Depression during pregnancy: Is it hormonal?

Article from iVillage.com. Found it VERY useful.
Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. Lifetime prevalence rates for major depression for adults are 5.8 percent, although the prevalence rates for women are about 8 percent. Depression postpartum is a well-recognized phenomenon. However, depression during pregnancy is less well understood.
Major depression is classified under the mood disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). It is defined as the occurrence of depressed moods or loss of interest or pleasure in activities, along with at least four other symptoms during the same two week period. These symptoms may include disturbances in appetite, weight, sleep, motor activity, energy, concentration or the presence of suicidal thoughts and feelings of worthlessness or guilt. An episode of major depression can be categorized as severe, moderate or mild according to the degree to which the affected person's symptoms interfere with social and occupational functioning, including feeding, clothing and maintaining personal hygiene.
Depressive symptoms are usually of less intensity and duration than diagnosable depression. The boundary between diagnosable depression and depressive symptoms is sometimes unclear.
Prevalence estimates of depression during pregnancy varies between 4 and 7.6 percent. The incidence of prenatal depression seems to be increased in the first trimester, suggesting that this is a time of maximum vulnerability to depression. However, depressive symptoms occur in 8 to 38 percent of pregnant women.
It is common to get "the blues" from time to time. Sadness is a normal part of life. Pregnancy has been depicted in the media as a time when women bloom and get rosy complexions. In my experience, both personally and professionally, this is often far from the truth. Pregnancy is a life-altering event and a prelude to one of life's largest and most intense undertakings. Women can be overwhelmed with the spectrum of physical changes taking place and the psychological adaptation necessary to accommodate pending lifestyle changes.
Clients frequently share thoughts with me such as "I feel as if my body has been invaded" or "I can barely take care of myself; how can I take care of a baby?" Fear and trepidation walk hand in hand with joy and anticipation.
Women need an extraordinary amount of support from partners, friends and family during pregnancy, as well as several months postpartum. If there are other coincidental issues such as financial instability or marital or family discord, job dissatisfaction or maternal or family health concerns, this "pile-up" of stressors can induce a chronic state of sadness and hopelessness known as clinical depression.
Counseling, as well as medication, have been shown to be very effective in lessening depression and reducing the incidence of postpartum depression. There are several tools that are helpful in determining if this state of mind necessitates a consultation with a primary care provider or a mental health professional.
If you answer "yes" to more than two of the following questions, you may be suffering from clinical depression:
1. Much of the time, do you feel...
* sad? yes
* lethargic?
* pessimistic?
* hopeless?
* worthless?
* helpless?
2. Much of the time, do you...
* have difficulty making decisions?
* have trouble concentrating? yes
* have memory problems?
3. Lately, have you...
* lost interest in things that used to give you pleasure? yes
* had problems at work or in school?
* had problems with your family or friends?
* isolated yourself from others, or wanted to be isolated? yes
4. Lately, have you...
* felt low energy? yes
* felt restless and irritable? yes
* had trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or getting up in the morning? yes
* lost your appetite -- or gained weight? yes
* been bothered by persistent headaches, stomach aches or back aches? yes
* been bothered by muscle or joint pains? yes
5. Lately, have you...
* been drinking more alcohol than normal?
* been taking more mood-altering drugs than you used to?
* engaged in risky behavior, such as not wearing a seat belt or
* crossing streets without looking?
6. Lately, have you been thinking about...
* death? yes
* hurting yourself?
* your funeral? yes
* killing yourself?

If you are uncertain about your state of mind, I would seek the opinion of your obstetric care provider who could direct you to some counselling resources in your area.

Curry Puff.. Meehoon Goreng...

woke up at 4.15 am desperately wanting curry puffs. Lay awake for quite a while trying to brush off the images of curry puff. *sigh*

i ended up cooking meehoon goreng [since i can't eat keropok lekor without sauce] for myself, and now i'm eating it at 5 in the morning.

hmm...

Kidz around the world

Posted this in my other blog. Since she's someone's daughter too, i think it ought to be here as well. I almost cried hearing this girl singing the 'i really miss you' part. pity her, pity the world. stupid american government.

34 weeks... 6 weeks to go!

believe me, 6 weeks is a long long wait when u're pregnant.

but ...
Soon there'll be not much time for myself again.
Soon sleepless nights will begin again.
Soon it'll be 4 of us, no more 3.
Soon we'll hafta start once again bringing one extra bag everytime we go out.
Soon Jazz will be harder to handle, as she might become jealous or furious with d coming of new person bugging her place.
Soon the house could no longer play loud music/tv throughout the day, instead it'll be replaced with cries and laughter of one more little one.
Soon we'll be parents of two and Jazz is a big sister.
Soon there'll be two sizes of pampers to buy (eventho Jazz only wears pampers when sleeping at nite).

