Preface

Please read with kindness. This series contains very raw, honest details about my mental health and postpartum experience. I share this not for judgment, but to make space for dialogue. To make visible what so often stays hidden. If you learn something new about postpartum mental health, I’m glad. If parts of this resonate with your own experience, I hope you feel less alone.

With 1 in 5 women experiencing a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder (PMAD), and up to 85% experiencing the “baby blues,” postpartum mental health is far more common than most of us are led to believe. The silence around it does far more harm than the conversation ever could.

Four Months Postpartum: Still in the Trenches

Before you read, I want you to know this: I love my baby more than anything in this world. He is my greatest joy. What you’ll read in the parts that follow isn’t a lack of love… it’s context. It’s information and normalization. It is not a sad story... It is an honest one. It’s what living through a hard season can look like. If the tone feels heavy at times, please hold out for the final part, where the full picture comes together. There is light here too.

I will be sharing my experiences from my series: Four Months Postpartum: Still in the Trenches broken into eight additional parts (2-9):

Part 2 - Expectations vs. Reality

Part 3 - The Baby Who Needs More

Part 4 - The Nights That Broke Me

Part 5 - Phantom Cries & the Nervous System

Part 6 - And Then There’s Me

Part 7 - Finding Roses Amongst the Thorns

Part 8 - Why People Do This Again

Part 9 - Why I’m Sharing This