The image above is making the rounds on the internet right now. In fact, it’s virality shocked no one more than the woman who shared it and that woman is Danielle Haines. Since Danielle posted the image on her facebook page the image has been shared more than 20,000 times and picked up by countless media outlets even making the front page of Yahoo! News. She gave us permission to use the image and here’s a snippet of what Danielle said when she posted it:
“This is a picture of me 3 days postpartum. I was so raw and so open, I was a f****** mess. I loved my baby, I missed his daddy (he went back to work that day), I was mad at my mom, my heart hurt for my brother because my mom left us and now I had a little boy that looked like him, my nipples were cracked and bleeding, my milk was almost in, my baby was getting really hungry, I was feeling sad that people kill babies, like on purpose, I had not slept since I went into labor…”
The person who took the picture was her one of her seven sisters, Sarah. Why did she take the picture? Sarah took it because she felt Danielle looked raw and beautiful. It is that feeling and the desire to share the truth about what happens to a woman postpartum that gave Danielle the courage to share the image online.
After the image started to go viral Danielle and her sister created a website and facebook page as a place for mothers to share their stories of their experience with postpartum.
Danielle ended her facebook post with, “I had a magical Postpartum. It wasn’t easy but I was so supported and fed and reminded that the mothers before me had been through this part of motherhood, and that I’d get through it just fine too.”
For some women the experience postpartum is warm and loving with loads of friends and/or family to help the mother transition into her new role as mom for life like Danielle’s experience was. Sadly though, postpartum is not always magical. In fact, for some women it is in this time that they are angry, hurt, confused and some even slip into a deep depression. You have likely heard of it as postpartum depression.
The baby books usually talk about the joys of parenthood. Some go a little into the struggles, but more often than not the desire among publishers is to avoid making it a scary subject to talk about. The truth is that postpartum isn’t easy and no matter how many books you read or how many videos you watch you will never be completely ready to step into your role as a parent. It will get easier over time, but the bottom line is that whether you are feeling sad, happy, confused, scared or a combination of all of the above, it’s normal.
However, if you feel like you are suffering from postpartum depression I encourage you to seek help. Please call Hammond Psychology & Associates, P.A. at (813) 654-0503 today. Your meeting with one of our counselors is 100% confidential. It’s okay to ask for help and we’re more than happy to help you.
Image courtesy of Danielle Haines