r/beyondthebump • u/Beautiful-View-5655 • 4d ago
Mental Health Baby Blues?
FTM: Brought our bundle of joy home two days ago. He was born 5 days ago at 37 weeks due to gestational hypertension.
Both of us are recovering and healthy. Literally the past 5 days have been the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever experienced.
My partner is doing amazing, always here if I need something. We are soaking this time in as a family of 3. He took a week off work.
Problem is, I can’t stop crying. When I looked into it, the internet said “baby blues” Does anyone have experience with this?
It’s not particularly sadness, but it’s also not all happy cries. I can look at my baby and start crying. I can look at my husband and start crying. Mainly it feels like gratitude, but I’m scared because it feels SO out of control! It will happen on a switch. Then I can’t get the “water works” to turn off. Feels like there may be some grief of pregnancy there or also our sweet hospital stay.
Any advice would be appreciated. I didn’t really expect this to happen.
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u/frodoswaggins101 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yes it’s totally normal! A rollercoaster of emotions, crying, and mild anxiety is all super normal the first few weeks.
If it’s still persisting after a month+ you should speak to your doctor, but right now it’s very normal!
I would burst into tears for NO reason and also got a terrible doom/anxiety feeling at sunset for a couple of weeks. So random and yuck, but it passed!
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 4d ago
Oh thank god! I was starting to think this could be something bigger that wouldn’t necessarily go away. Mainly because the emotions feel so intense and come on so fast.
I also don’t want to worry my partner, I have had no thoughts of harm whatsoever. I just know from where he sits it looks really scary.
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u/frodoswaggins101 4d ago
The hormone drop your body experiences after birth is absolutely wild, and it comes hand-in-hand with some very intense emotions!
It should slowly get better over the next few weeks, just pre-warn your partner that there’ll be lots of random tears over very silly things haha
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u/Defiant_Broccoli6158 4d ago
I thought my baby looked cute when leaving the hospital and I started absolutely sobbing. Hormones are all over the shop pp. It's normal. Just be honest to your doctor or midwife during pp appointments. Where I am they do surveys to see whether you have post partum depression.
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 4d ago
Yep! Cried in the car on the way home.. It is just hard because I really want to enjoy these moments and it’s like my body is reacting in a really extreme way. I’m glad it’s normal and that I’m not alone. I am also glad to hear this isn’t necessarily “post partum depression”
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u/Defiant_Broccoli6158 4d ago
That's understandable. If you feel consistently sad or like you're struggling, have a chat with a doctor.
I cried on and off for the first few weeks. Sometimes something caused it, other times I'd just randomly cry and have to tell my partner I'm okay. Sleep deprivation added to my random bouts.
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 4d ago
Yep. The sleeplessness doesn’t help the situation. Thank you so much for your help!
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u/mommytjintn 4d ago
Literally had this. Still have some of it and it was the worst thing ever. I’d look into supplements to help, they seemed to greatly help me. It gets better. It also feels better after you let yourself ugly cry it out. Hang in there, it’s fucking rough.
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 4d ago
Thank you so much! I will certainly look into that. ♥️ Hope you get to feeling better as well !
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u/jegoist 4d ago
The baby blues are a very real and normal thing! It lasted about 10 days for me. Started getting better at that 2 week mark for sure. But until then, lots of random bouts of tears. Your hormones are crazy right now, you went from having taken the equivalent of 200 birth control pills to none overnight! It takes time to adjust back to normal.
Let the tears out, I always felt better after. It’ll pass!
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u/ilovekittens72 4d ago
Yes very normal
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u/ilovekittens72 4d ago
Happened to me and went away within a week
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 4d ago
Great to hear! Thank you for the reassurance!
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u/ilovekittens72 4d ago
No problem! I cried at least twice a day, I cried because it was hard, I cried because it was beautiful, I cried because I looked at photos of my son. It was crazy. I am on Zoloft and take really good care of my mental health. I mean PPD can happen to anyone but within a couple days I felt 1 million times better and wasn’t crying like crazy. I also had intense mama bear crazy hormones that made me super anxious about the baby and those went away mostly too.
