I wanted to share this exciting news with you!  If you haven’t heard about the Text4baby initiative let me tell you a little bit about it.  This is a brand new, totally free and first health education program in the U.S. of its kind to use one of the most widely-used technologies in America–the cell phone– to deliver timely information on maternal and infant health to women through pregnancy and through the first year postpartum.

Signing up for the service is easy.  All you have to do is text “BABY”(or “BEBE” in Spanish) to 511411.  Those who sign up for the service will receive three text messages weekly on their cell phone.  The timing and duration of the text messages will be based on the woman’s due date.  Topics covered by the messages include—but are not limited to—birth defect prevention, nutrition and  importance of sleep for the expectant/new mom, depression (during pregnancy and postpartum) and the Postpartum Support International (PSI) toll-free number to call if an expectant or new mom (up to 1^st year postpartum) feels sad anxious or hopeless, a reminder to schedule appointments with the pediatrician for checkups and immunizations, and breastfeeding (including a toll-free number to call for support in their community).

Yes, that’s right.  PSI is an outreach partner of text4baby, which means that texts related to mom’s mental health will connect women to PSI resources.  This ground-breaking inclusion of mental health messages in this program will help reduce stigma around, minimize risk for, and increase awareness about perinatal mood disorders.

Organizers hope this initiative can help decrease the number of premature births, which can be caused by poor nutrition, excessive stress, and smoking.  As I’d mentioned back in November during Prematurity Awareness Month, one in eight babies born in the U.S. is premature (coincidentally, postpartum depression rate is one in eight new mothers), and the rate of premature birth in America (approximately 500,000 a year) is higher than that of most other developed nations).  Premature birth is the #1 killer of newborns during the first month of life, with approximately 28,000 infants dying before their first birthdays.  For those that survive the first year, all too many end up facing serious health challenges and lifelong disabilities.  What is alarming is the fact that the rate of premature birth is increasing (i.e., it has increased 31% since 1981).  In half the cases, the cause of premature birth is not known, which is why we need to unite in our effort to raise awareness, raise funding and promote research efforts to prevent premature births!

With approximately 90% of Americans possessing a cell phone and texting especially prevalent among women of childbearing age and minority populations (who face higher infant mortality rates), organizers believe—and hope—that texting will prove to be an effective means of delivering maternal and infant wellness tips. 

Text4baby is made possible thanks to a unique collaboration of organizations in both the public and private sector, including wireless carriers, as well as federal, state and local agencies, like the White House Office on Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The text4baby wireless carriers are voluntarily distributing the text messages to recipients at no charge.  Visit the text4baby website for a complete list of sponsors and participating wireless carriers.

For more information:

• Visit the text4baby website
• View the Public Service Announcement of Sherri Shepard, co-host of THE VIEW, encouraging mothers to sign up for the service
• Visit the White House Blog
• Susan Stone’s Perinatal Pro Blog

Nearly a year ago, Kristin Davis of the blog PPD Survivor and I first pitched the idea of writing an article about postpartum depression (PPD) for our alma mater’s alumnae quarterly magazine.  Mt. Holyoke College (MHC) is one of the Seven Sisters, which were all at one point all-women’s colleges.  MHC is still an all-women’s college.  The other six colleges are Smith, Wellesley, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Radcliffe, and Vassar. 

We are proud to say that the winter issue has just been published, and we are very excited about this opportunity to share our experiences with our fellow MHC sisters.  We thought, what better way to reach such a large and international group of women regarding PPD–a condition that is experienced by one out of eight new mothers and yet is still so stigmatized, misdiagnosed, undertreated and misunderstood–than through the alumnae magazine that gets mailed out to all alumnae?

To view this article, of which Kristin and I are really proud and happy to have worked on together, please click here.  It starts on page 12.  There will also be a community board to enable alumnae to pose questions and have discussions on an ongoing basis about perinatal mood disorders.  Such a great opportunity to empower and educate.  I’m so pleased!

Many thanks to fellow alum Marg Stark who joined us in sharing her experience in this article.  Thanks, also, to the editorial board of the Alumnae Quarterly for realizing the importance of this topic and working with us to make this article possible.

I was about to head off to bed shortly but when I realized that one of my favorite blogs, All Work and No Play Makes Mommy Go Something Something, nominated me with a “When Life Hands You Lemons” blog award, I decided to put this post together really quickly…seeing how many of my favorite blogs were already nominated.

Thank you, Kimberly!   =)

The rules for this award are simple:

I am to thank the giver of the award and link to their blog (see above).   I am supposed to share 5 things about myself.  And I am supposed to link to 5 new blogging recipients of my choosing and notify them.

Here goes….

1.  I am an ABC…or American-Born Chinese.  Because Mandarin Chinese was the only thing my parents spoke to me for the first five years of my existence, I can speak Mandarin Chinese fluently.  I am very proud of my ethnicity.  But all my life I’ve found myself to be caught somewhat “on the fence,” so to speak.  Neither completely Chinese–like a lot of people I know who are born overseas and come to the states in their teens–nor completely Americanized–like the so-called “bananas” or “twinkies” or yellow on the outside and white on the inside. 

2.  I love to travel.  My favorite travel destinations are Australia (been there twice), Santorini (Greece), Italy, and the Caribbean (my favorite island is Aruba and hope to visit the BVI someday soon).  I long to go back to Italy and Australia some day, plus see the Galapagos.  I really LOVE warm weather and blue water–and being able to kayak and snorkle–and I can REALLY use them both right now.  Getting tired of the cold weather!

3.  Speaking of the BVI, I dream of sailing in the BVI someday with my family.  Before I settled down, I used to do 1-week cruises through the cruising club of the Offshore Sailing School as much as I could afford and find time to do.   I sailed the Whitsunday Islands of Australia, one way from St. Lucia to Grenada, and the Abacos Islands of the Bahamas.  Nowadays, the cruising club doesn’t do these trips any longer, unfortunately.

4.  I love music and dance.  The former I appreciate through singing (I used to sing in choirs from the time I was in elementary school til a few years after I graduated from college and became a member of The Collegiate Chorale in New York City) and watching Broadway musicals.  The latter I appreciate through watching (not dancing myself, since I never learned how to dance) the spectacular moves of dancers on such shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Groovaloos.”  My favorite dance styles are contemporary and hip hop.

5.  I am a rather sentimental person…and as such, I tend to hold onto a lot of things that cause my house to be rather cluttered.  Yes, I am a clutter-bug.  I find it hard to even part with old Christmas cards I’ve received through the years.  And that would be a lot of cards because each year I get a lot (since I send a lot).  I can’t throw anything out.  I’d rather have garage sales and ask my brother to sell things through e-Bay than throw any possessions out.    Oh, and did I mention that I’m a recycling fanatic?  I recycle all paper products (probably types of papers I’m not supposed to recycle), all plastic, all glass, all cans.  I get REALLY bent out of shape when I see a recyclable item in the regular garbage can at work.  I will reach into the garbage can, take out that item(s), and throw it into the proper bin. 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Now for my choices…all of which are wonderful women!  In no particular order…

Unexpected Blessing

Belly Laughs

Life with PPD 

Sophie in the Moonlight

PPD Survivor (author Kristin Davis and fellow college alumna – I have to thank her again for motivating me to start my blog in the first place!)

