When did natural feelings of being a new Mum be replaced by PP?

[hel212000]

Being pregnant again, I have been thinking about the birth and I just wondered if anybody could share their experiences. I still don't really know when I stopped having normal new Mummy feelings and became manic? I was just so happy, excited and elated straight away which I have been told is very normal, but I wondered if any of you could shed any further light on when it changed for you or describe the feelings you felt immediately post birth? I was manic by about day 10.

[Lavender123]

Hiya he112000 ! I became ill just 3 wks after giving birth to my second child,but was well on my first and i breast fed my 1st for a whole year! I was gutted when just after 3 wks of my second baby which was 10years later, that i had to bottle feed as i was put on medication and wasn't able to feed him myself anymore(i had so much milk and wanted to feed my baby like i did with my 1st baby)!! This i found took my bond away from me and it took 10 months before the correct medication was found for me which was lithium, and so i was 10 months with no natural bond,but it just returned then almost over nite with the correct medication. Hope you keep well with this birth! Kind regards Lavender123 x

[sadowska]

I think for me it was around day 3, and the lack of sleep caught up with me. The sign I wasn't normal was I kept writing notes and scribbling away instead of being able to sleep

Do you have a care plan for this pregnancy? Are you going on medication in the last trimester/ straight after birth? My biggest regret is that my psychiatrist never raised that option with me (god knows why not!)

[orac]

For me, the first sign was the lack of sleep. I didn't sleep the night before my induction, and didn't sleep the night of the birth. The next day my thoughts were very hard to organise and scattered. I kept coming out with lots of thought fragments that weren't very linear and had trouble gathering my thoughts. I didn't seem to need sleep anymore. After a few days more (5 after the birth) I felt too happy and "fast", ahead of everyone else, to be true. Then I stopped caring about anything, as I just wanted to feel my euphoric connection to everything. At that point, I realised I wasn't responsible enough to care for a small person, called a friend who was a psychiatric nurse and self-admitted to hospital. Around 6 hours later, I was psychotic.

Best wishes for the pregnancy and delivery.

[Hidden]

Around day 10/11 for me also when everything totally fell apart. I had normal feelings for probably about day 3, then I started to think my baby was a little angel and everything began to heighten. I couldn't sleep, kept waking in the night etc, writing a book and the list goes on. So for the first 3 days was normal.

keeping my fingers crossed for you this time. x

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

Not sure I can be much help on this as my early days and weeks are really quite hazy - in fact, I can't remember whole chunks from probably a week after birth for about a month. But I do know that I stopped sleeping, eating, became really obsessive, paranoid, basically completely manic. I too am considering trying for another baby soon (little boy is 3 next month), and have firm ideas about what I can do to minimise triggers and risks. I hope this will also include some medication, as although it's not ideal, I know that when this was actually got right for me (anti-psychotics + lithium, a course of ECT too) this really pulled it round. All the best, I hope things go well for you.

[Hidden]

Hey Spannerb, I have a little boy who is 4. I have just recently given birth to twins who are now 7 months old. I remained well thoughout my pregnancy and postnatally with an amazing care team in place.

There is hope, if you have any questions you would like to ask please feel free. xx

[Bramble7]

I too became manic by day 10, I think this started around day 4 as before than I was like you, high as a kite and savouring being a new mum.