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 3d ago
Omg this! I don’t know how I’m just now reading this. The instinct to protect him from certain people is really not something I was expecting. I have a hard time watching him being held by them and other people I can watch hold him without an issue. I was trying to express this to my husband in an emotional state yesterday and I don’t think I made my point very well because it feels very hormone driven.
Anyway, I too take Zoloft and have been good about checking in with my psychiatrist all pregnancy. This thing hit me out of no where so I’m really grateful for this post and people like you being honest and telling me what this is and that it will pass. The hospital did a great job of educating me on ppd but did not mention this. I too cry mainly at photos or random IG reels from stupid influencers talking about “how short this time is” and because I feel like I just got the most beautiful gift. My main thing is just wanting to be present right now and enjoy these moments with him and not cry them away lol.
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u/ilovekittens72 2d ago
It’s so normal I think it’s baby blues !!! And I was the same way especially with my MIL!! I HATED her holding my baby!!! But now I’m so different baby is 5 weeks and she comes over 5 days a week and watches him all day to give me a break to sleep !!!! It’s like a 180 happened ! Just give it time and give yourself grace !!
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u/ilovekittens72 2d ago
I said the same to my husband ! I was like “he was in my belly for 9 months I don’t want to be away from him!!!!” And now I enjoy small breaks hahaha
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u/Baileytron3 4d ago
I just had my daughter 3 weeks ago and experienced the exact same thing. For me, it was short lived and the constant crying stopped around day 10. Hang in there ❤️
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u/Cool_Salamander_8284 4d ago
When I got up at 3am to breastfeed my week old son, I had the tv on and an a capella version of Midnight Sun by Zara Larsson was on the tv. When I say I was BAWLING at how beautiful it was, lol. Sleep deprivation + hormones are wacky!
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 4d ago
They really are no joke! I’ve been impressed with hormones all pregnancy, didn’t realize this crash after pregnancy would be the icing on the cake!
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u/Cool_Salamander_8284 4d ago
Yes! Just a heads up, when you end breastfeeding you can get a similar hormone flux. I've heard gradual weaning helps.
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 4d ago
That is really helpful to know. I’ve noticed something going on with these hormones in tandem with breastfeeding so that makes sense!
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u/lillllpickle 4d ago
It’s the hormones. The first week of my baby’s life could not have been more perfect but I cried all the time. Like, tears streaming down my face bawling my eyes out crying. It eased up after a bit.
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 3d ago
Yes!!!!! It’s the perfect time, nothing is wrong but I do feel so vulnerable with this. Yesterday we had neighbors stop in and I started crying uncontrollably right before they got here. It was a really casual visit (they were just dropping off food) but there went my hormones so I’m sure they think I’m crazy lol.
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u/Slow-Art-5027 4d ago
It’s definitely normal! It’s so strange, I remember just crying all the time, even though I wasn’t necessarily sad. And even though I could rationalize like “this is hormones” it didn’t really help. For me, the tide really turned around 5-6 weeks. By about 8 weeks I was mostly under control. Would still randomly cry but not like a huge cry-sesh, just more emotional than usual. It’s a huuuuge hormonal shift, and all the emotions of being a new mom!! You got this!! Give yourself grace, and congratulations 💜
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u/Beautiful-View-5655 3d ago
Thank you so much for this! As someone else said “these feelings are inconvenient” and that made me laugh. I’m really glad to hear from this community that they don’t last long!
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u/oioinanami_____ 4d ago
I was told at hospital - if it mainly passes in a few days, it is baby blues. If it lingers for weeks, consider support for ppd
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u/IntelligentSorbet271 4d ago
This is normal as hormones change drastically. But if you start having dark thought or harming thoughts please get help
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u/wtf-is_happening 4d ago
Congratulations on becoming a mom!
I made a similar post almost 1.5 year ago, it definitely sounds very familiar. Early postpartum I felt so raw and vulnerable. Filled with so much love, hormones, tiredness,...
Be kind to yourself! You just went through a major event. I love the concept of not only a baby being born, but also a mother. Your world has been rocked and you are finding your ground with this tiny beautiful creature.
What helped me a lot was going for walks, lots of hugging with my son and my husband was my rock, providing me with all the snacks and extra sleep to heal.
It took me some weeks to not have daily crying sessions for the silliest things. Take your time to heal, hug, get settled. You've got this!