I had a very enjoyable long weekend…that is, up until Sunday night when all of a sudden I didn’t feel myself at all.  Then, come Monday, I really wasn’t myself, period.   My hubby and I went out to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants.  I was able to enjoy the food but as soon as I got home, I napped.  And I’m not usually one for napping, either.  I didn’t just nap for 30 minutes, I napped for over 2 hours.  After I got up, I felt myself start to go on this downward spiral of ultra sensitivity, where my feelings were easily hurt and I was quick to tear up or become angry.    I said to myself  “Whoa, I must be going through PMS.  This is one of the worst cases of fatigue and moodiness I’ve experienced in a very long time.  This is really unsettling.”  I don’t know for sure but would bet money that PMS was the culprit.  For someone who hasn’t had a single period since I lost my uterus three days after my daughter was born over 5 years ago, knowing when to expect PMS isn’t that easy anymore.  The average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days from Day 1 of a woman’s period until her next period begins.  That used to be the magic number for me.  I was so regular, that I used to be able to easily predict when my next period was going to be. 

Ever since I started reading up on postpartum depression (PPD), I’ve become very familiar with the risk factors.  One of the risk factors is a personal history of PMDD, or premenstrual dysphoric disorder.   Since I ended up with PPD after the birth of my daughter, I’ve asked myself whether I had PMS or PMDD all those years when I had my period.  Now, I know that what I had was PMS, not PMDD.  Nevertheless, I still developed PPD…..but that’s because of a number of other risk factors (see previous post) that played a part in why I succumbed to it.

Before each period, I used to only feel physical discomfort (bloated legs, swollen and painful breasts) and to some extent (nothing major) irritability, moodiness and occasional teariness.  A few days before my period, I tended to feel irritable for no particular reason at all or for very trivial things.  I would get teary easily from watching a slightly moving scene in a TV show or movie or from reading a newspaper article or book.  As soon as my period began, it almost felt like a physical weight was being lifted off my shoulders and I felt free again.  The shroud of irritability was lifted and I felt oh so much lighter!  I almost always had to take Advil for very bad cramps on the first 1-2 days of my period.  

I used to be unsure of what PMS truly was because I’d hear such varying degrees of physical and emotional symptoms from different women.  People always seem to joke about PMS (“it’s that time of month, watch out”), not realizing how much power hormones could wield on a woman’s psyche.  From the start of puberty, a woman’s life is predominantly under hormonal control from the time she starts puberty all the way through menopause.  In order to understand PMS, PMDD and PPD, you must understand and appreciate the extent to which a woman’s body will undergo physical and hormonal changes throughout her reproductive life. 

Knowing what I know now about the differences between PMS and PMDD, I now know that what I used to get–and what I occasionally still get today, even without a uterus–is PMS.  Anxiety never increased right before my period, nor did my premenstrual symptoms ever interfere with my day-to-day functioning.   

What is PMS?

Menstruation happens from estrogen levels dropping due to the lack of a fertilized egg implanting in the uterine lining. PMS is basically the physical, psychological and emotional symptoms that start up about two weeks before and end with the start of menstruation. The common physical symptoms of PMS include breast tenderness, abdominal bloating/cramps, swelling of extremities, and fatigue.  Common mood-related symptoms include irritability, tearfulness, mood swings, and angry outbursts.  Per Deborah Sichel’s and Jeanne Watson Driscoll’s “Women’s Moods: What Every Woman Must Know About Hormones, the Brain, and Emotional Health” (pg. 123), studies have shown that 30-70% of women experience some degree of premenstrual symptoms, many of which are moderate and only mildly debilitating and which don’t amount to PMDD.

What is PMDD?

The symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), on the other hand—experienced by less than 5% of menstruating women—include significant mood disturbances that are significant enough to interfere with your day-to-day functioning.  Physical symptoms and discomfort ranging from bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, hot flashes, malaise, and fatigue do not constitute PMDD unless there is also some kind of debilitating mood disturbance, such as despair, anxiety, loss of interest and motivation, loss of appetite, and/or sleep disturbance.  In fact, the symptoms of PMDD are similar to those of clinical depression and PPD, and those who experience PMDD may also experience mood disorders during pregnancy and postpartum. 

Hormones and Mood

All women experience hormone fluctuations during menstrual cycles, but only some women complain about PMS.  All women experience a significant drop in hormones at childbirth, but all women do not experience postpartum blues.  Much like the fact that dust, pollen and ragweed are in the air everywhere, everyone is not allergic to them.  What determines whether you are allergic is not the pollen or ragweed itself but the individual’s sensitivity to them. For some women, mood disturbances associated with the menstrual cycle and childbirth are believed to be triggered by hormonal fluctuations, and have a tendency to experience PMS (or in more serious cases PMDD when there is anxiety, insomnia and other symptoms of depression) and PPD, respectively.

Both adolescent girls and boys, in their transition to adulthood, experience physical and psychological changes in their appearance as a result of reproductive hormones.  The reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone cause breasts, menstruation and sex drive to develop for girls, and testosterone causes sperm production and sex drive for boys.  All these changes occur in preparation for that transition from childhood to adulthood, which is referred to as adolescence, or puberty.  As Ruta Nonacs mentions in her book A Deeper Shade of Blue: A Woman’s Guide to Recognizing and Treating Depression in Her Childbearing Years, if you look at the facts—that the rates of depression in girls is comparable to that of boys until they increase between the ages of eleven and thirteen, which is when puberty begins, and by the age of fifteen girls are twice as likely to suffer from depression than boys—it’s no wonder scientists postulate a correlation between reproductive hormones and depression in women.  A woman remains at greater risk for depression than a man throughout her reproductive years.  Per Deborah Sichel’s and Jeanne Watson Driscoll’s “Women’s Moods: What Every Woman Must Know About Hormones, the Brain, and Emotional Health” (pg 50): “A woman’s brain carries countless receptor sites for the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, where they can fasten and exert their effects far from the cells that made and secreted them.  There are estrogen and progesterone receptors all over the brain, but they can be found most densely in the limbic area [otherwise known as the control center for moods and emotions, as such] estrogen and progesterone can induce changes in all the neurochemical pathways involved in mood disturbances.”  It’s whenever the levels of estrogen and progesterone decline—i.e., 2 weeks prior to each menstrual period, at childbirth and postpartum, and menopause—that seems to have a correlation with mood disturbances and depression.   

To sum up, it’s the reproductive hormones—which come into play during the entire span of a woman’s reproductive life with puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum, breastfeeding, perimenopause and menopause—that set women apart from men and represent all of the key vulnerable times in a woman’s life. 