Life is changing, soon. Are we prepared?

Nyaris! Check Up 24th December 2006

Nyaris apa? Nyaris ke ward lagi!!

Somebody for sure is dying to say 'Serves you right!' to me. In fact he did so many times tadi. n mother kept on saying 'why is it your body so weak than mine?' hmmm...

Wat did i do? Membantai keropok lekor, is it a sin? Makan Nasik goreng, pun tak boleh ke? In fact everyone ate the nasik goreng yesterday. What what what??? What did i do sampai i puke 3 times yesterday throwing all the things in my stomach out? What did i consume till i had diarrhoea and got dehydrated for i-dunno-how-many-hundred-times in this pregnancy?

I am no fortune-teller, or Raven who can see the future. how would i know that wat i consume would later lead to dehydration, again? Cus i only took decent food. how would i know keropok lekor would be harmful? This is pregnancy we're talking about. It's unpredictable, things could go twist and turn in my stomach in a blink of an eye. So... is it really my fault that i hafta go to n fro to the hospital for like a hundred times during this pregnancy?? Compared to Jazz's pregnancy, this one is 100 times troublesome. Which, to me, i dunno about others, will make this particular baby even more special.

I am a strong believer that 'Penyakit Penghapus Dosa'. I know i am no perfect woman of God, but i haf faith. so maybe... being as naughty as i am, God luvs me so much that He gives me all this sickness, to wash my sins away. for as long as i remember, Hospitals and Clinics are my favourite hang out places.

So.... am i reaaaalllyyy to blame, 100%?

Ouch! My Hands hurt!

Carpal TUnnel Syndrome.

getting it again, i guess! sux, the pain sux. it feels like numbing across my hands, especially after waking up sleeping on my side. my blood vessels are swelling thus it's 'crushing' each other. some article says this is common towards the end of pregnancy. wutever it is, it sux. i could barely do nething much, even opening a bottle of 100 plus is a fuss. typing makes it sore, but bareable. the sucky thing is i can't do my ironing while the bajus are piling up like crazy again!! aaaa!! tensionnya!!

Today i'm 33 weeks and 3 days into my pregnancy. Hmm... nice number. last nite got kenduri at Along's for tahlil and for praying the safety of rombongan pengantin lelaki ke Pahang today, her son. i'm not going to Pahang, gila? hehe. mom and my whole family's going cept syamin, who jest got fever yesterday. demam abis SPM. citer dah menyimpang. sebenarnya nak citer, masa kenduri semalam, many of my experienced aunties and uncles kecoh, 'Ni dah nak beranak budak ni!' konon my perut turunlah, my face dah swell macam dah nak bersalin lah, eeee bikin cuak betul semua orang. my mom dok sengih-sengih, sukalah tu nak dapat cucu baru. katanya tunggu mama balik dari Pahang baru beranak. Apa diorang ni ingat aku suka ke beranak awal-awal ni. baru 33 weeks oi!!!

Physchologically, i was affected by all those comments last nite. terasa macam my opnening was effacing last nite. it hurts! dunnolah dah efface ke belum, Sunday ni next check up, kita tunggu dan lihat. berjalan bukan macam Happy Feet dah, dah macam tortoise. slow giler sebab my ari-ari area is soooo uncomfortable. hmm... diorang punya pasal la ni kecoh-kecoh semalam. eeee geramnya aku...!!

What a pleasant dream...

Yesterday was another tiring day for a bulger like me :op~. Mom had no choice but to ask me to come to d boutique and help her mind it cuss 1/2 of our staffs had to mind another promotion lot. So i had my usual backache last nite, susah nak berjalan and very very tired. After a few times waking up due to my backpain and going to the loo, i finally fell into a deep slumber nearly morning.

So i had this dream... it was defnitely in colours, cus i could remember every details. I recalled i was just finished with the 'bersalin' [labour] battle, and i delivered my baby girl with normal method. I remember feeling relaxed, then my baby was given to my embrace by a nurse. the rest of the room was dark, there were only lights on my baby's face, i could see her very clearly. i was about to breastfeed her. She looks almost like Jazzy when she was jest borned, with chubby cheeks, small mouth thin lips, her face was pinkishly fair, small sepet Abah's eyes and my thick hair, just like Jazz. She was very calm, not crying and sipped her milk patiently. then the dream drifted into another dream which i couldn't really recall what. and btw, i couldn't recognize which hospital was it, not az-zahrah or putrajaya, i just can't recognize where.

