was really nothing that could be done.
- 40:12But what kind of things would people say?
- 40:14People were asking like, they knew I wasn't, they knew I wasn't, right.
- 40:17I have talked about this, like I physically didn't look okay.
- 40:20I was very thin.
- 40:21But what would you say?
- 40:22I would say, I know I'm not okay.
- 40:24And I would say that I don't know how to help myself.
- 40:26Like people would offer, my family, my friends, what do you need?
- 40:30What could I do?
- 40:31And I was like, I don't know what you could do.
- 40:33Because what I need is sleep and I need to take care of myself.
- 40:37And even if people are offering, like we just said, if somebody would offer to come and take a night shift at my house, I still wasn't able, you could not accept that.
- 40:45I couldn't accept it.
- 40:46I couldn't accept the help.
- 40:48So I think really what it took was me getting to a point where I had to accept the help and I wanted to accept the help.
- 40:55I think some of it was me just continuing to take it on, and not really stopping and not prioritizing myself.
- 41:04And if I even allowed myself to think that way, there was immediate guilt and shame associated with it, which.
- 41:13It is sad to think about, in hindsight, but it really was the reality of what was happening to me.
- 41:19So can you pinpoint a time in your life where you felt like you were taking steps in the right direction?
- 41:26Yeah.
- 41:26I think it was around the six month postpartum mark where I said, okay, I want to go on medication.
- 41:36And the medication.
- 41:37And I did not agree with each other.
- 41:39I actually started to it.
- 41:40It's not for everybody.
- 41:40It's not for everybody.
- 41:41It's not for everybody.
- 41:42I'm a very sensitive person to medication, which I knew, which is why I held off on it at the beginning.
- 41:47But it did allow me to get some sleep because even though my daughter wasn't sleeping, I did go on an antidepressant and it made me.
- 41:57Very tired but it actually turned my mind off.
- 42:01Which was maybe, was that what you needed at that time to get through this hard part?
- 42:04I still was having interrupted sleep, but I started to get a little bit of okay I'm tired.
- 42:09So I was resting a little bit more, I think mentally.
- 42:12No sleep To interrupted sleep.
- 42:13Yes.
- 42:13Which a big difference.
- 42:14Which was difference.
- 42:14Like it was an improvement.
- 42:15And then I would say that kind of allowed me to at least start thinking a different way of just okay, I wanna do something about this.
- 42:27Maybe it's not the medication that's gonna be the answer.
- 42:30But I started to be like, I have to take control of this.
- 42:33And it at least allowed me to make steps in the right direction.
- 42:37And then I think that naturally when my daughter did start sleeping through the night.
- 42:42Which was huge on me.
- 42:44That just gave me the night.
- 42:46It also gave me like an evening.
- 42:47It gave me you got a routine.
- 42:49I got a routine.
- 42:49And you thrive on a routine.
- 42:50Yes.
- 42:51And so once I had, once I knew I was gonna have an evening,'cause my daughter was somebody who those are less spiraling thoughts once you know you're gonna have, do you see what I'm trying to get at?
- 43:01Yes.
- 43:02So what, what was happening to me again, back to the sleep, which I know I was harping on so much, but what was happening was my daughter would do one of three things, and I could laugh about this now.
- 43:12I would put her to bed and she wouldn't stay asleep, right?
- 43:15So that would kill my evening.
- 43:17Okay.
- 43:17Leo's asleep.
- 43:18She's asleep.
- 43:19I get to go decompress on the sofa with my husband.
- 43:22We get to watch a show, talk, eat dinner, have normalcy before going to bed.
- 43:27So if she didn't fall asleep, that prevented that from happening, which was like red flag number one.
- 43:35Red flag number two would be she would wake up in the middle of the night, so that would be also terrible because that would mean I would be up for in hopes would be one hour.
- 43:45It also could be several hours.
- 43:46She might not go back to sleep.
- 43:48It might be 5, 5 30 by the time she goes back to sleep.
- 43:51And now I can't go back to sleep'cause my son's gonna wake up soon so that would be like a horrendous night of sleep.
- 43:57Or she would wake up very early.
- 44:00Like her day would start at four or something.
- 44:02And so that would really kill me for the next day.