Importance of Early Education: 

Since there is a correlation between hormones and depression/anxiety, particularly during the adolescent years, high schools should have classes that educate young teenagers about the changes their bodies will go through and why.  Perhaps education can lower the number of teens who:

• do not know why they are going through such emotional and physical changes
•  feel isolated from ignorance about the changes they are going through
•  experience a serious bout(s) of depression that will increase a girl’s risk for PPD later in life
• commit suicide

Perhaps education will also, at the same time, lead to more teens knowing:

• how and where to get help
• none of this is their fault
• they will get past this
• they are not alone as there are many other teens who also experience what they’re going through

It is important to educate teenage girls on the difference between PMS and PMDD, how PMDD is a risk factor for PPD, and what is PPD.  It’s never too early to educate, especially when a person’s mental and physical wellbeing are at stake!

Calling all Massachusetts residents who care about the health of mothers and their families…… 

Here is a great opportunity to help make a difference with respect to postpartum legislation.  Attend a hearing on postpartum legislation at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, January 27, 2010, at the State House (Gardner Auditorium) in Boston.  Show your support for this potentially groundbreaking legislation by attending the hearing, as well as a press event taking place there prior to the hearing.

State Rep. Ellen Story of Amherst will be presenting House Bill 3897: An Act Relative to Post-Partum Depression before the Committee on Financial Services.  This bill provides for screening, referrals, education on PPD (not only families but health/mental healthcare practitioners), and even a home-visiting program for at-risk women.  Organizations, such as MotherWoman, support this legislation.

For more information, please contact Liz Friedman at liz@motherwoman.org.

Yes, that’s right, the MOTHERS Act has been successfully included and passed in the Senate version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act–otherwise known as the Senate version of Healthcare Reform–thanks to the efforts of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez!  

And what better news to hear in the beginning of a New Year (and a new decade to boot)!

We are closer than ever before to our goal of spreading awareness of and better understanding and protecting against postpartum mood disorders that can have all too many negative–and sometimes tragic–consequences on the mother, partner and baby.

For more information about the bill and what is ahead to make it officially a part of U.S. legislation, please check out Susan Stone’s latest blog post.

If you haven’t done so already, please add your name to the petition !  I have faith that this bill will pass.  So many people are counting on it!

“Theories about what causes colic–a baby’s underdeveloped nervous system, underdeveloped digestive tract, milk protein intolerance, swallowed air–are as varied as treatments (heating pads, antigas medicine, enemas, hypoallergenic formulas, vibrating cribs, baby holding methods, white noise). While there is no consensus on what causes colic, a number of researchers and pediatric gastroenterologists are beginning to see colic as a normal part of early development combined with a sensitive temperament rather than an abnormality or a sign of pain.” – Los Angeles Times article “Colic May Just be a Normal Part of Baby’s Development” by Kathleen Kelleher

I’m sharing the following information on colic with you so you won’t be caught off guard like I was.  Again, knowledge is power.  Ignorance is what causes fear and anxiety, which in turn can contribute toward postpartum depression (PPD) when you’re exhausted from not lining up resources in advance to provide support so you don’t get too exhausted. 

Lack of awareness of what colic is will only cause first-time parents who happen to have a baby with colic fear that something is terribly wrong with their baby.  It’s through educating, anticipating and preparing for the possibility of such things as colic—among other things such as cradle cap, eczema, reflux, allergies to milk, and the startle response—that would empower expectant parents (before their babies are born) with knowledge, thereby removing fear from the equation.  Preventing stress/anxiety that comes from not knowing what is going on and how to address such developments can make a huge difference in one’s first-time experience at parenting.  What the parents with a colicky baby must realize is that they did not cause the colic to occur.  There are many babies out there—more than you know—that are colicky.  In fact, it is one of the most frequent problems presented to pediatricians in the first 3 months of an infant’s life, with an occurrence rate of 10-20% of infants between the ages of 2 weeks and 4 months.   

The first three months of an infant’s life are almost like a fourth trimester spent outside the mother’s womb trying to adapt to the real world, the world outside mom’s belly.  At this point, infants are still not fully developed.  In most cases, infants don’t sleep through the night until their 3^rd month or later.  It is considered normal development for infants to be fussy and cry more often during the first three months.  Unfortunately, for some parents, colic strikes in some infants sometime in those first three months. 

A Los Angeles Times article “Colic May Just be a Normal Part of Baby’s Development” by Kathleen Kelleher points out these good-to-know statistics:  “Research conducted by guru pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton established that healthy babies, regardless of temperament, cry more in the first four months of life. Crying peaks at 6 weeks to an average of 3-1/2 hours a day but declines at about 3 months to about an hour and 20 minutes, where it stabilizes for the first year of life. Crying declines at 3 months, Brazelton and other pediatricians postulate, because as a baby matures developmentally, she is better able to communicate her needs to parents and better able to soothe herself (by finding a pacifier or thumb).”

One of the most difficult and stressful experiences parents may experience at some point during the first three months of their baby’s life, colic is very intense/excessive crying in an otherwise healthy infant that usually begins in the late afternoon/early evening and continues inconsolably for at least 3 hours. 

Usual signs/symptoms of a baby with colic…while screaming/crying, the infant’s:

• face is red and grimacing
• fists are clenched
• legs are pulled up over the abdomen
• back is arched

A Parents.com article “How Much Crying Is Normal?” by Grace Monfort points out that “Even among the medical community, colic is less a condition than a classification, defined by the rule of threes: inconsolable crying that begins and ends for no apparent reason, lasts at least three hours, occurs on at least three days a week, and continues for at least three weeks but seldom more than three months. By that definition, some 16 to 26 percent of infants are categorized as colicky.”   Wessel et al (Pediatrics 1954;14:421-435 Paroxysmal fussing in infancy, sometimes called colic) originated what is still the most commonly accepted definition of colic, which is based on the “rule of three [or] crying for more than three hours per day, for more than three days per week, and for more than three weeks in an infant that is well-fed and otherwise healthy.” 

Even after 50 years of research, no one is really sure what causes colic.   The exact cause of colic is unknown but per The Fussy Baby Site, the baby’s temperament, state control (i.e., how well your baby transitions from sleep to awake, how easily they can calm themselves, etc.), stimulation in the environment, and stress in the home are contributing factors.  Though colic has been attributed to gastrointestinal issues (e.g., gas pain, acid reflux, sensitivity/allergy/lactose intolerance to milk), immature nervous system, and psychocial issues (e.g., temperament, maternal anxiety/depression, anxiety/depression of the woman during pregnancy), less than 5% of babies show evidence of a physical/medical problem that would explain the crying,  according to research by Dr. Ronald Barr, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at McGill University, Quebec (Pediatrics 1998;102(5 suppl E):1282-1286).  NOTE:  Temperament is described by The Fussy Baby Site as spirited or high needs (e.g., hypersensitive).  Per a Los Angeles Times article “Colic May Just be a Normal Part of Baby’s Development” by Kathleen Kelleher, Brazelton believed these babies “are more likely to blow off stress from a full day of environmental stimuli with a good cry.” 

