Tag: mental health

I know I’ve talked about training for a half-marathon that’s coming up this fall, but I’m not sure I’ve ever talked about why I started running in the first place.

So let me give you a little back story, because it’s important to the general idea of the post.

I started running last fall after an incident at our house. L, our youngest, was toddling around the house and accidentally stepped on the injured paw of our husky. As he lurched up in pain, she stumbled over … and what resulted was a terrible mess that left her with six stitches in her cheek.
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The modern woman encompasses a lot of things; the modern mother encompasses even more. It means that we are often juggling professional as well as personal pursuits. It means we are writing articles during nap time or taking conference calls during preschool hours. Sometimes, we do it because we want to, sometimes we do it because we have to – sometime it’s both.

The modern woman likes to have it all. A stable, well afforded life; a beautiful family that includes a marriage that is healthy; kids playing in the soccer field and a career that is flourishing. It means the laundry is put away and the dishes are always getting done. Or at least, that’s the vision. But all too often, there are things suffering. Things like our mental health as well as our physical health. We aren’t balancing it all as well as we should. Read more…

I have been writing about my trials and tribulations with breast feeding after a breast reduction. One of the biggest trials has been dealing with post-partum depression after breast reduction surgery.

Now to be clear, post-partum depression can hit any new mom, but the issues that mothers who have had a breast reduction are specific. For me, post-partum depression set in right about the time that all the frustrations of not being able to breast feed “normally” hit home. At least for me it did the first time around with my oldest child.

I remember lying down after pumping out less than 1/2 an ounce of milk thinking that if we were in the wild, my baby would starve to death. My baby would surely die.

I thought I was a terrible mother for cutting myself so long ago only to put my baby at risk 20 years after the surgery. For a good few hours, the tears wouldn’t stop flowing and I could barely gasp enough air in my lungs to fuel yet another bout of crying. But crying I did for a long long time. I felt like a complete failure.

The drops of milk sitting in the little bottle were simply mocking me, saying, yes, you make milk and you would have made plenty if you’d only sucked it up and not had surgery. Shame on you…And, from all the stories I’ve heard about post-partum depression after breast reduction surgery, my day of falling apart doesn’t even rank.

I’m still waiting for it to get me down this time around with my second child – which, I’m certain, will happen. The only question is when.

Post-partum depression (or even the tendency to beat one’s self up) is real and nasty. Some women have it worse than others. Like engorgement, there is only one way to deal with it and for me that’s to just go through it in hopes of getting on the other side. Coupled with the complications of breast feeding after a breast reduction and I’ve got a cocktail for some serious self loathing right when I DO NOT NEED IT.

So if you are battling with post-partum depression after breast reduction surgery, just know that you’re not alone and that it will pass.

photo credit: helgasms!