- 44:05So it was one of those three things was going on at all times.
- 44:09So once everything started regulating itself and I was able to have an evening, and then most of the time I would be able to sleep through the night or I would be able to like sleep in a little bit until he woke up.
- 44:20Everything started to fall into place.
- 44:22Like my body started to fall into place.
- 44:24I was hungry at the right times because I was actually sleeping.
- 44:28So I would wake up and I would want breakfast, and then at nighttime I would be able to eat a dinner.
- 44:33And so it, it sounds so silly, but it was like once things started getting yeah, into a rhythm again, when you weren't able to do simple things again, very simple things because you weren't able to sit and eat dinner because by the time dinner time was coming, you were already anxious about the sleepless night that was gonna be, and I was in survival mode ahead of you.
- 44:48And I think that what's important to recognize in any of these disorders is that when you have these intrusive, spiraling thoughts, it doesn't matter what they are.
- 44:57They take up all of your space.
- 44:59They take up all of the space, and then you're not prepared to do the hard things.
- 45:02Like you're not a weak person.
- 45:04You can do hard things.
- 45:05But you cannot do hard things when you constantly just have nonsense, just ruminating about your mind, taking over everything.
- 45:12Mm-hmm.
- 45:13And I think if I had to give my definition of what postpartum depression and anxiety is, it would be that Yes, I agree with that.
- 45:21I agree with that.
- 45:22And I think that when you have a newborn, there are so many unpredictables.
- 45:25Mm-hmm.
- 45:25And so many unknowns.
- 45:26And so many fears.
- 45:27And we also grew up, or millennials, we grew up in this age of perfectionism when everything needs to fit into a box and look a certain way and sound a certain way.
- 45:36And so we have that in the back of our mind.
- 45:40I've been very honest with you that I was not personally raised like that.
- 45:43My mom and I, my mom didn't really talk, use that language around me and my sisters like, you have to be good girls, quiet girls.
- 45:49See, not heard.
- 45:50But yet it was still the culture.
- 45:52Mm-hmm.
- 45:52In which I was brought up in.
- 45:53So now you know, you're trying to raise kids and you're trying to provide them organic, healthy meals and have things look good, sound good, feel good.
- 46:02It's a lot of pressure.
- 46:04Lot of pressure.
- 46:05Yes.
- 46:05It's a lot of Yes.
- 46:07Pressure.
- 46:07Agree.
- 46:07And you identify as somebody who is a little bit anxious.
- 46:12Perfection.
- 46:13And output.
- 46:13And output.
- 46:13And it has suiting you, it has suited you so well and so many areas of your life.
- 46:18But I think in motherhood, that trait is to your detriment.
- 46:21It's toxic in motherhood.
- 46:22It's a toxic trait.
- 46:23It's so true in motherhood.
- 46:24I, it's so true.
- 46:25I think that when you learn how to roll with it.
- 46:29That is probably the greatest gift you could give yourself and mother.
- 46:33Yep.
- 46:33And I, I totally don't you say agree.
- 46:34I totally agree.
- 46:35And I think that some of it does just'cause I wanna give hope to anybody Yes.
- 46:40Who's feeling this way and this, I think that this can come in any form.
- 46:44It doesn't have to be in motherhood.
- 46:45It could just be like that you're in a down place at the moment.
- 46:49Yeah.
- 46:49So it doesn't have to always relate back to motherhood, but there always will be a moment that clicks, where you're just like, you snap out of it and you, a lot of the times have to wait until you recognize that.
- 47:04And that's the hardest part of it.
- 47:05Yeah.
- 47:06And it's just one of those things where once you recognize it and you wanna do something about it.
- 47:12You're gonna do something about it.
- 47:13Yeah.
- 47:13And so once I started getting a little bit of sleep, and once I started to prioritize taking care of myself, I was able to think clearer and I was able to then make the next move.
- 47:24It's like just like a list, right?
- 47:26And I am like a list person.
- 47:28It's okay, once you do this, once you do A, then you can do B.
- 47:32And then once you do B, you can do C and D.
- 47:33And you know it, it's like it just, everything starts to click into place.
- 47:37And once things started to click into place, then I was able to ask for help and receive it and be okay with it.