It’s easy to see how, since the baby appears to be in pain, the usual signs of colic have led many a person to believe that there might be a digestive issue at hand.  Dr. Barr pointed out that, since most infants outgrow colic by four months of age , an immature nervous system rather than digestive issue must be the culprit behind colic.  Colic may even be for some babies a part of normal emotional development and the result of not yet being able to regulate crying duration, soothe/calm themselves, cope with change and transitioning from one state to another (e.g., low stimulation to high stimulation, being awake to falling asleep).  Until the fourth month or so, crying is the way these babies cope with change.   Other possible causes include size at birth relative to gestational age, which may be due to a small placenta, which may be due to the mother failing to take in adequate nutrition during her pregnancy—as in my case wherein I was constantly nauseous from the very beginning to the very end of my pregnancy, and my daughter was born two weeks pre-term and weighing in at 5 pounds 11 ounces.

Nevertheless, a pediatrician should be consulted to rule out any potential illnesses or medical causes.   Parents should expect the pediatrician to ask about the baby’s behavior, including when crying episodes begin and how long they last.  Parents will need to be able to indicate how often and how much the baby spits up in order to rule out acid reflux.  Our pediatrician did mention the possibility that the colic could be caused in reaction to the baby having a tough time adjusting to her environment and overstimulation in terms of sights and sounds and suggested decreasing exposure to noise and interaction is what the baby needed after what is, for an infant, a long day.  She explained that our daughter’s colic could be due to her still-immature and developing nervous system, her temperament, or digestive issues. 

Since no one really knows what causes colic in the otherwise well-fed, changed baby, there is no real cure for colic as of yet. The following are suggested by some doctors that may or may not improve matters:

• Colic hold – place baby face down along your forearm with inside elbow supporting her head and hand supporting baby’s pelvis (doing this puts gentle pressure on baby’s tummy) while gently rubbing baby’s back with other hand
• Bicycling legs – Gently press his legs up to his chest, one at a time, in a peddling type movement.
• Rubbing tummy gently
• Apply warm compress on tummy
• Simulating the womb experiences (baby spent so much time in the mother’s womb but, once born, we expect that they can adjust to being left in a quiet room to sleep, laying flat):
  • Create motion via carrying in a sling, rocking (in arms while shushing, infant swing, or car seat), bouncing (in car seat on drying machine, driving around), swaying, or dancing
  • Generate white noise via shushing, setting baby in car seat on drying machine, white noise machine
  • Swaddle
• Pediatric chiropractic care (make sure the chiropractor treats infants) – more info on this here
• Infant probiotic drops (e.g., L. Reuteri Probiotics) or gas drops (e.g., Mylicon)*
• Herbal teas, like chamomile
• If breastfeeding, try formula (consulting with pediatrician about whether or when you should try a hypo-allergenic or soy formula) or try eliminating caffeine, dairy, eggs, nuts, certain vegetables and even wheat products from your diet.

For other products or suggestions for soothing colic, click here and here.

 * The Fussy Baby Site mentions research in the treatment of colic using L. Reuteri Probiotics versus Simethicone (the active ingredient in Mylicon gas drops) where 95% of the babies treated with L. Reuteri probiotics showed improvement, while only 7% of the babies treated with gas drops showed improvement.

It goes without saying that a baby that cries inconsolably, who cries so hard that his body distorts, can cause parents to feel alarmed and fear that there is something seriously wrong with the baby.  Despite trying every possible means of trying to calm the baby, the baby can cry for hours on end everyday for days and sometimes weeks or months.  Regardless, it’s easy to understand how mothers of colicky infants—or infants who cry and cannot be consoled for three hours or more a day at least three days a week starting from when they are three to six weeks old up until they are three months old  and are otherwise healthy—would experience feelings of guilt, anxiety, frustration, desperation, helplessness and hopelessness—not to mention an utter failure—for not being able to find a way to console her baby and especially since the infant looks like it’s in pain while crying to intensely.  Don’t be too hard on yourself for feeling occasionally frustrated and near wit’s end during times of endless crying.   Several days of sleep deprivation and/or a baby crying inconsolably for hours can make practically anyone deprived of sleep for several days straight—even fathers and mothers who don’t have PPD—feel like they’re going crazy and join their babies in crying/screaming themselves.

Studies have shown a link between colic and depression.   Whether colic contributes to PPD or PPD contributes to infantile colic is yet to be definitively determined.  As a parent, you think you’re supposed to not only be able to know what your baby wants and needs, but also how to fix the problem.  After a few days of crying with seemingly no end in sight, at her wits end with anxiety and exhaustion, the new mom and/or dad may slip into depression.   They say that babies can sense their parents’ anxiety, so they only cry harder, louder and longer, which is all the more painful for the parents to bear.  And so on and so forth, a vicious cycle. 

In addition to a link with depression, colic can put a huge dent in the confidence of both parents in terms of their ability to care for their baby.  Due to the process of elimination to determine an underlying cause of colic, mothers end up weaning earlier and possibly even changing formulas multiple times.  With colic, there is unfortunately also an increased risk for shaken baby syndrome.

If you feel like you’re having trouble coping, the best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to ask for some help.   Make sure you have enough support lined up to take over when necessary during this time. Whenever you feel the onset of any of the above-mentioned emotions, have someone else watch your baby for a little while so you can get a break.  Consider hiring a postpartum doula, who is experienced with colicky babies.   If no one is around at the time, put the baby down in the crib and go another room to take 5 minutes to calm down and take a few deep breaths. You are allowed (and it’s important) to take a break.  It’s the best thing you can do for yourself and to retain your mental wellbeing!

If you are currently suffering from a postpartum mood disorder, I know it’s very difficult if not impossible to feel like you are ever going to reach the end of that dismally dark and dreadful tunnel you’ve been stuck in.  But you will.  YOU WILL BE WELL AGAIN.  Though I can’t say what it’s like to suffer from postpartum depression (PPD) through the holidays because I personally didn’t experience that, just know that there are many moms–like me for one–who have suffered from and survived PPD.  YOU WILL TOO AND DON’T YOU EVER FORGET IT.  

My daughter was born on December 10th and I didn’t get out of the hospital until December 16th.  I was fortunate that my bout with PPD didn’t begin until 6 weeks postpartum.  Though I was still a bit weak from all the blood loss from the emergency hysterectomy that was performed on me, I was able to send out Christmas cards and birth announcements.  I was able to decorate the house and Christmas tree and have my family over for Christmas.  But it’s all but a blur, a faint memory.   I wasn’t really in the right shape physically, mentally or emotionally to celebrate Christmas.  I was just happy to be alive and to have my beautiful, healthy baby girl.

This may be one holiday season that you are not yourself.  But this is just one point in time.  Once you’ve recovered, there will be many, many more holiday seasons to spend with your family.  Now is the time to focus on what’s REALLY important, which is taking care of yourself and your baby.  Are you being treated by a medical or mental health care practitioner?  If not, make an appointment ASAP.  Are you getting the emotional and practical help you need?  If not, arrange to get both kinds of help ASAP!  