I dreamt of Jazz before she was born too. back then, i could also see her face. and yes she looked exactly like she was in the dream once she was birthed. my mom also tend to dream of all three of us before she gave birth. any other mothers dream of their babies before they were born?

It may be was just a dream, but a very pleasant one :o))

Penangan Berjalan Kaki

Since me n Jazz dah terperap kat umah ni agak lama [for me it's damn long], so i decided to bwk Jazz jalan-jalan gi Alamanda semalam, along with Mein n Ateem. Ingat nak naik bas ke Alamanda, tapi usually busses dun stop at the direction towards Alamanda from my house, it usually stops at the opposite direction and go around the world [hehe around Putrajaya sbnrnya, tapi lembs nak mampos, jauh dia pusing2]. So me n Mein decided okla, kita jalan kaki slow-slow and stop kat bus stand to rehat kejap.

Budak2 dua orang tu jalan 5 kali lagi laju dari Umi yang terkedek-kedek ni. Happy Feet kan, sebijik. passers-by agaknya dalam hati berkata-kata 'eee mak buyung ni dah sarat macam ni ada hati nak berjalan-jalan lagi'. tataulah, ke aku yang terasa sendiri ni hehe.

Alamanda from my house bukan jauh pun...!!! tak cayer tanya Achik n Has, dekat nak mampos. dulu taderhal ulang-alik gi Alamanda, in fact kalau ikutkan si Mein i think she spend more time there than at home. dia punya 1st house, bukan lagi 2nd. Tapi tulah dengan keadaan physical yang begini, walking to Alamanda becomes a big issue.

Pegi ok, balik ok. Sampai sana bwk the kidz makan McD, gi Carrefour beli vitagen si Jazz dan brg2 kiriman Ucu n Nenek, makan ice cream... balik, naik bas. balik ok lagi, bleh mengiron sambil tgk DVD. then, malam, dah mandi, baring kejap, bisanya mula terasa.

Nak bgn ke toilet pun nak terjerit. Nak berjalan, taking one step is full of agony. Sakitnya belakang n kaki tak terkata. Area ari-ari pun pedih semacam je. Abah pulak kebetulan balik lambat, sebelum tu Jazz dah jadik mangsa kepenatan Umi. kesian Jazz kena marah teruk, sebab dia tak berenti merengek bila terbgn dari tido yang tak puas. Later on dat nite I had a word with myself tanak marah Jazz or Khayra teruk-teruk and pray to God to save em from any pain and to increase my patience with my kids. Tulah orang kata rehat kat umah nak jugak berjalan. Tengok dah kelam kabut satu umah jadiknya.

Jadik mak seriously bukan senang. susahnya nak control perasaan 'amarah' tu...! kadang2 bila duduk sorang-sorang pikir balik, kenapa kita mesti marah-marah dekat anak-anak kecik. diorang bukan paham pun. kalaupun paham diorang belum cukup matang nak pikir, kita yang matang ni pulak terbawak-bawak perasaan tu. Susah kan? especially orang yang memang sedia baran like myself. Yang makin sayunya, when both of us finally calmed down, I bathed her, and ask her does she forgive me for hitting her, though she was still sobbing, she nods her head hard. Budak-budak, cepat forgive and forget. Throughout the nite, I tried my best to be very very soft with her. But i was still very furious with myself sampai terbgn pukul 4 pagi and takleh tido balik mengenangkan penangan yang sampai ke peha anak semalam.

Hari ni she acts as if i never did anything to her. Dia bgn dgn cerianya, mandi sendiri, pakai baju sendiri, mintak susu macam biasa, tgk tv and gelak-gelak mcm biasa. Amazing how kids can heal their pain so fast. Kalau kita? oklah kalau myself, my merajuk could go on for days. i think Jazz is a lot tougher than I am, inside. She's going be a great girl. May God bless her and save her from any kind of bad circumstances. Amin.

Uncomfortable Restless Days

Tido susah, tak tido pening.
Buat keje letih, tak wat keje bosan.
Surfing sakit pinggang, tak surfing lagila bosan.

Susah jugak duk umah ni.

Latest name :: Khayra Qaszryna. Final kononnya. kita tgk sampai bila ke-final-an itu :op~

Gamba anak-anak orang

hehe... masa untuk mencurik gamba... anak sendiri lom lahir, nak letak gamba jazz da melambak-lambak kat blog satu lagi, so letak la gambar anak anak orang hahaha...

