Feel free to introduce ourselves?

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I thought I would add an introductions, as you can introduce yourself in the PP community bit but its easier to see in the question panel;

I am a mummy to 3 boys, I had an episode of PP after my first son was born in 2008, and went on to have a twin pregnancy in 2012 and remained well. x

[andrea_at_app Volunteer]

Hi Louloubexs, great idea to introduce ourselves here, thanks! I've done it elsewhere so I'll repost here.

A big hello & welcome from me! Just to introduce myself, I had PP out of the blue in 2006 & am now a volunteer & trustee with APP. I enjoy reading, pilates, yoga, swimming (badly!) & have a great passion for martial arts & I teach children's karate. I'm also a proud mother of a gorgeous 6yr old boy!

Really looking forward to getting to know you & talking all things PP! x

[hel212000]

I suffered with PP in 2010 completely out of the blue with no history of mental health problems in either me or any of my family. I am a very proud Mommy of an almost 2.5 year old and am expecting identical twins in November. I am hoping with the right preventative care and medication that I will not be ill this time and will be able to enjoy motherhood from the very beginning. I feel very passionate in raising awareness of PP and have taken part in several research projects.

[andrea_at_app Volunteer in reply to hel212000]

Hi hel212000, *big wave* Welcome to the site & congratulations expecting twins! I'm sure with the right care plan in place, things will be very different for you this time. We're here anytime you fancy a chat

[HopeafterPP Volunteer in reply to hel212000]

Hi hel212000,

lovely to see you on the APP forum. My second son was born in 2010, so we have toddlers of the same age! I was ill after my first who was born at the end of 2007.

I really hope after the twins are born you get to experience life with a new baby as it was intended and that the dreaded PP is prevented. You have a great care plan and are doing all you can so there's lots of reasons to believe it will be very different next time. Big hugs, x

[HopeafterPP Volunteer]

Hi everyone, I will introduce myself as well. You can read parts of this in my profile but I will re-post it:

I suffered an episode of PP at the end of 2007 after the birth of my first son, completely out of the blue. There was no history of the illness in my family either. Since 2009, when I felt like "me", again I have been passionate about raising awareness & supporting others - I would have loved peer support when I was ill. We decided to have another baby and with lots of consultation, advice, planning and support I was well after my second child in the summer of 2010 - I felt as though I'd been given a second chance, despite my son being critically ill and needing life-saving surgery. He came through and is doing so well now.

Currently I am a "stay-at-home mum" to my two beautiful, adventurous boys. I've been married for nearly 8 years. I love to read, take photos, make digital scrapbooks in photoshop, play with my kids, sleep!, watch crime dramas & sci-fi (can't wait till my boys are old enough for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings!). If I need to switch off I'll stick a mindless soap on the TV (Corrie or Emmerdale) with a cuppa and some galaxy chocolate. 30mins of peace is precious in our chaotic household. I also love to go to the cinema but actually cannot remember the last time that happened!

I'm looking forward to meeting new people through this APP forum. You can find me on twitter tweeting about PP and mental health under the same username.

Oh and I have a tendency to waffle so many of my posts will be longs ones!! x

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

Hi all,

I am Mum to a nearly 3 year old and had an episode of PP in 2009, like others completely out of the blue and with no MH history, family links etc. I had a good community midwife who spotted the signs, but it took a few GP visits, then a consultant who sent me home with meds before everything went very wrong and I ended up on a general psych ward in my local hospital. I don't remember it to be honest, but apparently I ran around and screamed a lot, threw things and was generally manic, psychotic and out of control. I was then transferred to a Psychiatric hospital 25 miles away from home, first onto a general ward whilst I got well enough to go into their M&B unit. I had a course of ECT and several changes of meds, had a relapse before Christmas (more paranoia, panics than full-blown, but still not nice) and was eventually discharged from hospital in Jan 2010 after 3 months. I then had excellent input from an Early Intervention Team, and a great Care Co-Ordinator who took me out for coffee and cake and just listened to me and was an invaluable support.

I returned to work in mid-2010 and work full time, so have a very busy time generally. I have remained well and hope to start thinking of another child in the not too distant future, although the idea of it terrifies me on the one hand, I am hopeful that with a good care plan and support, things can be different. I'm feeling "back to normal" (whatever that is!) but it took a while and my poor husband has been wonderful through it all, I know I've not been easy to live with. The knock to my confidence has been huge, but I have great family and friends and a wonderful (if mischievous!) little boy.

I feel sad that this happened to us but I too am keen to be involved in this site and the peer support - I would have loved someone to talk to about my experiences earlier and if I can help others in any way, that would be a good thing to come out of a horrid period.

Sorry for the waffle!

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Hi Spannerb,

I am glad you are feeling back to normal, and are now thinking of expanding your family. Like yourself my community midwife spotted the signs and referred me to the gp for an emergency appointment. I also spent time on a psyc ward followed by 3 months in a MBU, the had a very long run of clinical depression.

I have made a full recovery and went onto have a second pregnancy, I was blessed and fell pregnant with twins. I had an amazing support team and a care plan in place. I remained well, I was lucky I didn't present with any signs. There is hope after a second child.

Look forward to chatting. xx

[Simon_at_APP APP]

Hi,

I saw and experienced PP from the outside, when out of the blue my wife suffered from it; like others she had no previous signs or family history. I found it incredibly difficult to find any information about what might going on and getting the right help was not easy.

Soon after that period, I knew I wanted to raise awareness of PP and to give information that may help partners, families, maybe even the professionals. After a couple of years I started to write my account of the experiences through my eyes; surprisingly it was pretty tough and took me back to revisit some hard places and feelings but I finally completed it after 2 or 3 years.

I called it 'Husband in a Storm' and sent it to APP, who posted it under personal experiences, link below.

app-network.org/wp-content/...

My wife made a full recovery and we have a great little 'un (who's very confident!!!) :o)

[andrea_at_app Volunteer in reply to Simon_at_APP]

Hi Zapple, a big hello from me! Thank you so much for sharing your story on the APP site, we've had lots of great feedback about it from partners who are so grateful you've put their experiences into words & made them realise that they weren't alone in what they went through! It's really useful hearing it from a husband's perspective too as it helped me understand what my hubby went through. All credit to the partners/husbands & those closest to PP women - they take the brunt of it too! Thanks again for writing & sharing your experiences

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Hi Zapple,

It's nice to hear from partners and hubby's. Thank you for sharing your story, at what is an extremely difficult time when men have to step up and in effect lose their wifes/partners and fill both the mother and father roles. My hat goes off to you all. Look forward to chatting.