Not sure how to get non-judgmental emotional support from someone trained/experienced to do so?  Give the Postpartum Support International warmline a call at (800) 944-4PPD.

So, my friend, I’d like to leave you with this message:  You will get through this.  Soon, your PPD days will be behind you.  NEVER LOSE HOPE!!!

Wishing you all the best this holiday season and in 2010!   

– Ivy

I wanted to share this very beautiful piece about postpartum depression (PPD), written and read by Helen Ferguson Crawford to introduce a speech about depression made by a former LA Times President and Head of CNN in Atlanta.   Not only is Helen a talented poet, she’s an award-winning artist, architect, and designer living in Atlanta.  

Helen received her art and architecture education at Parsons School of Design in New York, and at Princeton University.  Her work has appeared in exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, among other places.   Helen has provided commentary for NPR, Metropolis magazine and the New York Times, and was featured as one of “30 Artists: 30 and Under” in the New York Times Magazine.

* * *

Dear Post Partum Depression,

After the birth of my daughter, you silently slipped in, and settled down.

I recovered from birth, hugged my family, and watched autumn change to winter, while you slowly grew.

You hid behind other temporary, post partum illnesses, undetected.

You fed on stress. You fed on fear, until I found myself in a black hole so deep, dark and terrifying.

The sides were wet, damp and crumbly dirt; the width of my arms.

Up far above, the sky was barely visible.

Sometimes I could feel the sun for seconds.

There in that place, I accepted that you were here.

With intense fear, I stood up and gathered my army – friends, family, therapist and psychiatrist.

But even at night, when I lay on the cool floor of my porch, listening for anything – birds, trains, wind – waiting for the anxiety attacks to stop, waiting weeks for the medication to work, waiting for sunlight, sleep and appetite to return, I knew you were not me.

Depression, you are something that happened along the way – a situation. I accept this. You do not define me.

I laugh, sleep, play with my children, talk with my husband, draw, paint, smile, pray, cry, spend days with friends and live.

I climb, inch by inch, fingers dug in the sides, pulling myself up.

Each inch I climb is a triumph. I am on this path that is life.

My light shines from within.

- Helen Ferguson Crawford

*  *  * 

I’ve had the pleasure of becoming friends with Helen over the past few months.  She constantly amazes me with not just her artistic and creative talents, but also for her dedication in seeking supporters through such social media forums as Facebook and Twitter.  She formed the FB Group – “Sign This – Post Partum Mother’s Act.”  Having gone through a serious bout of PPD and still in recovery, she is determined to contribute to positive change that is desperately needed in this country with respect to early detection and treatment of PPD, which occurs at rate of one out of eight new mothers.  That’s right, PPD occurs in approximately 15% of all new mothers! 

Helen and many other advocates for PPD education and public awareness—like myself, Katherine Stone, Lauren Hale, Amber Koter-Puline and others—do what we do because of our experiences and want to help prevent other moms from having to go through what we went through, not knowing, fearful, miserable, deprived of a joyful motherhood experience, and with doctors, friends and family members not necessarily helping or understanding due to lack of awareness.  Out of lack of awareness comes stigma.  From our experiences, came the realization that our experiences could have been minimized or prevented had we known about perinatal mood disorders the way we do today, had we been screened early enough to detect that something was wrong before our illnesses spiraled into nightmarish experiences.  We realized that what this country desperately needs are the following:  1) education and awareness, 2) increased research into effectively detecting and treating perinatal mood disorders, and 3) an increase in training of healthcare practitioners.  Without these improvements, mothers will suffer the way we suffered, or worse—families being torn apart, death of the mother and/or baby(ies).

EVERY MOTHER DESERVES TO HAVE A GOOD POSTPARTUM EXPERIENCE.  So, if you haven’t done so already, please sign the petition today in support of this long overdue legislation!

Washington, DC – Dec. 1, 2009 - Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), a senior member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, introduced the Women’s Health Amendment today, the goal of which is to improve the Senate’s Health Care Reform Bill by requiring health plans to cover women’s preventive care (e.g., cervical screenings, annual mammograms for women under 50 opting such screening, antepartum and postpartum depression, heart disease, diabetes).  Such screenings would cut treatment costs via early detection and prevention.   

Here are excerpts of the summary of the bill:  Basically, what the amendment does is “require all health plans to cover comprehensive women’s preventive care and screenings, and cover these recommended services at no cost to women.”  The bill points out the current dilemma–i.e., women are increasingly delaying or skipping preventive health care due to costs, putting themselves at risk if a serious health issue is not prevented or detected early on.  Additionally, women’s unique health needs throughout their lifespan must be taken into account in determining coverage of preventive services.   

I was in shock and completely confused upon hearing the news a few weeks ago regarding the recommentation for mammographies and cervical cancer screenings to be performed on women 50 years of age and older.  I thought to myself ”What is going on here?  There hasn’t been a sharp decline in the occurrence (or deaths due to) breast cancer recently, nor have there been any new scientific breakthroughs with respect to early detection.  Same thing applies to cervical cancer.  It appears that women have once again been relegated to second class citizen status.  How can these people turn a blind eye like that toward women’s health?  The health of all its citizens–women included– should be the priority of the government of this country.”    

Fact of the matter is, until there is a better means of preventing and detecting breast cancer (and earlier), women in their 40s–particularly those with family histories of breast cancer–must have access to early mammogram screening.   Seeing how this amendment would also include PPD screening makes me hope all the more for this amendment gets passed.

• Watch the video of Senator Mikulski’s presentation  
• Visit Perinatalpro.com for more information
• For more information on Senator Mikulski’s commitment to women’s health issues

Thank you, Senator Mikulski, for representing the interests of women by introducing the Women’s Health Amendment!

Now that we are approaching Thanksgiving, I am more aware about the things for which I am thankful. 

1. I am thankful for my husband’s continuous support in my book and blogging efforts (both of us hope to see the fruits of my labor on the former transition into a finished piece real soon!).
2. I will be forever thankful for the miracle of our sweet little girl.
3. I am thankful for the inspiration that my fellow PPD bloggers Katherine Stone, Lauren Hale, and Amber Koter Puline provide daily.
4. I am thankful for my PPD experience (I kid you not), which has ignited a passion for advocacy and awareness.
5. Last but far from least, I am thankful for the continued good health of my family members.  In the past couple of years, I have come to realize more than ever how fragile life truly is and how health should NEVER be taken for granted.  

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a real quickie from me today to share the PPD video of fellow blogger over at Beyond Postpartum, Amber Koter Puline.  It’s a great video, so please be sure to check it out!   

For those who are currently struggling with PPD, a reminder to NEVER give up hope.  You will be well again.  And once you are, I hope you will join in awareness and advocacy efforts of other PPD survivors!    With education, there will be less ignorance.  With less ignorance, there will be less stigma.  We need more PPD videos like Amber’s, more PPD blogs, more media coverage on PPD (that’s accurate) in newspapers, magazines, and television.  But what you can do that doesn’t cost a whole lot of money or effort is to simply speak up about your PPD experience.  Fear not, you are far from alone in your experience!  Remember the statistics.  One out of eight new moms–that’s 15% of all new mothers out there–experience a postpartum mood disorder.