Ann Ngasri and baby Abdul Warits DOB: 27 November 2006
[gambar curik kat Hot.Fm]

Mohd Rifqi Naufal baby of Fique d Ziggy DOB: 8 December 2006
[gambar curik kat blog adik Fique, Sharill]

*sigh* orang dah bersalin... seronoknya. especially si Ann Ngasri, her due date is wayyy later than mine, 14 february, dah beranak dah. ni kes terlebih berlakon la ni. aktif sangat. yang Fique nye lewat sikit, Baby Rifqi kena tahan ward dengarnya. takpelah asalkan baby sihat dah sekarang, maknye pun sihat.

betulla... dah dua kali mengandung, bulan bulan terakhir tu bulan bulan restless. time passes so slowly and risau memanjng. subconscious mind pun cannot be at ease. isk isk isk.... saborjelee....

**alamak agaknya adik Fique tak share gamba anak sedara dia hehe nantilah kalo Fique dah kembali sihat mintak kat dia but meanwhile, it can viewed at Sharill's blog, here.

Check Up 06 December 2006 ~ Breech pulak la balik!!

Khayra oh Khayra... anak-anak umi & abah memang semuanya anak-anak bertuah.

yang kakaknya begitu... yang adiknya begini...

Umi check up lagi arini. abah siap amik cuti sebab pagi umi gi berurut dengan sedara abah [pangkat makcik] yang baru datang dari Sandakan visit anak dia kat sini. petang after Jumaat gi Az-Zahrah.

results of urine test for my infection [ala yang sampai kena warded tu kan] are out. nama bacteria dia gila familiar, e.coli [ada nama panjang maleh nak ingat] familiar kan??? bukan tu bakteria taun ke?? ala masa amik bio dulu ada nama bakteria ni, but i cannot remember wat. Dr Kham said this bacteria is very the nasty, tu pasalla my temperature naik sampai 39 degrees malam tu and had contractions. in some cases, the mangsa could even go into labour!! syukur Alhamdulillah doctor sempat bagi ubat tahan contraction and antibiotics malam tu, kalau tak agaknya umi dengan abah kenalah berulang alik menjenguk Khayra di dalam balang yang tak best itu - incubator. Nauzubillah!

time for ultrasound! hmm... ni berita yang mengejutkan. Khayra dengan bestnya telah memusingkan dirinya sendiri ke atas, BREECH position. SONGSANG in Malay. YES. Allah hai... Khayra ni active terlebih [umi buat baby movement chart] sampai dia berjaya berpusing semula ke atas. tapi Dr Kham kata jangan risau lagi, sebab masih ada plenty of space for her to move down again, kalau 36 weeks nanti dia tak pusing2 jugak, masa tu bleh risau, and we might hafto turn the baby down, Dr Kham kata dia leh buat, hmm ok. lega sikit bila dengar dia cakap camtu. tapi tulah dalam hati risau jugak. doa jelah ...

nama Khayra ni sebenarnya belum confirm lagi yang belakang dia. Khayra yang depan je da confirm, belakang dia ada terlampau byk option, Qistina, Qaysara la, Qashryna la, yang latest Aryanna. itu umi la tu yang came out with it, i kinda like d idea having all our girls having bunyik bunyik Ri-Anna kat belakang tu cus it's kinda the combination of mine and abah's name. ejaan lain takpe, bunyi ada. Jazzmeen Adreanna and Khayra Aryanna... tapi abah belum menyatakan persetujuannya lagi sebab dia nak nama Khayra Qashryna. mari kita tgk saper yang kenaaaaa...!! :op~~

but this is a funny thing. Jazz, upon hearing the name Aryanna, she says it as 'Hariyanna' suka suka dia je tambah 'H' depan. pastu when i was discussing with her the name, she was singing 'Selamat Hariyanna, Aidilfitri Mulia'.

BOLEH TAK? aduss....!!

tulah, dah kata dah. Anak-anak umi dengan abah bertuah semuanya *sigh*

Major Hormonal Issue

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ UPDATE

Malam tu dapat briyani ni, abah jemput lepas keje gi warta semata-mata nak mentekedarah briyani. banyak gila makan, habis sepinggan!! selalu nasik separuh ni tak, full plate. dengan dua piring popadem and sebijik air kelapa. hahhahhahah!!!! thanks abah. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last nite was a weird nite. and i had my 1st BAD craving for this pregnancy.

i couldn't sleep. actually i should be able to sleep because i went out half d day [refer to bInx::head burstin' out blog] so i was so very tired.

