My Baby's Smile. My Journey and Recovery Through Postpartum Depression

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Postpartum Depression and the effects on your marriage

When I was writing my book on my experience on suffering postpartum depression it was a very fine line to determine what was my PPD and what were my marriage issues. When the book was finished I have to admit that my husband was not happy about some of the content in the book. Obviously the things that I wrote about him. For months we battled and I stood firm. What happened is what happened. We cannot go back and change the timing or sequence of events. Once the book was going to be published he was still trying to get me to delay the publishing because he wanted me to edit the things about him
Again, I stood firm in my belief that our experiences could hopefully help someone else. We still have a long road ahead of us in our marriage and there are days that I am not sure we will be together. We did not have another child. Last year I even went to my husband and said, “I am ready. I think that I am strong and I can do this. I will be prepared and I would like to have another child.” He did not seemed so enthused. I still think that the year in the life when I was suffering may have changed us forever.
I see my husband in a whole different light. He was not the support that I needed; he did not seek out help for me; he did not even want me to take medication. When I did start medication and therapy I could not even get him to go with me. Is my husband uncaring? To this day I try and make sense of what has happened between us. Can we make it back to who we were before. Do I feel he supports me emotionally, no. That is the biggest issue in our marriage. Has the postpartum depression that I suffered showed me things in my marriage that I do not want from my partner? That is a question that I ask myself each day. He tells me to forget and move on, but I do not think that I can.
I would love to hear from anyone else out there who has suffered from PPD or a husband and get a perspective on your journey through this and the effect on your marriage. Thanks.