Pregnancy Info HOME

Okay this is long, but I CAN RELATE!!!! And I am the last person with credentials to judge.... I was diagnosed with bipolar almost 10 years ago. I have a ds, 3 and a dd, 11 weeks. During my pregnancy with ds, I was ok. I was on Zoloft which is safe for pregnancy. Since I started feeling better, I took myself off of it when I was about 30 weeks. After my son was born I had severe postpartum depression. This lasted for about 7 months. So I went back on meds, Lamictal. When I found out I was pregnant again, I stopped the meds-they're not safe for early pregnancy. I had several manic episodes to the point where I was put on a mental disability. I was scared to death to have this child, even though I already had one. I was dealing with a lot of feelings regarding my ability to parent, how I would ever love another child, what I would do if the baby cried, etc. It was like I had no clue what would happen. So I went back on Zoloft. But it didn't work. So after a long discussion with my psychiatrist, I went back on the Lamictal, since I know it works best. I had to make the decision that I wouldn't b___st feed, since the meds are not safe for baby. it was a hard decision for me, since I was carrying so much guilt from the ppd with my son. Anyway, I feel like it was the best thing I did for myself and for my children. i missed b___stfeeding but I am doing better than I would be if I were not on meds. My history with bipolar has been rocky (who's hasn't?). I will admit that I self medicate and it makes things worse. But I am really glad I went back on the Lamictal and stayed on it. I loved being pregnant with ds but it was difficult with dd. I was scared to relive the ppd. That was horrible. Is there a reason you can't/don't want to be on meds? The fact that you are concerned already points you in the right direction. If you'd like, we can keep in touch. my email is dizoney at yahoo.com. Good luck! Hope something in there helped.