Have you ever felt parenting shame? Picture this. You’re sitting in the middle of the living room. On a floor with toys strewn about and yesterday’s Gold Fish Crackers crushed into the carpet. Your oldest is crying because your middle child won’t stop licking him. The baby just finished eating after crying since 2am. And then proceeds to vomit all over you. But that’s ok because you haven’t showered in 3 days anyhow.

You can’t remember the last time you saw your best friend. Adult conversation has become more than a perk. But it’s an ongoing, deep-rooted need that you can’t seem to find time for. Tears well up in your eyes. And the parenting shame fills your chest as you question every decision that lead to this moment.  “Why did I ever decide to have kids?!”

And then the oldest scoops the youngest up and tries to teach her his favorite game as your heart melts and a freight train of guilt slams into your gut.

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For the last two weeks, we’ve been discussing the postpartum disorders that arise once your baby is born. As much as we’d like to say that these issues don’t happen, these cases are becoming more and more prominent. Fortunately, women are becoming braver and braver in sharing their stories and reaching out for help. Two weeks ago we discussed the most common of those postpartum disorders, postpartum depression. Last week, we shifted gears into learning more about postpartum anxiety. This week, we want to take a deep dive into some of the other postpartum symptoms – those of which relate to postpartum PTSD, postpartum OCD, and postpartum psychosis.

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