If you were hanging out in the Kitchen’s Garden Lounge of Comments yesterday you would have read that a piglet was lost in that first cold night. I found him dead on Poppy’s side of their quarters. Being the Lady Pig Farmer is not always easy. All our focus these first few days is keeping the babies safe and well fed. This task feels mutually exclusive at times.
Exhausted without sleeping for anything more than 4 hours a day, physically and mentally I must admit I wasn’t ready to go through 7 months of sleepless nights. Oh, I don’t have a problem sleeping, if that is what you are thinking. Give me a room with soft pillows and queen sized bed, I’ll knock out as soon as you leave the room. My problem is the nightly feeds that I am fully in charge of. My little one feeds every 3 hours, hence the minute my body relaxes into the deep sleep, I am woken up by her hunger cries again.
Stubborn as I was, I’m still going on a full charge in accepting projects from my clients and handling housework on my own. At some point, I begin to lose focus. I went into the supermarket one day and totally forgotten what I need to buy. I nearly…
Another informative guest post our good friend, David Hunt, who has also contributed here …
About 30 percent of new mothers experience postpartum mood disorders, including anxiety and depression. Because women experiencing these symptoms often feel stigmatized or ashamed, and because health providers often fail to screen for maternal mental health issues, many women suffer in silence. For my final project for a master of arts in liberal studies at North Carolina State, I partnered with a nonprofit community organization, Postpartum Education and Support of North Carolina, to raise awareness of this issue and to promote the organization’s free peer support groups. I produced a short documentary-style video featuring the personal stories of four survivors of postpartum mood disorders. This video provides the organization with a new outreach tool that can be posted online and shared via social media and other electronic communication channels. This project was influenced by my coursework in multiple disciplines, including communication, political science, history, and gender studies.
Call the Moms Supporting Moms Warmline at (919) 454-6946 or email support@pesnc.org.
David Hunt has produced documentaries and educational media for over 30 years. Clients have included the Leukemia Society of America, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and Body Glove International.
Happiness Between Tails by da-AL 