Author: ashleyrodrigues
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PMDD and the Mental Health Benefits of Learning your Body
Living with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) can be an overwhelming experience. As a mental health therapist who specializes in working with women, even getting a proper diagnosis can be difficult. The rollercoaster of emotions and physical symptoms that precede menstruation can take a toll on your life. I have found in my practice, that taking…
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4 Affirmations for Parents Caring for Sick Kids
Here we find ourselves in yet another crisis for parents of small children. RSV has reached unprecedented levels. Hospitals are at capacity. PTO is completely gone, and the kids keep bringing home virus after virus. I hear you friends, we are in this together. Let’s talk about some tips to help you, as you cope…
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3 Tips for Maximizing Sleep with a Newborn Baby
We were warned all about the struggles to getting sleep with a newborn but never did we think it would impact our quality of life so much. Have you found yourself so deeply invested in your baby’s sleep that your days revolve around wake windows, and researching the best swaddle in hopes of getting you…
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6 Tips for the Best Postpartum Sleep Schedule
Finding the right routine for you and your partner to manage night wakings with a newborn can make a huge difference in your postpartum experience. Here are some tips to help your craft the perfect postpartum sleep schedule. 1. Postpartum Sleep for Exclusive Breastfeeding If you are exclusively breastfeeding, utilize support for burping, getting the…
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5 Tips for the Overstimulated Mom
Let’s just address the facts of life. Parenting and motherhood is loud, messy, and overwhelming. It is wildly common to feel overstimulated by the noise, over touched by the baby and toddlers crawling on you, and just an overall sensory overload. I am sharing today on 5 simple tips to help you manage the overload…
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3 Things to know about Postpartum Depression in Dads
How do dads get postpartum depression if they didn’t give birth? Dads struggling postpartum or even developing depression or anxiety isn’t something we discuss often. Typically during this time period, the focus is on baby. If the focus isn’t on baby, then it is on mom’s recovery. But for every mom diagnosed with a postpartum…
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Stories of Motherhood: I survived Postpartum Depression {Part Two}
{Continued from Part One} One day day I was in the car with my husband and explaining to him what I was feeling. I said I was feeling like, “There is a boulder weighing down my emotions…I can’t be as happy or even as sad as I want to be.” I loved my baby, I…
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Stories of Motherhood: I survived Postpartum Depression {Part One}
I survived Postpartum Depression (PPD). One big reason is that many people who experience maternal mental illness are too scared to talk about it for fear they will be seen as a bad mother. My personal battle with maternal mental illness was against postpartum depression. An illness I describe as a slow-moving fog of blackness…