"Kindlin, how old are you?"
"I'm 24," Kindlin said quietly, not wanting to be there. If it wasn't for her husband, who was sitting next to her, watching her intently, she wouldn't have been there at all.
"How old were you when you had your first child?"
"Um, 19, I think?"
"And you have how many, total?"
"I have 4. We... have 4."
"Ages?"
Kindlin's eyes rolled up into her head as she thought. She'd begun to lose count.
"May I...?" Nick spoke up.
The psychiatrist nodded, smiling lightly. She understood. She'd lost track of her children's ages more than once.
"Alex is 5, Ashley's 4, Aisya's 2, and Aaron's 6 months."
Julie Crawford nodded, "Kindlin, did you come here willingly?"
Kindlin looked up at her, before looking over to Nick, "Um, well... Nick strongly suggested it."
Nick and Julie laughed quietly.
"Alright... Kindlin, I'm going to give you a piece of paper. I would like for you to check the box next to each symptom that you have. Could you do that for me?"
Kin gave a slight nod before taking the clipboard from Julie, hesitantly. Julie stood up and left the room quietly.
1. Uncontrollable crying or persistant sadness
2. Anxiety, panic attacks
3. Inability to sleep, despite fatigue and exhaustion
4. Loss of appetite
5. Restlessness
6. Irrability, moodiness
7. Feelings of guilt, feeling that you're a bad mother
8. Lack of interest in your child
9. Difficulty concentrating
10. Other (please list) ____________________________ ___________________________________________
Kindlin's hand shook, the pen wobbling inbetween her fingers, at the realization that she could mark every single one of these and still write a thousand line-fulls under "Other." Tears welled in her eyes as she looked over at Nick. She'd just thought she was a little stressed out. But if she had every single one of these symptoms, there was a name for how she was acting. Did she have some mental illness or something??
"Nicky, I... I..." her voice wavered as her tears spilled over her eyelids.
Nick nodded, kissing her temple lightly, "Shhh, it's okay, honey." He gently took the clipboard from her, pulling the pen out of her hand, and slowly checked each square.
They sat in silence until Julie came back, a few minutes later. Nick handed her the clipboard and watched her face intently as she looked over it.
Julie nodded when she was done, and looked up at the young couple. "Kindlin, it looks as though you have Postpartum Depression. Have you heard of it?"
Kindlin shook her head 'no', her face crumpling up in tears again.
"It's not uncommon, whatsoever. Many mothers get Postpartum Depression. It's very understandable, Kindlin, with you being only 24 and already having 4 children, to have the same thing. You are in no way 'mentally ill' or anything else that you might be feeling you are. This is perfectly normal. There are thousands of women out there, going through the same thing."
"So what do I do?" her lower lip quivered as she felt Nick's hand reach for hers.
"Well..." she reached into her desk drawer for a business card. "We're gonna take this one step at a time. And right now I want you to go home and call this doctor," she handed her the card. "He'll find the right medications for you. And I'd like you to come back next week sometime. Nick, you can call and schedule an appointment with my secretary?"
"Sure," Nick nodded.
~ * ~ An Hour Later ~ * ~
Nick watched as Kindlin walked up the staircase, once they'd gotten home, looking dazed. "Kin, are you gonna call the doctor?"
"I'll call tomorrow," she replied, tiredly.
And for some reason, even unknown to himself, Nick knew she wouldn't.
