Creating Kris ~ a young mom blogs…

Announcing….. my new blog! :)

So as my little online world grows and grows, so does my online self/identity. And I think it’s time to just toss “Krismom” out there into the world (wide web), sink or swim…

News flash: My blog, which is staying @ the front-and-center of Krismom.com, is now migrating over from LJ to Wordpress! It will be hosted by me on my site and will be search-able and easily accessible on the net. Most notably: most of the friends-only posts I’m transferring over from LiveJournal will not be locked. This includes the previously-locked posts from over the past years, written as I was facing severe depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, suicidal thoughts, and hospitalization. You may now peek into my little world and see who I really am. All of me.

(((deep breath))) and I’m hoping everyone will be OK with that, myself included. And I’m hoping maybe to inspire, to encourage, to help other young moms cope and get through whatever they are facing, because maybe there are some moms out there who are going through what I’m going through (or have been through in my crazy crazy life) and who need to know they are not alone!!!

I know I’m not “famous”, but in my own little circles (like YM), well, I’m at least a very familiar face… so I want to use this to help others. I know I have problems but I also know I’m a damn good mommy and I’m proud of it. All along, I’ve done everything I possibly could to recover and heal and be the best mom I could be to my kids. And I want other mommies to know that you can overcome huge obstacles in your life and be OK in the end! You can be suffering but still bring a lot of love and joy into the world every single day. Even when you feel like you can’t possibly make it through one more thing, you somehow do, and somehow manage to be a role model to yourself and your kids and your friends while doing it.

Over the past few years, suffering from PPD and OCD has been one of the worst experiences I’ve ever made it through. I’d say it’s been tougher than being a single teen parent, than being kicked out of your house as a pregnant teen by your mother and a cop, than having a C-section without a properly-functioning epidural, than having 3 miscarriages, than being in 2 car accidents, than being a final-year-thesis-writing undergrad psych major, than any heart-wrenching break-up. And it’s been by far the most life-threatening. I’ve made it through allllll of these other life events but almost didn’t make it through the mental health issues and the suicidal thoughts that came with them (which were mostly due to the meds taken attempting to treat these disorders!). I am honest when I tell you that post-partum depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder almost killed me. And are slowly killing little parts of me to this day as I try to escape from them.

Instead of killing myself though, I have lived, and I want that life to be worth as much as it can be. I am reaching out to everyone… to know me, to learn from me, to join me on this journey I’m taking and draw some courage from it. I’ve always known I would be a helper and a healer. In my work running YM for the past decade, I’ve tried to do just that. And I think this is one more way I can help to heal others. And to maybe finally heal myself in the process.

I’ve started the massive project of moving my blog over to Krismom.com last week on my birthday. It’s been a week and I have all of 2008 transferred over. Only… 5 more years to go? Yikes. Please be patient as I get things set up more and more. I’ll post again when the full archives become available. For now though please stop by Krismom.com as much as you can and share it with other people you know who might need it in their lives. Especially other young moms!

My wish is to be everyone’s fave 20-something ex-teen-mom, writing, designing, psych-graduate, YM-running, blinkie-making, baby-munching, feminist, married, queer, poly, mom of 2 kids & 3 angels, who was hospitalized for PPD and now has OCD and chronic pain from 2 car accidents… And if I’m not, well *please* introduce me to this woman who’s anything remotely like me ’cause wow I need to get some pointers from her on how to cope with getting through life with all this on her plate!!

Thanks for reading and hope to see you @ my new blog!!!

x-posted to LJ, Krismom.com, Facebook, & YM