- 47:45I think it's good that you are referencing the list to the A, B, C, and D, because if you are still in it, if you are still not sleeping and unwell and you try to skip a few steps, you're gonna end up, you can't.
- 47:57You can't.
- 47:58And sometimes.
- 47:59This is a time game.
- 48:01It's a waiting game.
- 48:02It's a waiting game.
- 48:03And that time in between does not feel good.
- 48:05But I think if you just recognize sometimes that this is gonna be a hard time.
- 48:09Yep.
- 48:10And you will get on the other side of it.
- 48:12And then when you get on the other side of it, something else can come your way.
- 48:15Maybe you'll be more equipped for that next thing.
- 48:17But you have to just take it step by step.
- 48:19You have to take it a day at a time.
- 48:21It's like a snowball in the, in a good way.
- 48:23In a good way.
- 48:24Where it's okay, things will start to build and things start working because you're on the right path and things start clicking back into place.
- 48:31It's really hard when you're going through it.
- 48:33And honestly, I wish that I could be one of those people that say'cause my mantra is this is temporary.
- 48:40But when I was in it.
- 48:42It didn't matter that it was temporary, it was what was happening right now and it's hard to live in that temporary space.
- 48:50If you're absolutely miserable and you're struggling and you also hope that this would be like the happiest time of your life, know it's a really hard guilt.
- 49:01That's back to that guilt and that pressure and that society telling you these should be the best days.
- 49:06Yeah, technically they should be the best days, right?
- 49:08But if you are unwell, they're gonna be really hard days.
- 49:12They are, yeah.
- 49:12And you know what?
- 49:13Maybe they'll be better days ahead and they are they are.
- 49:15And I think that now that I am on the other side, and we did say this at the beginning, where sometimes you take a steps forward and you feel so proud and then you'll have a setback where you feel, I think that's just part of life, right?
- 49:28Yeah.
- 49:28Where it's just things ebb and flow and that's okay.
- 49:32You also have to learn to embrace that and ride with it and roll with it.
- 49:36But I think you're getting really good at it.
- 49:38Even right now in like this new phase that you're in with preschool drop off and work.
- 49:44And a little one.
- 49:44That's a huge change Yeah.
- 49:46That you've endured this past month and I think you're handling it really well.
- 49:49I thank you and I'm proud of you for even thank you for saying that.
- 49:51No, it's true.
- 49:52And I think that this could have been another thing that could have set you back.
- 49:55Yeah.
- 49:55Back 20 paces.
- 49:57Yeah.
- 49:57But it hasn't.
- 49:58You're like, oh, okay.
- 49:59It's practice.
- 50:00This is hard, right?
- 50:00Yep.
- 50:01Yep.
- 50:01This is new, but you can do it.
- 50:03I can do it.
- 50:04Like That's really important that you've these hard times that you've endured, have prepared you for, I don't wanna say these hard times now, but Right.
- 50:12New times.
- 50:13Uncomfortable times.
- 50:14Yeah.
- 50:14I think that also, just remembering that every postpartum experience could be different.
- 50:20Yeah.
- 50:20They are.
- 50:20Ours looks different.
- 50:21And it's interesting that both of us had a.
- 50:24Easier first postpartum experience, and then harder, second or third postpartum experiences.
- 50:31But that could also be true for the opposite, where you might have a hard postpartum experience, especially like if you always, this could be a whole other podcast episode, but like the adjustment from zero to one kids, to one, to two, to th you know, two, right?
- 50:47Two and beyond.
- 50:47Like people have different experiences.
- 50:50And so if you had a hard first postpartum experience, it doesn't mean that you're gonna have a second hard time experience.
- 50:57And so it really is just, it's different, but it's different for everybody.
- 51:02It's different for everybody.
- 51:04Like closest friends had postpartum with the first one.
- 51:08And didn't know she had it until very, very far along.
- 51:12And her doctor flagged her for her second one.
- 51:15So she had therapy immediately, like right after she Wow.
- 51:19Delivered the second baby.
- 51:20They started her on Zoom.
- 51:21'cause they knew therapy.
- 51:22They had such a close watch to her and I really respect the way they treated her through that second pregnancy because they treated it very it was delicate, important and delicate.