They say that the reason for nearly half of all the preterm births–which amounts to 10 million babies– that occur each year is unknown.   While thanks to the miracles of modern technology and medicine, many preterm babies are nursed to health, the rate of preterm births is increasing, and all too many that are nursed to health face lifelong challenges.  Per the Bloggers Unite site, the rate has increased 31% since 1981.  Per the March of Dimes website, one in eight babies born in the U.S. is premature (coincidentally, postpartum depression rate is one in eight new mothers), and  the rate of premature birth in America is higher than that of most other developed nations).   I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there’s a correlation between the increase in preterm births and the increase in fertility issues (refer to past post on infertility and anxiety/depression).

Just as PPD is more common that you realize, depression during pregnancy—or antepartum (or antenatal) depression—is more common than you realize.  Again, due to the lack of public education about this kind of perinatal depression, many women do not seek treatment because they think that feeling tired, having trouble sleeping, and experiencing mood swings, irritability, anxiety and weepiness are normal pregnancy experiences.  The key indicators of PPD—namely, persistent and debilitating sadness and other symptoms that interfere with your ability to function for longer than two weeks—would also apply to antepartum depression and should prompt you to seek help immediately.  

In Perinatal Depression: Hiding in Plain Sight – The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. August 2007; 52(8), page 483 by Shari I. Lusskin, MD, Tara M. Pundiak, MD, Sally M. Habib, MD:

• “[The] patient with antenatal depression often worsens postpartum in the setting of sleep deprivation and the stress of caring for the newborn.”  As I’d mentioned in my 11/9 post, since approximately 50% of women with antepartum depression will go on to develop PPD, you will need to decide—in consultation with your doctor—whether to take medication.  Whether to take antidepressant medication or undergo some form of alternative medicine (including therapy) while pregnant is a hard one to make and also depends on the severity of your depression–not to mention, taking into consideration the impact on the developing fetus.  Avoiding treatment altogether will only expose your developing baby to the effects of untreated depression and increase your risk for pregnancy complications and premature birth.  There is risk that untreated depression and anxiety during pregnancy can lead to poor nutrition from loss of appetite, self medication through substance abuse (drinking, smoking or drugs), and/or suicidal thoughts/behaviors.  Preterm births, low birth weight, smaller head circumference, developmental problems, and even infant deaths have been associated with anxiety and depression during pregnancy. 
• Signs of fetal distress (i.e., alterations in heart rate variability, fetal movement patterns, fetal sleep-wake cycles) have been detected in pregnant women during their 2^nd and 3^rd trimester obstetrical visits, and studies seem to indicate that 2^nd trimester anxiety may have a negative impact on fetal brain development.
• “The fetuses of highly anxious mothers who had also scored high on depression and anger measures also had growth delays, compared with the fetuses of mothers with less anxiety.  Findings at birth for the same cohort included lower dopamine and serotonin levels, lower vagal tone [which is linked with poor emotion regulation and vulnerability to stress in infancy and childhood].  At age 8 months, infants exposed to antenatal anxiety were found to be highly reactive, to have poorer interactions with their mothers, and to have poorer scores on Bayley Scales of Infant Development [which is a standard series of measurements used to assess motor, language, and cognitive development of infants and toddlers ages 0-3].  At age 24 months, they were also reported by their mothers to have more sleeping, activity, and feeding problems.”

As I mentioned in my November 9th post, 1 out of 10 women experience antepartum (antenatal, prenatal) depression (or depression during pregnancy), though unfortunately many cases go undiagnosed, and as mentioned over at Postpartum Progress, research has shown that preterm births are twice as likely to occur for women suffering from prenatal depression (or depression during pregnancy).  Given the correlation between antepartum depression and preterm births, there should be an increase in public awareness of antepartum depression and not just of postpartum depression, which you hear so much more about—relatively speaking—than depression during pregnancy.  The following are needed if we hope to reduce the number of preterm births due to antepartum depression:

• increase in public awareness and destigmatization associated with perinatal mood disorders, so women will recognize when there is a problem and seek treatment without hesitation
• increase in research for earlier detection of antepartum depression
• increase in research into safer/improved treatment options for antepartum depression. 
• increase in public awareness of the effects of stress (and provide the spectrum of the range of stressors) on pregnancy

For more information about antepartum depression, check out this March of Dimes page and the Beyond Postpartum blog.

For more information about efforts to promote awareness of premature births, visit the Bloggers Unite and March of Dimes websites.  Many bloggers share their stories on the Bloggers Unite site.  There’s also the touching story about Charlotte.

I wasn’t planning to post anything until Tuesday, November 17th, which is the blog for Prematurity Awareness Day…that is, until I saw the incredibly ignorant comments about PPD in the chain of comments on the Wall Street Journal Blog post “Medications During Pregnancy: A Vexing Dilemma” that Katherine over at Postpartum Progress pointed out on her blog yesterday.   The Wall Street Journal Blog should post “Ignorance & Stigma of Postpartum Depression:  A Vexing Dilemma.”  Progress in destigmatization of depression and postpartum depression entails addressing such remarks whenever they are heard.  Simply ignoring them won’t accomplish anything, least of all public awareness.    For all those who are PPD survivors, whenever you hear people say off-the-mark comments about PPD, speak up and be heard! 

Here’s the comment (or actually 2 comments, but most likely from the same person):

“PPD is temporary depression. Anyone who is clinically depressed is different. You may be clinically depressed and don’t know it, get PPD which triggers your depression tendencies and it becomes long term due to the trigger.  I think we need to be very very careful how we use the terminology due to confusion with the actual illnesss and the opposite of temporarily being down and out.”

“Go back to work and put the kid in daycare and PPD will go away. It’s a phase, its not clinical depression.”

Here’s my response:

“Get real….you are obviously not educated or experienced with regard to depression, or postpartum depression for that matter. I can see you getting your jollies by posting something so far out of the ballpark as to be orbiting in another solar system that has nothing to do with planet Earth. I can see why you are posting anonymously…..afraid to reveal who you really are because deep down inside you know how wrong you are. Postpartum depression (PPD) IS CLINICAL DEPRESSION. By suggesting that PPD isn’t clinical depression is invalidating the experiences of all women who have or are currently suffering from it. It’s people like you that stand in the way of y destigmatizing PPD and consequently keeping women suffering in silence.

Also, Anonymous, by suggesting that the remedy for PPD is going back to work and putting your kid in daycare is ludicrous. You obviously know nothing about depression because if you did you would know that no one who has true depression can just snap out of it or will their depression away. That most definitely includes PPD. Read up, be educated:
http://ivysppdblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/how-anyone-could-think-that-ppd-isnt-real-is-beyond-me/“

It could be this person is mistaking the blues for PPD, but it doesn’t matter.  Don’t post something you clearly know nothing about!   The only thing it will accomplish is to show others how ignorant you really are!

