Through the fog

You have to take time for you! 

Around four weeks after giving birth I had bloods taken due to low iron during pregnancy and found out I had Postpartum thyroiditis. Never heard of it before and sure wasn’t told during pregnancy I could get this, yes I had heard of overactive and underactive thyroid but this is slightly different. The difference is you go through an overactive stage then after four/five months its changes to underactive, the symptoms are different and you sure do feel different through each stage. It can easily be undiagnosed as many doctors put hair loss, anxiety, and fatigue down to motherhood but a simple blood test shows elevated or low TSH levels. 

8 weeks after giving birth I weighed less than before I was pregnant and apart from feeling tired I feel pretty damn good. A further two months and everything changed I felt awful, I could cope with all the symptoms but not depression. I went for my routine bloods (currently every four weeks) and my results were crazy I had gone from overactive to underactive and I was definitely feeling it. My hormones were everywhere one minute I felt like super Mum the next I just kept crying for no reason. I never knew this could make such an impact on me, my body, my mind and my child. 

The doctor prescribed me tablets to level things out and after a few days I started to feel like me again, at the same time my little baby had changed so much in a week she was gaining her own personality. I don’t think it was a coincidence this happened at the same time. Depression is like a fog, your there but you can’t see out, nothings clear. I don’t think I could see her growing personality, her daily changes, I was always anxious to notice how happy she was. 

I have blood tests every four weeks until a year after birth, at that point 75% of people with Postpartum thyroiditis stabilise and go back to normal the other 25% have it for life. The odds are in my favour! 

If your not feeling yourself don’t just put it down to the whirlwind of motherhood, get a simple blood test and just make sure. My little baby is 6 months old and I finally feel like I am enjoying being a Mum, I am happy, not scared, not worried just happy.