A mama with a mission: to remove guilt, shame, and blame from the parenting experience.
Gently guiding mothers on the journey from Postpartum Depression to Joy.
I just love this brave guest post from Jenny. We met online at #ppdchat (where she is a regular), and I got to hear her wonderful voice (the girl can sing!) through my PPD SpeakEasy calls, and we became close. I was overjoyed when she agreed to serve as a Den Mother at my Mama’s Comfort Camp facebook group (join us?), and what can I say, I’m just floored by this brave and honest account of her struggles with anxiety and rage. Jenny took my (Not) Secret (Not) Weapon course this spring, and it was a joy and an honor to have her in the group. Jenny lives in a small town in Wisconsin on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan. She and her husband juggle (sometimes not so successfully) working outside the home, parenthood and housework. Jenny is a mom to two beautiful girls who is trying to tame her inner perfectionist and just be a good enough mom. She is @jenrenpody on twitter, and she blogs at http://tranquilamama.wordpress.com/
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Mati is my miracle.
Today is her birthday.
This is my story (and I’m sticking to it): After my birth-mother lost her life to postpartum depression when I was 6, she went up to heaven and searched for the best step-mother ever. Mina found Mati. She sent Mati to us, and we all fell in love with her. I asked Mati to marry my dad before he did. They married shortly after I turned 7. I call her mom ever since.
Considering the situation, Mati is the best thing that could have happen to my family, and I am grateful beyond words for her in my life. I’m the luckiest girl because of her. I don’t even want to imagine what my life would look like without her. Let’s just say that I doubt that I would have grown to become someone who is able to help others if she hadn’t been my mother. She showed me trust, she showed me functional love.
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I’m so happy to have Andrea here, guest posting with her very own Rainy Day Letter.
Andrea blogs at postpartumandpigtails.com/
(Are you new here? A Rainy Day Letter is a message you write to yourself when you are having a good day, so you can read it on your bad days. It’s like a helping hand, but from yourself. I’d love to add yours to this growing collection. The original post that started the Hope in an Envelope collection is here: The Opportunity in Setbacks and Rainy Days Letters.)
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My sweet Andrea,
You had a mountain to climb over the last few years but you made it. You survived Postpartum Anxiety & OCD! Be kind to yourself. Life is full of ups & downs. We are not promised a life that we breeze through. And look at where you are now! You took a negative experience & made it into something positive. You are helping others. You are able to see all of the good that came out of this. I am so proud of you mama!
This is a preview of Andrea’s Rainy Day Letter (Hope in an Envelope 9)
. Read the full post (663 words, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)
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I am so honored to have Susan’s trust with this post. Susan (@learndhappiness on twitter ) is a member of my Mama’s Comfort Camp group, and her insights and sweetness always inspire me. She shared her lovely Rainy Day Letter with us last year, and she bloggs at learnedhappiness.wordpress.com/
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Of all the things I regret about my time with postpartum depression and anxiety, the anger is the one I have the hardest time not feeling guilty about.
I want to make sure I’m being precise. It wasn’t just anger. It was rage. Blinding rage. I don’t know if I can type what comes next, but I’m going to take a deep breath and try.
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I can vividly recall standing at the edge of the brown patterned bassinet adjacent to the bed, looking down at my two week old daughter, and screaming while tears streamed down my face, “why won’t you just fucking go to sleep?” Slumping to the floor, I felt my heart break into pieces. What kind of mother screams at her newborn?
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Look, my friend Amy is visiting us today, with her story of anxiety, and what works for her to combat it. Yes, Amy is someone who combats her anxiety, and it works for her. My work of Permission-Based Healing is all about moving away from a stance of fighting anxiety to applying Self-Kindness skills that DISARM rather than fight our symptoms. This is what I teach in my course (Not) Secret (Not) Weapon, which starts in three weeks (and is almost sold out! Yay with me?). So while Amy’s attitude towards her anxiety is somewhat different from mine, her methods work for her: she is doing much better these days, go Amy!
Amy is a stay-at-home mom. She blogs athttp://livinglifejoyously.blogspot.com/. She resides with her husband and five-year-old daughter in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She and her husband are currently pursuing domestic infant adoption. Amy enjoys gardening, interior design and anything craft related.
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My gosh, Kristin (@littlemamajama) is here with this inspiring tender guest post! I love this woman, and I am honored to have her at my Mama’s Comfort Camp Facebook refueling station for moms.
Kristin is a stay-at-home mom, writer and social media marketer. She blogs at LittleMamaJama.com. She resides with her husband and one-year-old son in a university residence hall, where her husband works. Kristin enjoys writing, biking and her long lost love – sea kayaking.
Climbing Out of the Pit of Pain
Have you ever had a moment that completely stopped you in your tracks and made you think, “What am I doing?”
My moment occurred one night during November 2011. My seven-month-old son looked at me and cried. He wanted me to actively entertain him at every moment, but I just didn’t have the energy for that anymore. My energy was quickly being replaced with more rage and hopelessness every day. He continued to cry, and a few sentences played over and over again in my mind.
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A safe haven of Self-Kindness and support. Join me and over 200 moms from around the world at our private facebook group (only members can read and post). You can ask to join on this page:
