Thursday I met with Katherine and Alison at Andaluz for my 38 week visit. All of the usual tests were fine (urine, BP, pulse) and my weight was even up to 152. They were so proud.
Our main topic of conversation at this visit was getting a plan in place for me to hopefully ward off any possible postpartum depression that may be looming on the horizon. As I have a history of depression and a current anxiety disorder that has been in full swing during the entire pregnancy, I have been concerned lately about how I will cope with the demands of a newborn, little sleep, etc. In fact, at my 37 week visit with Dr. Stempel, I asked him to write me a preemptive antidepressant prescription--just in case. He thought it was an excellent idea and wrote me one for 50 mg Zoloft tablets, advising to cut them in half and start taking one on the day the baby is born. His thought was to take 25 mg for one week and then at that point see if I needed to take the whole 50 mg pill. My experience in the past with antidepressants has been that they take 2-3 weeks to "kick in," so if I choose to go that route, I'll probably just go ahead and up the dose to 50 mg after the first week.
Of course I don't want to take them . . . there aren't any antidepressants that don't pass through breastmilk although Stempel said only 1-2% gets through as opposed to something like 25% passing through the placenta when taken during pregnancy. And I haven't taken anything in about seven years now, so if I was to go back on them I think I would feel as if I have failed. But on the other hand, I sure don't want my emotions and thoughts to spiral out of control so that I can't take care of my baby the way he deserves. And I want to enjoy being a mama!
Katherine understood my concern about the Zoloft and looked up some information on the Internet about a study on that drug in particular and its presence in breastmilk. The findings were that zero to very minimal amounts had been found in breastmilk. That made me feel a bit better.
Katherine also told me about a practice that oddly enough, I had just read about for the first time in a People magazine earlier in the week. It's called placental encapsulation and apparently is very very good for women to take postpartum. The baby's placenta is made into capsules after birth (takes 3-5 days) and then the mama takes them in order to help her body recover and get extra nutrients that she would otherwise not get. It's supposed to help very much with postpartum depression symptoms. There are a couple of local women who prepare these capsules and I have their information. It's pretty likely that I will go ahead and have it done because honestly, I'd much rather take those (even though at first it does sound a little bit gross), than the Zoloft if I can at all help it. Tinctures can also be made from the placenta but it takes much longer--weeks--that I just don't feel I have.
Katherine also suggested contacting Baby Blues Connection for information on attending a local support group. I told her that I picked up their information months ago during an appointment at Dr. Stempel's office, but I felt like I wouldn't fit in well since I already have depression / anxiety. My thought was that the group would be full of women who only experienced those symptoms during pregnancy or postpartum. Katherine assured me that there would more than likely be many women in attendance with histories similar to mine and encouraged me to get in touch with them. I called them when I got home that day and left a message. A really sweet volunteer emailed me that evening and said that I was so smart to reach out for help now instead of waiting until it gets really bad. That made me feel better. We emailed a couple of times that night and she let me know about a support group that meets on Mondays in my general area. My plan is to check it out next week and see how it goes. Generally I find I do better one-on-one as opposed to being in a group (I really dread having to go around the circle and talk about myself), but I'll give it a shot. Maybe I can just listen during my first few meetings.
Friday (yesterday), I saw Dr. Stempel and had a fairly uneventful visit. I weighed 153 by his scale so have now gained a total of nineteen pounds during the pregnancy. I'm hoping to reach twenty-five pounds by the time our little guy is born, but we shall see. I guess all the whole milk, cheese, almond butter and ice cream I've been eating is paying off! ;)
I let Dr. Stempel know that the midwives are planning to call him soon to discuss the birth plan and get any input he may have. Katherine said they will write up an actual plan and have me sign it on my next visit so that everyone is on the same page. As far as I know, the plan is that the midwives will check the baby's heart tones every 20 minutes during active labor and if there are any signs of a problem, we will transport to Emanuel where Dr. Stempel will take over. I am comfortable with this as the hospital is only about four miles from the birth center and we should know far in advance of any trouble brewing. But I feel in my heart that all will go well and smoothly, and that this little boy will make his way into the world in exactly the way that works best for him.
It won't be long now. :)
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Amy, I think it is totally brave of you and applaud-worthy to seek out ways to cope with the possible baby blues beforehand. I suffered with it a decent amount the first time around, and was lucky to have good friends who live close by who urged me to get out of the house with them frequently. But I think I could have prepared myself even more. And I did somewhat the second time around and fared much better.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think you are doing all the right things. You are going to be a fantastic mommy!