- 51:32And I don't think everybody has access to it and sometimes even when you have access to it, it's still doesn't make it better.
- 51:39Yeah.
- 51:39So I guess, but my next question would be, and this is rhetorical, but what would, what do you say to somebody if.
- 51:48You know that somebody that you love is going through something like this, or you're unsure if they are, but something seems off yeah.
- 51:55I think that's a very good question because I, and I even admitted, I didn't know what to say to you.
- 51:59Because I thought anything that I was gonna say was gonna make it worse.
- 52:03And the last thing you wanna do is put another, you don't wanna task somebody with something and you also don't wanna give something a name if somebody's not ready to hear it.
- 52:12Like a label.
- 52:13I see you're going through a hard time.
- 52:14Do you think you could have baby blues?
- 52:16Or I need to get you out of this house.
- 52:19I've been there.
- 52:21I need to get you outta here.
- 52:22You were one of those people for me where you physically came to my house, you physically put the baby in the car and you physically put the stroller in the car.
- 52:30We were like, do you remember?
- 52:31We were like in, we were at the coffee shop trying to figure out how to get the stroll.
- 52:35You like threw it in the car, didn't even care if it collapsed.
- 52:37You were like, we're getting out of the house.
- 52:40This is important.
- 52:41So sometimes you just need to try to step up and take over.
- 52:44I know.
- 52:44I think when you're trying to offer somebody something, you can't ask, right?
- 52:51Sometimes you have to just do right?
- 52:53Not what can I get you from Starbucks?
- 52:54Here's the Starbucks or what can I get you from Chopped?
- 52:59Here is the lunch.
- 53:00Or sometimes you have to like.
- 53:02Start there with the person.
- 53:03And just offer a nice, just do I like that Nice caring act, and just do.
- 53:07Sometimes just the doing is just enough for the person on the receiving end to maybe open up a little bit to be like, okay, that person sees me.
- 53:17Maybe they see I'm having a hard time.
- 53:19Maybe now I can tell them.
- 53:20You know what I mean?
- 53:20Yep.
- 53:21For sure.
- 53:21So I guess that would be my advice, is just try to do something.
- 53:26And then I think that this is so common, and then it's another conversation that I want to normalize, like I wish was normalized, just that this is very common if you are experiencing this, if you know somebody who you think might be experiencing this, it shouldn't be a shameful thing.
- 53:44No.
- 53:44And it should be one of those things that.
- 53:47Is normalized.
- 53:48It's another one of those, I keep using the word like pathetic things that goes on in our healthcare where it's overlooked and there's not enough information on it and there's not enough normalization on it.
- 53:59But we hope that having these conversations like gets you more comfortable with recognizing and opening yourself up and having these conversations with your friends and family.
- 54:09But if you do suspect that you have had one of these things, currently have one of these issues, please don't wait to talk about it.
- 54:20You can talk about it with your doctor.
- 54:21You could talk about it with your friends and family, right?
- 54:24Very well said.
- 54:26Very well said.
- 54:27Oh, and also, there's no shame in your game.
- 54:30No.
- 54:32I'm a happy person.
- 54:33I'm a vibrant, happy person.
- 54:35I love life.
- 54:36I am a lover, a true lover of life.
- 54:38And I dealt with this.
- 54:39I still deal, I still deal with intrusive thoughts and anxiety.
- 54:42Yep.
- 54:42But you don't have to be like a mopey person or a sad person to have this.
- 54:48You could be happy and ha and be peppy and have this affect you.
- 54:52It doesn't, you don't have to fit in a box to have habits.
- 54:55It's, that is so true and so well said.
- 54:56And I think that if I have anything that I can give away or take away, or if I can share anything with a listener, is that you can work through this, you can work past this.
- 55:07I think different tools work for different people.
- 55:09Some people it is medication, some people it is the cognitive behavioral therapy.
- 55:13To help retrain your thought thoughts.
- 55:15Sometimes it's just like what Christina said, time and waiting, step by step.
- 55:19You were in it for the long game.
- 55:21Yep.
- 55:21I to I That is so well said.
- 55:24And I think that we can transition into our pink spotlight from here because we wanted to keep these on theme too.
- 55:31Yeah.