Usually, I don’t post twice in one day, but I got all excited stumbling on a Parenting.com article that talks about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Perinatal Mood Disorders Inpatient Program, an inpatient psychiatric unit, that opened last fall.  This kind of facility is the very first inpatient psychiatric unit of its kind in this country specifically tailored to women suffering perinatal mood disorders.  Since its opening, 200 women have already been discharged and inquiries have been coming in from all over the country.

It’s sooooo good to see we are following in the footsteps of England (and other parts of Europe) and Australia, countries that are years ahead of us with respect to postpartum support services, treatment protocols for perinatal mood disorders, and even the presence of psychiatric mother-baby room-in units.  The establishment of an inpatient psychiatric unit dedicated to women suffering perinatal mood disorders is a groundbreaking development for this country, and my hope is that this is but the first of many, many other such centers!  Word has it that Duke University is looking into establishing a similar program.

Premature birth is the #1 killer of newborns during the first month of life.  Each year 20 million babies–half of a million of them in the US– are born premature.  A baby that is born too early is not fully developed and thus cannot even suck and/or breathe on his/her own.   It’s simply heartbreaking.  

For those that survive the first year, all too many end up facing serious health challenges and lifelong disabilities.  What is alarming is the fact that the rate of premature birth is increasing (i.e., it has increased 31% since 1981).  In half the cases, the cause of premature birth is not known, which is why we need to unite in our effort to raise awareness, raise funding and promote research efforts to prevent premature births!

If you are a blogger, here are a couple of things you can do to help promote awareness of this crisis:

1.      November is Prematurity Awareness Month®.  Please grab a badge and post it on your blog for the month.

2.      On Tuesday, November 17th, please join others to blog about and raise awareness of this crisis.   You can join in this event at Bloggers Unite and at the March of Dimes site.

What’s premature birth got to do with perinatal mood disorders, you ask?  Well, for starters, approximately 1 out of 10 women experience antepartum (antenatal, prenatal) depression (or depression during pregnancy), though unfortunately many cases go undiagnosed.  Research has shown that preterm births are twice as likely to occur for women suffering from prenatal depression (or depression during pregnancy). To complicate matters, antidepressants to treat prenatal depression have also been shown to contribute to premature births.  And let’s not forget that there is a high risk for postpartum depression (PPD) in women who give birth to premature babies, not only for those with prenatal depression—since depression during pregnancy in most cases will follow into postpartum—but also because the amount of anxiety, stress and exhaustion caused by having a baby in the NICU for an extended period of time can lead to PPD. 

In Deborah Sichel’s and Jeanne Watson Driscoll’s “Women’s Moods: What Every Woman Must Know About Hormones, the Brain, and Emotional Health” (pg 178),  “Anxiety, whether mild or severe, can…..harm the fetus.”  Per Sichel and Driscoll, high levels of anxiety can cause premature births, stillbirths, low birth weight babies, and other complications due to the reduced blood flow, and therefore flow of oxygen and nutrition, to the fetus that results from the constriction of arteries in the uterus when the mother experiences high levels of anxiety.  You need to be aware, if you don’t already know, that the fetus is connected to you via the placenta.  The fetus is basically a part of you.  Just as all the nutrition you get from your food passes between you and the fetus through the placenta, medicine that you take will pass through to the fetus.  Similarly, stress hormones in a woman’s bloodstream from chronic anxiety will flow through the placenta.  In severe cases, stress hormones can cause blood vessels in the placenta to contract so much that it can pull away from the uterine wall, causing hemorrhaging and premature labor.

BOTTOM LINE:  Depression during pregnancy can lead to premature labor and delivery, not to mention low birth weight babies.  Since antepartum depression and antidepressants can cause premature births, more research is URGENTLY needed for the early detection and treatment of prenatal depression, as well as to find ways to treat prenatal depression without harming the developing baby.

Research has shown that the first year is critical to a baby’s emotional, psychological and cognitive development.  Studies have also shown that if a mother is depressed for as much as the first six months after childbirth, her baby will likely experience and show signs of motor development delays, emotional difficulties, social problems and depression by their first birthdays.  Your pediatrician typically asks a slew of questions at each check-up to ascertain if your child is reaching his/her developmental milestones and to see if there are any emotional, psychological, cognitive and physical delays or issues to be wary of, like a lack of positive facial expressions and less interest in activities and/or other people.

A great fear I had was that my depression would negatively impact my daughter’s development.  I had read in baby books and magazines that interaction such as talking, laughing and singing are important and positive contributors to a baby’s emotional and psychological development.  So I willed myself to stay as strong as I could in her presence, trying as hard as I could to not show any signs of sadness or worry, and playing with and talking and singing to her as much as I could. 

The amount of information in books, magazines and the Internet simply cannot be compared with what was available to the previous generation.  Floor time, attachment parenting, and infant massage were not terms used in the 1960s and 1970s.  As far as I can remember, there were no mommy and me classes back then either.  With the 1990s came the birth of such terms and a curious focus on, and subsequently societal peer pressure for, ways to enhance children’s social and cognitive development.

I know what it’s like to have no energy at all, to be weak with exhaustion, to feel as if trapped in a thick fog, and how hard it is while depressed to summon up the energy to even smile, let alone play.  But I realized I have a baby who is completely helpless and dependent on me.  I recalled all the years of trying to conceive and the difficulty getting through the IVF cycles only to succeed (thank God) in having a healthy baby.  I wasn’t about to let depression ruin my chances to love and care for her.  Despite the physical exhaustion and lack of sleep that all new parents experience upon returning from the hospital (but my husband and I were already worse off than the average parents from our week of hell in the hospital), I did do the following (before my PPD started 6 weeks postpartum and once my Paxil kicked in) with my daughter: 

