Tag: Mental Health

Some Days Are S***… And That’s Okay!

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

I think when you become a parent, or even when you get pregnant you don’t really think about much other than how wonderful it must be to have a child. No one ever really focuses on the bits that aren’t full of fairy dust, sparkles and rainbows until they actually happen. Although I had a really bad pregnancy I never found myself thinking about how hard things might get at one point or another. I certainly never thought that parenting really is s*** sometimes! Having suffered from PND, focusing on the bad days happened more often

The truth about child free time and loneliness

The truth about child free time and loneliness

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

As we don’t really have family close by that we are close to, Erin has never really had a babysitter or been away from me or John since she was born. This means that Erin has been with me every day for the majority of her life and I had no child free time. While I didn’t go back to the full time job I had when I became pregnant, I did go to work in a supermarket part time for 3 evenings a week when Erin was 9 months old. It really wasn’t for

Pregnant woman

Recovering From Birth Trauma: 2 Years Later

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

If you’ve been following either here or on Facebook for some time now, you’ll probably know that Erin’s birth was pretty shit. In fact, my whole pregnancy was less than perfect and I hated near enough every day of it. I think it’s really important to talk about birth trauma. I don’t think I did enough talking about it after it happened and I let some things fester for month and months before I finally broke down and admitted that I needed help. Erin had stopped growing so my doctor at the hospital thought it

Hospital Ward

Sterilisation: Failed By The NHS

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

Last month I was supposed to have my sterilisation procedure. After months and months of waiting, and being on a waiting list, I had finally been given an appointment. The 19th September was quickly approaching and while I was nervous, I was pretty excited about having something done I’d fought hard to have and also waited so long for. About 10 days before my procedure date I received a letter telling me that my appointment at the hospital was cancelled with barely any explanation why. With the gynecology department at the hospital being no help

Bullshit, Lies And The NHS

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

Since the beginning of the year I have been posting on and off about the choice John and I made not to have any more children. After a really traumatic pregnancy and birth, we decided that the risk of me getting pregnant again is not worth going through what I did last time. Earlier in the year we made the decision for me to go ahead with a sterilisation and after months and months of waiting for an appointment, I finally got booked in last month. Last Wednesday I received a letter from the hospital

Lumie Desklamp

Improving Motivation With A Lumie Desklamp

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

My office is in a really dark and dingy corner of the house. We have a big 24ft living room/ dining room with a bit extra added on to the side, making it an L shape. The L bit used to be a different room at some point but there is no light fitting. When the sun sets and it’s dark outside I am left working either looking at our garden or the curtains, neither of which give me extra light! I work from home full time now and I generally don’t sit down to work

seeking help

Dealing with my wife’s PND

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

Roughly 3 months ago I found my wife crying in the dark after an argument we had had. The argument hadn’t made sense to me. I remember not understanding what I had done wrong. Exasperated I had left my wife upstairs alone (she had demanded I leave her alone), but when I went to talk to her ten minutes later I found her crying in the dark. She hugged me and told me she thought she had Post Natal depression. I held her as she sobbed, together in the dark. One thought going through my

PND and Panic Attacks

By : Lyndsey OHalloran

Up until last Thursday I thought I was doing quite well. I thought I had a bit of a better handle on things and that I was starting to balance out a bit. I was, I guess, but then I had a bit of a set back. I certainly wasn’t prepared for my PND and/ or anti-depressants to bring on panic attacks. Last week John had a lot going on at work. Apart from Monday night because I was working, he worked late every other evening. By Thursday evening I was really tired and very