Who said having a baby was easy?

I'm about to get serious very quickly here. Over the weekend I read the first blog post of my neighbour Brona @snaphappymammy and it really hit a nerve. Brona spoke so candidly about suffering from Post Natal Depression (PND) and I honestly almost cried reading it. I will tell you why now...

It's no secret my wife C was diagnosed with PND when Gray was only a few months old. I watched C struggle and I put it down to her having a traumatic pregnancy as well as her dad passing when she was 6 months pregnant. As time went on I noticed her withdraw from Gray and myself. I began to worry but I had no idea how to fix the situation. I went through a whole range of emotions. As a Daddy it's extremely difficult to watch the woman who gave you your little boy struggle so badly.

Before C had Gray all I heard from people was say goodbye to sleep. Never once did PND come up in conversation. It actually shocked me considering 15% of new mothers suffer from it. It's crazy to think it's such a non topic of conversation and it got me thinking how many women might actually suffer in silence. After reading Brona's post I realised how it can effect mothers differently. To touch slightly on one of the ways it affects C -she struggles daily with constant fear something bad is going to happen to Gray. The first time Gray was fed toast C was standing in the back garden crying afraid Gray was going to choke. To this day she really struggles to feed him anything lumpy. This makes her take a step back leaving me with nearly all the responsibility.
I never foreseen things playing out like this.

It's bloody hard and I take each day as it comes. I wish it was spoken about more especially for those suffering and us daddies to try understand a bit more of what's going on. The struggle is real and our way of coping is to speak about it as much as possible. Luckily we have a good support system to help us.

Post Natal Depression is not a choice.

Kel