• Feel irritable and frustrated with your child, partner, or family. You may be fighting and very angry about small problems. “I was so tired I would yell about dirty diapers.  How could I tell anyone I was so angry at this beautiful little baby?”
• Not feel anything. You may have lost your sense of humour, not feel love or closeness with your child or partner, or generally feel numb or empty.  “Nothing seemed to be fun any more. I didn’t even like my other kids. They just seemed to be in the way.”
• Feel unable to cope with any amount of responsibility or work. You may feel that what you do is pointless and that others could do it better than you do.  “I would lie in bed and tell myself to get up and clean the house or play with the baby, but then I would think, why bother? It won’t make any difference to anyone.”
• Feel overwhelmed with emotions and cry often, even at small things. “Even the long-distance telephone ads made me sob, I felt so out of control.”
• Have panic or anxiety attacks, where you may have a racing or a pounding heart, shortness of breath, shaking, sweating or chills, a choking feeling, intense fear you are dying, or a feeling that you are going crazy. “It hit me so hard in the grocery store I thought I was dying. I ended up gasping on the floor with everyone looking at me.
• Feel anxious and worried about your child, yourself, your family, or any number of things. “I would get up at night to check that our child was still breathing, and then have to check out the whole house that it was locked and safe.”
• Have thoughts of hurting your child or yourself. “I kept having this sudden vision of my child being killed in a car crash.  I loved him so much, yet this kept coming at me. I felt like I would cause something to happen just by having these intense thoughts.”

if you have some of these feelings, you may have Postpartum Adjustment, Depression or Anxiety issues. You cannot deal with these on your own. Get help.  There is help that will make a difference and you need to talk to your doctor or public health nurse. Keep asking for help until you get it. Start by calling a public nurse at 250-850-2110.