- 55:31With like maybe something that you're doing or something that has helped you during this process.
- 55:37So our pink spotlight is our like little mantra or tip or recommendation, something that you would tell your friend this week.
- 55:44What's going well?
- 55:45What's working for you?
- 55:46And.
- 55:47Mine this week is actually something that I've put into practice and I can't say that I've been, it's not consistent, but I figured out a way to hopefully make it a little bit more consistent.
- 55:59But I'm somebody that needs to practice gratitude.
- 56:03I don't wanna say I'm not grateful for things.
- 56:05I am grateful for things, but sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm grateful for things because I can get, especially since dealing with postpartum depression, I can get myself all worked up about all the negative things.
- 56:18And I need to remind myself of all of the positive things that I do have and how lucky I am in my life.
- 56:26And i've used the gratitude journal before, like I've bought one off of Amazon where I like physically write.
- 56:32I think that there's something so magical about like pen to paper and writing it down, but I'm also in a very that's not practical stage of my life.
- 56:41I'm not always at my nightstand where I can pull out my gratitude journal and sometimes I wanna dump my brain, right?
- 56:47Like I just wanna I wanna just write it down.
- 56:49So I made a notes page on my phone.
- 56:52I'm a big list person because that's what works for you.
- 56:53That's what works for me.
- 56:54And that's also means that I can do my gratitude at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, wherever I am.
- 57:01When you're feeling grateful, when you're feeling inspired, when I have, you can share that into your notes page you have so I access to it.
- 57:07Yep.
- 57:07So I wrote, I made a separate little note on my phone and it's called Gratitude.
- 57:12And I have a morning and an evening section, and I have under the morning it says, today, I am grateful for, and I feel that out will share something.
- 57:21I wanna hear something you're grateful for.
- 57:22I'll you what I wrote.
- 57:24Today.
- 57:25So I said today I'm grateful for the ability to check on my health because I did end up taking our own advice on this podcast and I did a full hormone panel and GI Map through Holistic Health Code.
- 57:39And I'm waiting for the results Tott blood work done.
- 57:42I cannot wait.
- 57:42I have to do a urine test and a GI map, so it's extensive.
- 57:47So it's gonna take me the next couple of weeks to get through all of those things.
- 57:50But I had just done the blood work.
- 57:52And so I'm very thankful that I have the ability to check on my health and i'm looking forward to knowing those results.
- 57:58And then it says one thing that I'm looking forward to and we're having like a beautiful, sunny forecast the next couple of days.
- 58:05So I'm just very grateful for the beautiful weather.
- 58:08The kids and I are outside all the time and it's just been really nice.
- 58:11I need that too, and a reminder that I want to carry with me today.
- 58:15So those are my three for the morning, and I had said to remind myself that everything is temporary.
- 58:22I had been feeling like very rundown.
- 58:24I thought I was getting sick and I started to spiral oh no.
- 58:28But I started to feel better and I was like, okay, that's a good reminder.
- 58:31Like everything is temporary, even if it's you're sick.
- 58:34Sick.
- 58:34It's couple days, it's right.
- 58:36It's, you'll get through it.
- 58:37It's temporary.
- 58:37Because you've gotten sick before.
- 58:39Yep.
- 58:39And you've gotten better and you've come outta the other side of it.
- 58:41You've come outta the other side.
- 58:42There is power in hard things happening to you.
- 58:45Yep.
- 58:45Yep.
- 58:45And then in the evening, a moment that made me smile today, so this was from last night.
- 58:51I said I actually was holding Layla in my arms after her nighttime routine.
- 58:57Like she has her milk when we're reading a book.
- 59:00And I was, this is actually funny that this was last night.
- 59:03'cause I didn't know what we were gonna talk about today, but I was rocking her after we were reading her book.
- 59:08And I like happened to look down at her and I was like, wow.
- 59:10First of all, she has gotten so big.
- 59:11She is.
- 59:12She is so big.
- 59:12Almost.
- 59:13She's 20.
- 59:14Is she 21 months?
- 59:15She's so big.
- 59:15Something around there.
- 59:17She's almost two.
- 59:18She's almost two.
- 59:18So she has just gotten so big.
