Postpartum Mood Swings and Hormones

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A long-time patient came into my office for her twelve week prenatal visit and said that she never understood what it meant to be on an emotional rollercoaster until pregnancy. She was crying on the way to her appointment, she reported, because an older couple strolling along the sidewalk looked so happy. The night before while she was enjoying a re-run of her favorite show from her college days, rather than laughing at a particularly funny moment, she found herself annoyed at the main character's predictable nature.

Surely you've heard that pregnancy brings with it emotional highs and lows, but you never thought it would happen to you. Just as she never thought it would happen to her.

"Will it get better?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"Of course," I replied. I waited a beat and then added, "In nine months."

"You mean in six months, don't you? I'm three months pregnant," she replied, looking even tearier than she did just a moment before.

"I meant nine months. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Mood swings can last into the postpartum period."

Knowing that she was upset about the intensity and unpredictability of her emotions, I tried to anticipate her response so I could offer her some much needed emotional support. After all, being told that your emotions may be of the ultra-intense variety isn't welcome news. Consolation is in order.

Much to my surprise, rather than tears, my statement was met by a deep belly-laugh. This normally quiet and demure woman laughed so loud I'm sure the patients in the waiting room thought there was a comedian performing somewhere in the office. She laughed loud and long, rested for a minute and then we got on with her exam.

Out of the blue she started laughing again, turned to her husband and said, "You're in trouble buddy. Big, big trouble. Be nice to me. I'm a teary time bomb and you'll never know if they're tears of joy or frustration or fear or what."

Then she smiled at us both and returned to her natural state: graceful, gracious, and grinning sweetly.

Do you find yourself wondering what your natural state really is?

Actually, any mood you're in is your natural state when you're pregnant because it's nature that's causing you to feel things so intensely and so out of the blue.

1. The number one cause of emotional change during pregnancy is hormones. It's hormonal, like so much else you're experiencing.

Fluctuating hormones can cause both positive and negative emotional reactions, and cause those reactions to occur very quickly. The highs are not usually a concern. People generally do not have a problem with happy, bubbly, excited, generous, and enthusiastic people. If your moods only swing in those directions, how nice it must be for your friends, family and co-workers.

It's hard to know when your emotional response is appropriate sometimes. Have you argued with your spouse over a choice he has made which you'd normally let pass unnoticed? Have words like these passed through your lips?

The meeting went really well. I think that all in all it was... Why in the world did you turn down this street? Everyone knows this road is the detour to nowhere at this time of day! Have you lost all traces of intelligence? How do you make a living anyway? I can't believe you'd turn down this street. It's not like you haven't lived here all your life! Or maybe you haven't. Maybe you're a body snatcher pretending to be my husband. Come to think of it, you've been making a lot of bad choices lately. Why did you bring home Chinese food last night? You know I don't like Chinese food anymore. I know I told you. I figured it out at least two days ago. I know I used to love it, but now I wonder why anyone eats it! Why did you buy it? Why? (All this over a turn which will add less than five minutes to your drive - maybe even to somewhere you don't really wish to be on time.)

If this sounds familiar, don't feel guilty. Just understand (when you're not in the middle of a mood swing) that there will be times during your pregnancy that you're not easy to be around either. If someone's getting on your nerves, you may be getting on theirs, as well.

If you've got kind and decent people in your life, they will understand that you are not the actual speaker of words like those...your raging hormones are. Hopefully, the people who care about you will turn the other cheek, and talk with you about the mood swing later - when it's over.

If you find that you're having outbursts like that frequently, try to listen to yourself more closely. Now more than ever, this is a time to think about your words before you say them.