“She ran circles around the rest of us, volunteering, coordinating and simply ‘making things happen.’ I, like many, were surprised when her death announcement addressed her struggle with postpartum depression. Her social media portrayed happiness and perfection, never indicating she was suffering.”
‘We lost a beautiful woman. She was a wife and mother. She was kind, upbeat, smiling, and generous.’ Mom reminds women to ‘check on the mom wearing lipstick’ after losing friend to postpartum depression
‘Our birthing tub wasn’t set up. I went into the Jacuzzi with my mom, butt naked. The water became murky. I knew I was close. I could feel it in my bones. And still no midwife.’
“The water was warm. I wasn’t making any progress. The water was too high and gravity was working against me. At this point, I wanted the baby out more than I wanted a water birth. I texted my midwife. She asked me if I wanted to push. ‘YES!’ I cried out.”
‘The day a woman stops asking for your affection is the day that means she doesn’t want to fight anymore. Put your phone down, look at her and listen.’
“Don’t wait until she loses her mind. Help her. She needs you. See the woman you fell in love with. See her and choose her.”
‘Mothers don’t shower often. Especially new mothers. When we say this stuff, we are met with horror. But it is the truth.’
“I remember finally getting the energy to shower, a place where I’d feel so tired that I’d read the shower bottles and stare into space while the water hit my back. I was a zombie. My husband came in and said, ‘It’s time to feed him,’ and I cried.”
‘It’s the nicest thing you can do for a mom. Getting hand-me-downs. Mothers giving other mothers their kids’ clothes that don’t fit anymore.’
“Getting a bag of clothes from another mom is like she’s giving you a piece of her heart. That little dinosaur t-shirt she packs in a bag to give to you reminds her of the adventures her little one had in it. They hold memories, and they hold love.”
‘Been trying a little experiment for the last 2 weeks, putting breast milk on one side of my stomach. I can’t believe the difference!’
“I rub it into my tummy while nursing and lather it on so it’s almost dripping off. I let it air dry and just pull my shirt over after. I put it on every time I nurse.”
‘She makes it look easy. This picture was snapped by my boss in the middle of a work day at the office. I think more places can be more flexible than they are currently.’
“I hope other employers will see this picture and see that it CAN be done.”
‘When my kids were babies I fantasized about sleep. In my most desperate times I’d volunteer to be the road the matchbox cars would drive on to shut my eyeballs. I was so tired.’
“Now I’m up until all hours with bigs doing homework, or driving around in my van/taxi all hours. I’m still up at night. You guys there are a million reasons moms aren’t sleeping.”
‘I get it. I finally get it. You see moms committing suicide. And I couldn’t understand it. How do you leave your kids behind like that?’
“And then everybody posts, ‘Oh, I never knew. She didn’t say anything. She seemed okay.’ She TOLD you.”
‘I used to be the wild girl, could have 4 or 5 drinks and be dancing like no one’s watching. I had confidence to talk to anyone, had more energy than one should.’
“I am invisible. And that can hurt. There are still parts of the old me that I miss. You are born alone, spend years developing who you are, becoming an independent woman… and then suddenly you become someone’s mom, someone who is too exhausted to enjoy life.”