1. I kissed her a lot.  As she grew a bit older, starting at, say, 8 months or so, I hugged her a lot as well.   
2. I talked to her a lot….or at least I tried to (I’m not, after all, the most talkative person as my friends and family know).  Per “Postpartum Depression Demystified” by Joyce Venis, RNC and Suzanne McCloskey: “One of the best ways you can interact with your baby and keep her stimulated is to talk to her.  It doesn’t really matter what you say, just as long as you’re making an effort to connect with her.”  In short, simple sentences, referring to her by name as much as possible, I’d tell her what I was feeling or I’d describe to her what I was in the process of doing, from changing diapers to feeding to giving her a bath.  For example:  “Time to change your diap-ee cuz it’s wet and I know it’s uncomfortable.  Okay, you have a new diap-ee and all is better now.”  I didn’t know this until I read Postpartum Depression Demystified—which is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy Start, Grow Smart, Your Two-Month-Old, Washington, D.C., 2002—that you should refer to yourself as “Mommy” when you’re talking about yourself, like “Mommy’s going to change your diap-ee now.”
3. I sang to her a lot.  Her favorite tunes, even at 1-1/2 yrs, is the alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star—both of which incidentally are the same tune, which I hadn’t realized until I did them one after another each and every day.  Sometimes I made up tunes.  Don’t forget the tried and true Mary Had a Little Lamb, as well as Itsy Bitsy Spider.  I also liked to sing some songs from Sound of Music, since I knew practically every word to every song.  This was to ensure she wouldn’t be tone deaf and will develop an early appreciation for music.  I sang the alphabet song so frequently, she was humming it by the time she was two and singing the whole thing herself by the time she turned three.
4. I read to her a lot.  Again per “Postpartum Depression Demystified” by Joyce Venis, RNC and Suzanne McCloskey: “It’s never too early to start reading to your baby…..[Babies] like the sound of your voice and having you close…..Babies enjoy looking at the pictures and listening to the rhythm of your voice long before they can understand the words.  Reading to your baby encourages the development of a range of important skills, such as talking and understanding language, imagination, concentration, creativity, listening, and problem solving.  Children whose parents read books to them when they are young often learn to speak, read, and write more easily…..Reading to your baby….will…instill in her a love of books that will last a lifetime.”  Even before I read about this, I started a collection of baby board books early on.  My daughter’s first collection of books was a collection of little (3×3) nursery rhyme board books.  Babies cannot tear the pages and can even chew and drool on them.  When you read, try not to read in a dull, flat, two dimensional way—or quite literally (and quite boringly) as mere words on pages. Rather, try to read in what I refer to as 3-D.  In other words, try to bring the story to life and make it interesting.  Vary your intonation, pitch and volume.  Facial expressions are a plus.  I distinctly remember my pediatrician recommending reading nursery rhymes to my daughter.  She explained that babies are drawn to sing-song-y phrases that rhyme.  When your baby becomes a toddler, a great way to boost imagination and interest in the stories you read to them is to pick ones that will allow them to fill in the blanks or tell you what happens next.  A great example is the When You Give A Mouse A Cookie series of stories.  Today, she loves her books.  She asks us to read to her at bedtime every night.
5. I played with her a lot.  Play is an essential part in the development of motor/visual and cognitive skills, learning how to accomplish tasks and learning about cause and effect.  Play is also an important means for bonding with your baby. Getting down on the floor so you can be at the “same level” as her – for example, having tummy time together and looking at each other eye-to-eye – is important in bonding.  Peek-a-boo is the ever reliable way to amuse and make your baby smile.  It’s always fun and rewarding to get your baby to smile. 
6. I danced with her in my arms a lot to music from the television, radio or CDs.  This was to ensure that she grows up with rhythm.   Today, at nearly 5 years of age, she loves to dance and enjoys her dance class in school (just awaiting the time she’s ready for real ballet class).  You can see the joy when she moves to music she likes.  Fortunately, she has my taste in music (not her dad’s taste in death/heavy metal).    More on dance as a means of PPD therapy and bonding with baby over at a recent Postpartum Progress post.  Check it out.
7. I did a little bit of infant massaging but not a whole lot.  I didn’t go as far as applying oil on her skin or anything.  Now that I think about it, I probably should’ve done more.  I was surprised by the amount of literature in childcare class, websites, flyers and brochures on infant massage.  Other than a friend of mine who years ago told me she had heard it was very beneficial to the baby, I’d never heard anyone else talk about it until I became pregnant.  Now I can understand how it benefits both the mother and baby.  For the baby, not only does it help with bonding, it can help reduce a colicky/fussy/irritable baby’s stress level, reduce teething pain, move gas along, and promote relaxation and drowsiness. For the mother, especially a depressed mother, knowing that touch and massage feels good and can provide such benefits to the baby is  a good, rewarding feeling indeed.

Then, when the PPD kicked in at around 6 weeks after our return from the hospital, I was barely able to keep the same level of interaction going.  During that time, I was aware that I had to keep up the interaction but I felt like a robot just going through the motions.  I no longer felt the joy I thought I should feel as a new mother.  I knew I had to keep it up so down the road I wouldn’t look back with any regret that I didn’t do my best.  I didn’t want to ruin my one shot at being a mother. 

It’s bad enough I can’t remember the sound of the baby’s cry during those first few months…everything was a blur to me.  It wasn’t until my head poked through the PPD fog about 4 weeks after I started taking the Paxil that I was able to continue where I had left off in terms of consistent and meaningful interactions with my daughter.

BOTTOM LINE:   A happy mom means a happy baby.  Bonding and interaction is very important to baby’s development.  PPD in the first year can get in the way of proper bonding and interaction, and hence have a negative impact on baby’s emotional, psychological and cognitive development.  It’s important for the mom with PPD to seek help to try to recover as quickly as possible so she can enjoy baby and motherhood.

Just a quickie from me today…..just wanted to share this story I came across today over at Momversation that really touched me.  Please read, share with others, and reach out to this dad who is struggling to care for his wife with severe PPD and his baby, while at the same time fighting to prevent depression from taking hold of him as well.

Was tinkering with my computer webcam capabilities for the first time tonight.  The wonders of modern technology.  Here’s the video I recorded.  I may try to re-record this with better lighting conditions, so I look less haggard.  Yes, that’s the right word.  Haggard.  It was a long day and I am tired (and fighting a nasty bout of allergies-turned-sinus-infection), but lighting makes all the difference in the world.  Hey, it’s the message that counts, right? 

Please share the video link with others!  THANK YOU!

According to a study presented on October 20, 2009 at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s 65th Annual Meeting:

“Women who participated in a stress management program prior to or during their second IVF cycle had a 160 percent greater pregnancy rate than women who did not participate in a program.  The study…..revealed a pregnancy rate of 52 percent among women who participated in a stress management program as compared to a 20 percent pregnancy rate for women who were not exposed to the stress management program……Pregnancy rates jumped to 67 percent for women with signs of depression at the start of the study who engaged in the stress management program versus no pregnancies for those that did not.”

Relaxation training, cognitive-behavioral strategies and group support were the specific stress management techniques employed during this study.

In short, what this study shows is that stress management may help increase pregnancy rates (including success rates of IVF procedures) by helping women cope with and minimize anxiety levels.    

BOTTOM LINE….

There is a proven correlation between stress/anxiety levels and lower pregnancy rates.  If you are trying to get pregnant, you need to do what you can to reduce your anxiety levels.  Worrying about whether your IVF cycle(s) will succeed or not will only harm your chances.  I know it’s easier said than done.  I really do.  I’ve been there.  Give yoga a try.  I did…and my IVF cycle at the time succeeded.  Coincidence or not, I may never know.  But I’m sure the yoga helped decrease my anxiety levels, as well as provided physical benefits in terms of the stretching, etc.  I went into that cycle with a much more positive attitude than during the previous cycle (ditching the IVF cycle and doctor I couldn’t stand for a facility I actually enjoyed being a patient at worked wonders as well).  Read my previous blog posts about yoga and seeking therapy with a mental health professional experienced with infertility.