- 59:19Like I looked down at her and I was like, you look like a little girl.
- 59:21It's crazy.
- 59:22She does.
- 59:22And I thought to myself, I used to be so scared of her bedtime because I didn't know what the night was gonna bring.
- 59:30And.
- 59:31Now it's literally the best part of my day.
- 59:35And I didn't even know what we were gonna talk about today.
- 59:37So that's just interesting that happened to my, it was meant to be.
- 59:40That was meant to be.
- 59:40It was meant to be.
- 59:41And then I share one small win I had for the day.
- 59:44So yesterday, last night, I ha I had shared that all my projects for work were approved.
- 59:49Over the last couple of weeks I've been doing like a lot of content creation and I had to submit a lot of stuff for projects coming up.
- 59:54Yeah, you've been, and I got like the green check of okay, everything's good to go.
- 59:58And so I was just relieved for that work kind of accomplishment.
- 1:00:02And then it says, tonight I'm grateful for extra unwind time because because my husband had done my son's bedtime last night.
- 1:00:09Leo's bedtime.
- 1:00:10So I got to put Layla to bed and then who I like extra time was, I had extra time.
- 1:00:15He put Leo to bed.
- 1:00:16Leo goes to bed a little bit later than her.
- 1:00:18Oh, I see what you're saying.
- 1:00:18So I got like a little bit of extra unwind time.
- 1:00:20Then he came down, we got unwind time, but I started doing this.
- 1:00:25A couple of weeks ago and I've been able to keep it in my phone.
- 1:00:28So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna put my little format in the show notes.
- 1:00:33You can copy and paste it into your notes.
- 1:00:34Love, if you wanna do gratitude journal.
- 1:00:36I love what a great thing to practice and I'm not great at it like I do ha it is something I have to do, but I also keep it running so I don't delete it.
- 1:00:45I just put the date and then I just keep, and it's journaling.
- 1:00:47Two, you're showing yourself what you and I can look back like now.
- 1:00:50I was just able to look back and see what I wrote.
- 1:00:51So sometimes you'll don't show gratitude until something bad happens.
- 1:00:56Yes.
- 1:00:56And you're like, oh my God.
- 1:00:58I'm so grateful for the air in my lungs and the fact that I can go for this walk and why am I being so hard on myself for not getting to my bar class and lifting those heavy weights?
- 1:01:08I should just be lucky that I can walk.
- 1:01:09If you see somebody who you can't walk.
- 1:01:11Yep.
- 1:01:11So I think getting into a practice just every day, just showing these simple things that you're grateful for.
- 1:01:17I think is a good reminder of you putting one foot in front of the other.
- 1:01:20I totally agree.
- 1:01:21And this makes it nice and easy and so I don't make it like, oh, if I don't do it in the morning where I'm upstairs by my nightstand, this makes it like you had said, like it's at any point of the day when you have a second to fill it out.
- 1:01:32Even I think one of the days I did two in, I did one in the afternoon and then one a few hours later for the same day.
- 1:01:39But it's like yeah.
- 1:01:39You were feeling inspired.
- 1:01:40I think when you're any new routine, you have to work it into your day and work for you.
- 1:01:43Exactly.
- 1:01:43So this makes it nice and easy so you guys can do it too.
- 1:01:46Aws, what about you's?
- 1:01:49So I guess mine is a little bit more of a mantra, okay.
- 1:01:54That I've said to myself over and over again when I wasn't feeling well and I didn't know what it was called at the time, but I was just kept saying I'm not feeling well.
- 1:02:05I don't feel well.
- 1:02:06I don't feel right.
- 1:02:07I don't like this.
- 1:02:08I think that if you don't feel right.
- 1:02:13I think it's more important for you to recognize how you feel.
- 1:02:16That's like the first step.
- 1:02:17Recognize how you feel.
- 1:02:19And then the second part that I wanna emphasize is that you can change it.
- 1:02:23And I always tell myself, you have the power to change this before you change it.
- 1:02:28You have to sit in it though.
- 1:02:29So I just want to share that message with you.
- 1:02:32Because every time now that I'm feeling unwell, that's like my feeling.
- 1:02:36I sit in the feeling okay, I don't feel well, and then after I've sat in it, then I tell myself, but you can change it.
