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The really hard baby blues (crying all of the time,etc) lasted maybe 3 weeks. I started feeling more like myself at around 8 weeks. By then, DS had dropped one night feeding so I was getting at least one large chunk of sleep (around 4-5 hours). That made a world of difference. I think the lack of sleep affected just as strongly as the hormones.

I think that if you're at all concerned I would reach out to your doc or nurse. Better to catch something early. Hope you're doing all right.

@Grace: I know this is an old thread but I just did an HB search for baby blues and this came up. Your explanation of how you felt is precisely what I'm going through. Mine started 9 days pp and it hits hardest in the evening, around 5pm. After I've been with him all day and I feel like I just need some relief. It's so monotonous and he's still so little that I feel like I give give give and there isn't a whole lot in return (yet). Just more diapers and pumping and feeding. I'm awful. I have the same feelings of "why did I do this, we were so happy as a couple, maybe we should have stayed a couple". And then feeling guilt for even thinking it after all we went through to have him. My husband has been great with helping but he doesn't get why I'm already burnt out after not even 2 weeks. His life hasn't changed THAT much yet. Not like mine has so he can't relate.
We have such immense love for each other and I get scared every day about the lack of "us" time we have and will have.
I have good days and bad. And good patches even in the bad days. So really hoping it's just the hormones working their way through my system. I have my 2 week checkup on Tuesday and plan to tell my OB what I've been feeling to make sure it's ok.

@gingerbebe: I will for sure! I think it's so important for us to realize that other women DO feel the way we feel. It felt good just to find this thread and know that I'm not a monster. I found this thread too and it felt like a breath of fresh air.

http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/did-you-have-the-baby-blues#post-647607

@SweetiePie: OMG DH has been my rock through this. My mom has been here for the 20 day confinement or whatever and every time she catches me crying she is like WHAT ARE YOU CRYING ABOUT?? I NEVER CRIED - THIS IS THE HAPPIEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU, LOOK AT THAT CUTE BABY!

Um yeah. So I have to hide if I'm having a total meltdown and usually it's in the evenings in our room with DH. I'm doing most of the baby care because DH is supporting us and he didn't have any paternity leave (he teaches and has his own business) plus there's not much he can do when they are so tiny so it's really lonely and isolating to care for the baby. I really did feel the first week we had made this huge mistake and just verbalizing all my feelings to DH without fear of judgement really helped. We had tried for so long to get pregnant and yet we were so happy just being married that DH had always said if we never had kids he would be fine. We loved our life together and suddenly this baby was turning my life upside down and I just felt lost. Every day I feel a little more bonded and loving towards our son but it's hard six hours into a clusterfeed to feel like it's worth it.

I'm thinking of writing a post on this but I really do worry about my relationship with DH a lot more than the baby these days. One nice thing about the baby chaos is that DH and I feel so much more in love with each other, just because of how much support DH is giving me and how hard DH sees me working to care for our babe. We are experiencing a weird delirious and hormone driven honeymoon period and we have even talked about how this ambivalence about the baby has bonded us. DH says he is also warming up to the baby slowly because he sees how hard it's been on me and we're both realizing that for us personally, our relationship comes before our kid. That seems to be at odds with what a lot of parents think, but we have both expressed that what preserves our marriage is ultimately what's best for our baby. So it's influencing our decisions in different ways. For instance, we are starting to get the hang of breastfeeding but that first week nursing, pumping, and for a few days, weight gain issues and supplementing with formula was keeping me up all night and giving me anxiety and so much stress that DH was like "breastmilk is great and I support whatever you want to do but what if instead of which feeding method is better, we think about what's better for us as a couple?" He was saying this because I was up all night and I really don't handle sleep deprivation well and I basically need to be sleeping at the same time as my husband to sleep deeply. In the same way, I get up with the baby at night and try to keep him quiet so DH can sleep as much as possible. Sure father son bonding and sharing the load is important but I won't do it at the expense of DH's safety on his long commutes into work. Our mantra lately has been "I loved you first, I love you more" and its put an unexpected spin on our decision making.

@SweetiePie: I think my husband is a little more understanding about the baby blues stuff because I've struggled with anxiety and depression in the past and he's always been very cognizant of it in our relationship. If he sees me starting to withdraw or feel sluggish or just seem apathetic, its a warning sign to him that I'm starting to get depressed and tries to be really proactive about taking me for walks or making sure I get enough rest to keep my serotonin levels up. So for him, PPD and PPA was a big concern during my pregnancy. He was actually super enthusiastic about placenta encapsulation for the same reason - if it could help with preventing PPD, he was all about it. So I think he realizes my baby blues and freaking out about stuff is part of that hormonal process, so he takes it all with a grain of salt.

That's awesome that your husband is being so helpful at night. I told DH that he'll probably need to do more once my mom leaves next week but by that point the baby will be over 3 weeks old, a little less fragile, able to nurse a little more efficiently, and hopefully sleeping with a little more predictability. DH says he's on board with whatever I need, so hopefully things work out. He knows how to change a diaper, burp, and give a bottle, but he's still trying to figure out how to soothe a screaming baby and needs to learn how to prep a bottle (either formula or breastmilk). I don't even know how he'll deal with frozen bags of breastmilk, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there I guess!