I Didn't Always Show Up for My Mental Health
May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, and as we all are faced with unprecedented times, it is the perfect time to check in with ourselves.
Like really check in and truly answer the question, “How am I doing?”
For me, most days are a range of emotions: fear, joy, sadness, contentment, exhaustion, gratitude. I won’t lie and say that I am 100% all of the time, but as someone who really wasn’t okay, I know the signs and understand what I need in order to ensure my own mental health.
But I didn’t always know how to do this.
I gave birth to my daughter at 32 weeks exactly. She subsequently spent 39 days in NICU. In the days and months that followed her birth, I experienced a range of mental illnesses that included PTSD, anxiety and PPD.
However, I did not seek help for several months. Everything was too hard, too overwhelming, and it was happening so fast that I couldn’t stay afloat. My focus was my child and there was often nothing left to give myself.