Seventy-two hours, three days, after the birth of her son, new mom Bek Day, hit a critical point in her life. She was suddenly hit with post-baby blues and horrific anxiety about her decision to have a baby. All of a sudden she felt it was the worst decision of her life, that every disease on the planet was out to get her son and take him away.
She had been told to expect something like this might happen around the third day but no one could have predicted the mind-numbing self-doubt and panic she felt over the desire to protect her son. Her husband calls it her ‘Howard Hughes day’ because she went into full germophobe mode. All visitors coming to share in the joy of the newborn were required to thoroughly sanitize themselves before they could get within eyeshot of the baby.
Bek states that for the first couple of days after the birth of her son she was on cloud nine. While still in the hospital she would simply gaze at her son through the plastic crib next to her bed. She was in a “blissful little bubble of awe over the new life.” This is something that a lot of new mothers can identify with. But then the third day came around bringing with it a deep fear that threatened to consume her. She felt crippled by anxiety over her son.
This is something else that many new moms can identify with. Post-partum depression or post-partum blues hits up to 80% of new mothers. It’s when the awful truth hits that you are totally responsible for this tiny life and it is completely dependent on you, and you’re not qualified! You don’t know what possessed you to think you could care for another human being!
Amidst these kinds of negative thoughts, Bek’s phone chimed with a message from a friend and it was the best thing anyone could have given her. The message read: “Hi lovely. It's Day 3 which means if you're anything like me, you're in the depths of despair right now. Just know that it will pass, that you're a wonderful mum, and that tomorrow or the next day [sic] these feelings should melt away again - and if they don't, I'm here to talk.”
The Aussie mom says that she nearly immediately felt her whole body relax in relief and she was able to shove the anxiety and doubt into a box of logic. She now has two children, and after that first experience, she now makes it a point to send a similar text to friends when they have reached that three-day point after giving birth.
Bek feels that the simple message that someone was thinking of her as well as her baby provided something of a lifeline. It was a reminder that other women had felt the same, she wasn’t alone, and “this too shall pass.” It’s a text she feels all new moms should get on day three after giving birth.