- 1:02:44So you can't change it right away.
- 1:02:45So if I'm sick and I have a cold.
- 1:02:47Okay.
- 1:02:48You're sick.
- 1:02:48You have a cold, recognize how you're feeling.
- 1:02:50Okay.
- 1:02:50Sit in that feeling in it.
- 1:02:51Yep.
- 1:02:52Instead of immediately jumping to fix it, just sit in that for a minute and then tell yourself.
- 1:02:58But you have the power to change it.
- 1:02:59This won't last forever.
- 1:03:01This is temporary.
- 1:03:02Yeah.
- 1:03:02And I think that having power and knowing that.
- 1:03:05Has really helped me and makes it easier to think Yeah, because anything like I could be hangry.
- 1:03:10Okay.
- 1:03:11I'm going to eat now.
- 1:03:12I can fix it.
- 1:03:13I can change it, but I think the first step is oh, I'm hungry.
- 1:03:16Like just simple feelings.
- 1:03:17Simple.
- 1:03:18I know.
- 1:03:18You have to sit in them for a minute.
- 1:03:19Yeah.
- 1:03:20Because I think when you're like a cat on a hot stove, like jumping to the next thing, then you never address how you're feeling.
- 1:03:27And then you never give yourself permission to understand and appreciate that you can change.
- 1:03:32So I think that second part often gets forgotten.
- 1:03:35Because these feelings are not permanent.
- 1:03:37You can overcome them and you can change them.
- 1:03:40I like that.
- 1:03:40So I think that's my little Oh, that's good tip.
- 1:03:42That I am so helpful that I'm living in, yeah.
- 1:03:45Right now.
- 1:03:45I love that.
- 1:03:45Guys, it's been so nice.
- 1:03:47I know we've had a lot of guests.
- 1:03:49It was me and t all summer, and then we had a bunch of guests the last couple of weeks, so it was nice to sit and the next coming weeks, we have guests coming up too.
- 1:03:55So yes, we have some guests coming up.
- 1:03:57We've already filmed them, we've interviewed them.
- 1:03:59We filmed with Christina's good friend Maria Roberts.
- 1:04:01Who, if you don't follow her, first of all, she's so cute.
- 1:04:03She's adorable.
- 1:04:05She is at Maria Roberts on Instagram, and so we said this at the beginning of the episode, but you've probably sent one of her mom humor reels to one of your friends or one of the, your friends have sent them to you because she's viral all the time because she's so relatable and so funny, and it's just, we always say it's like she's one of us, yeah.
- 1:04:25And so we're so excited.
- 1:04:26That's a really lighthearted conversation, and she's so interesting and has such an interesting backstory on how she got into this kind of field and of content creation.
- 1:04:35So that's gonna be a really fun one.
- 1:04:37Yeah.
- 1:04:37And then after that we have Dr.
- 1:04:39Fiona Keho, who is a neuropsychologist, and she talks about.
- 1:04:44A DHD versus mom brain and a DHD and adolescent.
- 1:04:48So like in our children and how it presents and what that neuropsychological evaluation looks like versus what, when it's gone, when it's gone undiagnosed for maybe our generation and how it manifests in adulthood and what sort of the differences between having that cloudy mom brain, versus when those thoughts should subside and.
- 1:05:11The other things stay and when it is actually an official diagnosis.
- 1:05:14Yeah.
- 1:05:14So we have two really great conversations.
- 1:05:16Those interviews were very different.
- 1:05:18I know.
- 1:05:18Very different.
- 1:05:19Very different, but both really good ones.
- 1:05:21Yep.
- 1:05:21And we wanna hear from you.
- 1:05:22We have, we've been getting such great feedback from you guys.
- 1:05:26You continue to text us and DM US episode ideas.
- 1:05:29But if you have any episode ideas or any guests that you guys want us to interview Yeah, we will make it happen.
- 1:05:35We're gonna track'em down.
- 1:05:36Yeah.
- 1:05:36Let us know.
- 1:05:37We'll make it happen.
- 1:05:38So let us know and it was so great to catch up with you guys and we will see you next week.
- 1:05:43See you next week.
- 1:05:44Bye.
- 1:05:45Bye.