2.30 am... i woke up. twisting myself here and there. nope couldn't twitch my eye, and was feeling a bit wary. 3.00 am went blogging and surfing, 3.50 try to get back to sleep. nope. cannot. abah woke up for football match. then the craving starts.

i wanted nasik briyani mamak warta at 4.00 am in d morning. i can even taste the ayam madu on my toungue and it made me drool.

i myself felt this is getting very ridiculous. so trying to comfort myself, and thinking maybe i'm craving because i am very hungy, i went frying some keropok lekor. habis sepinggan. tak jugak. nak briyani jugak. iskkkk!!!

went in for bed again. i woke Jazz up to sleep beside me. kesian dia, tgh sedap-sedap tido umi kacau. but she didn't even cry, she woke up and climbed d bed. and things getting worst, i started crying. FOR NO REASON!!!! aaaaa!!!

abah came in asking if i really want the briyani. i said yes, and i really want the warta one. not Insaf's, not briyani Afghanistan behind warta, i want the one in front of warta. abah said ok, we try go tomorrow or later.

i tried very very hard to go to sleep holding my daughter's hand and with tears still running. i didn't realize wat time i finally fell asleep. then 8.30 am in d morning, i was already up.

here i am. with my bengkak eyes, and still feeling a bit weird and still wanting dat briyani. this is getting so so funny. i am feeling, very, very, very, tired!!!

Videos for Expecting Mothers

preggy people... here's a useful link, there are lots of videos here for you to watch in order to better understand your pregnancy. i recommend it cus i found it useful.

here goes [click].

Home Sweet Home.. At last!!!

Been hospitalized for three days since the 28th of Nov. Nuthing much to say now. trying to enjoy the comfort of my own house.

Update

Chronology Masuk Spital.

28th Nov
Pagi - Bgn tido badan lesu gila. took temperature. 37.3. ok lagi.
Tgh Hari - Dah takleh bgn, terbaring and seram sejuk. took temperature, dah naik 38.1
Petang - Dari tghari selubung dalam selimut je tak bgn2, took temperature, 38.3. Maghrib abah balik ajak gi Az Zahrah.
Malam - Kat Az Zahrah terus gi emergency. termometer Az Zahrah kata 39 degrees, wah, advance betul termometer diorang. Doctor terus bagi PCM 500 there and then sebab nak turunkan temperature, bahaya untuk baby. Diorang call Dr. Khamsiah (my O&G specialist). Sementara Dr. Khamsiah datang Dr. Zaharah run ultrasound. Ada contraction! uh-oh. Ultrasound baby ok, and nicely positioned.
Dr. Khamsiah call suruh tahan ward. Allah haii.. duduk ward lagi... bosan! Dekat ward diorang buatlaa segala test, CTG reactive buat takdek plak contraction lagi, tekan2 perut, pastu Dr. Khamsiah kata infection punya symptom byk. tahan satu malam at least and diorang bagi injection tahan contraction. seboleh boleh tanak beranak sekarang sebab baby kecik lagi.

29th Nov Urine test suggests ketosis (dehydration) and infection. tahan ward lagi. contraction da tader.
Tak larat dah duduk spital mahal ni, mintak transfer Hospital Putrajaya. Dr. Khamsiah wrote a refer letter and we all checked out, terus ke Hospital Putrajaya. Test lagi macam macam... kena interview macam nak mintak keje dgn Dr. Tan, very young lady doctor, but proffesional enuff. mula mula kata nak discharge takyah tahan. tetiba dia panggil balik diorang nak observe at least for one night. hmmpphh.. dok spital lagi.
eventho spital kerajaan, routine check diorang lagi byk dari swasta. jest dat bilik share la 4 orang, alah kalau dok sengsorang karang lagi bosan and scary. dah ok dah spital ni, tak macam 3 tahun dulu (Jazz's case). tapi tidolah kat mana mana hospital, mahal ke murah, malam sure takleh tido. lagipun kat Hospital Putrajaya nurse dia kejap kejap datang amik my BP and baby's heart beat.

30th Nov.
pagi2 lagi nurses da buat bising nak kemas katil sebab sat lagi doctor nak wat round. kol 7 lebih 1st round by Dr. Tan, 8 by a senior Doctor yang sgt kerek (normalla, kata senior). diorang decide i could be discharged today at 2pm. YEAY!

kesimpulannya :: Khayra ni baby stress kot, hehe.