u/Parking-Vast-2479

I’m a 22-year-old autistic mother dealing with depression and anxiety. I’m considered “high functioning,” but I’ve always struggled a lot socially. Since giving birth, my depression and anxiety have gotten drastically worse, and my communication skills have gotten even harder. I feel so anxious that sometimes I can barely speak up for myself.
I’m in a situation where I promised my in-laws that I would move in with them postpartum, but I’ve kept pushing the date back because I haven’t felt ready. At this point, I don’t know if I’ll ever feel ready. They’re helping me with my 2-month-old, and I’m grateful for that, but being there has been extremely overwhelming for me.

They’re all very outgoing, and sometimes they’ll take my baby out of my arms. They’re also doing things I don’t want when it comes to raising my baby, like giving her screen time and co-sleeping with her. I’ve told my boyfriend that I need him to communicate my boundaries for me because I genuinely struggle to do it myself, but I’m not even sure how much he’s actually communicating because I keep seeing the same things happen.

I just cannot communicate there. There are his parents and three other people in the house, and it’s way too much for me socially and sensory-wise. I feel like a party pooper for wanting to hold my own baby, even though I’ve been the one taking care of her mostly on my own for these past two months. The only breaks I’ve really had have been shower breaks when my mom holds her. And I’m fine with that!

I hate having my baby away from me all day. It has gotten to the point where I can’t even go downstairs to eat with everyone. I have to ask my boyfriend to bring me food every day because I’m too anxious to go down there. I’ve been staying here this entire week hoping I’d feel better or more comfortable, but honestly, nothing has gotten better.

I’m starting to feel a lot of resentment toward everyone, and I know it isn’t their fault. I’m just incredibly frustrated with how anxious I am, how overwhelmed I feel, and how much I have to depend on my boyfriend to communicate for me.
I really am grateful that they’re trying to help. But honestly, the kind of help I need right now is pretty simple, someone cleaning my pump parts in the morning and giving me enough time to shower. I don’t need or want my baby away from me all day.

I think I’m just realizing that maybe I’m not ready to live with them, and I feel guilty because I promised I would. I’m not trying to be ungrateful. I’m just struggling so much right now, and I don’t know how to make anyone understand that.
I’m also grieving my breastfeeding journey since it didn’t go the way I wanted. I’m trying to bond with her as much as possible since baby won’t nurse :(

I’m 22 and gave birth a month ago. I have a history of depression, anxiety, PCOS/hormonal issues, and self-harm. I had been clean from self-harm for a year, but I was recently diagnosed with PPD and relapsed into cutting.

Motherhood has been nothing like I imagined. Breastfeeding has been really difficult, and my birth was traumatic and didn’t go according to plan. As an autistic person who really needs routine, it was extremely overwhelming.

I have support from my boyfriend and mom, but I still feel angry, overwhelmed, and like a terrible person and mother. I always get mad at someone everyday. I got prescribed medication but I am terrified it’ll be in my milk (I exclusively pump).

I promised myself I would never self-harm again, especially because I know how it can affect others. I don’t want my baby girl to ever see me hurting myself and think it’s something she should do.
I love my daughter so much, but I feel like she hates me.
I want to hide it from my bf, I don’t want to break his heart again

I’ve been trying to latch my daughter, but it seems to get harder and harder each day. I’m wondering if pumping still gives her everything she needs. I know that having her feed directly from the breast sends signals to my body, but I’m not sure if direct breastfeeding will ever be possible for us.

I am 6 days pp. I’ve been trying to breastfeed, but recently I saw a lactation nurse and was told I have an inverted nipple and my baby has a high palate.
I started off pumping to help feed her, then transitioned to using a nipple shield. However, for the past 2 days, she has been struggling to even latch onto the shield, so I’ve had to go back to bottle feeding. She tries so hard to latch, but she just can’t seem to get it.
This has been really exhausting. I’ve tried the cherry-shaped nipple shield and the Lansinoh nipple everter, but the everter didn’t seem to help, and she still can’t latch onto the shield. Pumping hasn’t fixed the issue either because my nipple is just too flat for her to latch onto.

Has anyone dealt with this before? I would really appreciate any advice, tips, or experiences that helped you and your baby.

I’m 22 and currently 38 weeks pregnant. My boyfriend and I decided early on that after our baby is born, we’ll be moving in with my mother-in-law because we truly believe it’s what’s best for our little family. FYI, my mom and I never been close.

When I told my family, they took it personally. My dad shamed me, and throughout my pregnancy my mom has kept trying to convince me to stay with her postpartum instead of respecting the decision my boyfriend and I already made.
A few days ago, my mom pushed my boundaries so much that I ended up crying from the stress. It confirmed for me that I will not be staying postpartum. Instead of accepting our decision, she keeps trying to change it.

Now she’s upset because I don’t want anyone waiting at the hospital during labor. I’ve always wanted that time to be private for my boyfriend, our baby, and me, but she’s taken it personally. She even got upset that I wanted my own boyfriend, the father of my child, to take me to the hospital during labor…

People always talk about difficult mothers-in-law, but for me it’s been my own mom. Becoming a parent has taught me that setting boundaries is part of protecting your own little family, and I’m not letting anyone guilt me into changing what’s best for us.

Does anyone else have an immature family? This has been really hard on me