Sweet Shoppe Designs

For the Sugar Free Challenge #40: Having a beautiful, healthy baby and dealing with depression is definitely bittersweet.

Bundle of Boy: Coming soon from Melissa Bennett Designs
Bracket Stitching: Melissa Bennett
Oh My Mat: Melissa Bennett
Little Boy Blue Alpha: Amy Bleser
Font: Barbara Hand

Journaling reads:
While I was pregnant with Ian, I worried about what it would be like to add another child to our family. I worried that Sean would feel displaced and that I would never be able to give Ian the one-on-one time that Sean had received. As it turned out, the months following Ian’s birth were some of the hardest of my life. We were trying to sell our house. We were looking for jobs for Brett in Utah. Brett had a busy calling in our Ward. Life was hectic. Then, Ian was such a cuddlebug. He wanted to be held all the time, and wouldn’t sleep without being held. I read every book under the sun about sleep training, and nothing helped. By and large, Ian was a happy baby. He just loved to snuggle, which was cute and sweet and not such a big problem during the day, but I needed my sleep too.
On top of all that, I was dealing with symptoms of depression. I got upset with Sean and Brett so easily, and I often found myself yelling at my little boy, with whom I had had such a peaceful, happy relationship. It was such a difficult time. But, even with those hardships, Ian was such a sweet baby who was sooo cute, loved to smile, and brought me moments of joy. After months and months of struggling, I finally got some help, Ian finally started sleeping, and things started to improve. I felt so blessed to have a loving husband who wanted to help me, to have parents who understood my struggle and supported me without judging, and to have other wonderful friends and family members who were there to help me. Even during the darkest moments, I knew that I had people around me who wanted to help and that I was richly blessed. I’m so glad those difficult days are over. The whole experience was very . . .

TFL!