Waiting for WAW to come back, patience is a virtue

[ms ladybug]

Postpartum depression is a very difficult thing to describe to someone who's not gone through it. And very difficult for men to understand (for obvious reasons). For someone with postpartum depression, EVERYTHING around you can be right (healthy new baby, helpful husband, financial stability) but mentally, EVERYTHING is wrong. You can't put your finger on it, because you can see that things are OK, but you KNOW somethings really wrong (bring in phantom pains, and trips to the ER -maybe there's retained placenta, or infections, or stitches being pulled, etc...). Something is wrong.

The good news, ppd doesn't last long. I had it for 3 months with my first baby, and a whopping 1 week with my second.

Now, the woman in Texas who killed all her kids had postpartum psychosis, which is different and MUCH more severe.

I don't know which one your wife had. Maybe she felt psychosis and REALLY did need help...in that case, it would not have been fair to assume she should get this help herself.
But, her frame of mind NOW should be, "Wow. I was in a bad place. It's a good thing I didn't kill anyone. Next time something like this happens, I need you to step up and help me out."

You didn't know, and it didn't sound like either of your expected this to happen. Did it happen with your first born? Did she have a c-section this time? Beleive me, it makes a difference.