Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Weaning Off the Boob: Week 3 -- Depression

Weaning week 3: I was down to 1 nursing a day and was completely out of whack emotionally.  It felt as if everyone was out to get Henry or me and I scrambled to protect us.  It didn’t occur to me that the problem was my hormones, and not my relatives (including my 3 year old niece and nephew).  It took a knock down drag out shouting tear fest with my sister at the Lincoln Park Whole Foods (the 3rd largest WF in the world) to realize there was something wrong with me. 

It all started about a month ago over Thanksgiving.  I was feeling particularly unstable.  I couldn’t hold back the tears.  It got so bad that I was actually convulsing and weeping at Thanksgiving dinner.  I chalked it up to PMS.  Then Christmas came and I was still particularly testy.  I scolded my 3 year old nephew for grabbing Henry’s present out of his hands and immediately felt horrible.  Two days later, I scolded my 3-year-old niece for breaking Henry’s new toy phone, and got in a huge spat with my sister at the Whole Foods checkout.  I wanted her kid to “fess up” to the crime.  My blood was boiling. 

After some internet research, I self-diagnosed my emotional roller coaster ride as weaning depression.  My hormones were adjusting because I cut nursing back to once a day.  And my PMS was exacerbated by the hormonal changes.  Plus the emotional stress of weaning, and losing that connection with Henry was definitely wearing on me. 

To everyone I’ve snapped at or scolded or offended, I’M SORRY!!! 

Below are two links I found helpful and interesting.

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