Sus Davy | mother, C-section, NICU, panhypopituitarism, breastfeeding, postnatal depression, PTSD, antidepressants, running, sleep deprviation

In today's episode I am talking to Sus Davy about her postpartum experience with her son Rennan who is now 18 months. Sus had a planned C-Section and shortly after the birth, Ren terrifyingly stopped breathing and was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit where he spent 2 weeks being cared for and was diagnosed with a rare condition called panhypopituitarism. Sus had a really tough start to her breastfeeding journey, pumping for Ren while he was in NICU, syringe feeding and eventually getting him to latch with nipple shields. Despite months of struggle and two tongue tie seperations, they are still amazingly breastfeeding today. After a really traumatic start to motherhood, once they had got Rens condition under control with medication they returned home and were looked after by Sus mum who is very helpfully a doula! After a few weeks it became clear that Sus was not ok and she was diagnosed with PTSD from the birth and post natal depression which she later took antidpressants for which made a really big difference for her. Alongside her own mental health Sus expereinced non stop crying from Ren for 6 months, deep sleep deprivation, wild hormones and a complete sensory overload and reflecting back on those early months she feels sad that this left little space to celebrate him and his arrival. It was her growing confidence as a mother that started to see the return of her pink alongside getting outside for runs and learning to put Rens condition to the side and just focus on him as person. She urges caution in consuming too much advice and information in those early months and trusting in the fact that everything really is a phase! To find out more about Sus, her brilliant cafe Cascara in Bath and her motherhood journey follow @roughmeasures and @cascarabath