Hey Sarah,

After my first m/c, I too found it too hard to interact with people - it felt too hard. It was upsetting to see people with babies or who were PG, but I just felt that I didn't have the strength to have an 'ordinary' conversation with people at the time. I really put it down to being in the thick of grief. Grief does a variety of things to people and I think that a lot of the time it's a natural thing to retreat into your own world for a while - kind of like an animal licking it's own wounds IYKWIM? Sometimes you need to spend a bit of time on your own in order to come to terms with what you have been through. In the long term, it's not good if you still feel that you can't interact with people though.

I can tell you that I have been a long term sufferer of depression and it is positively awful. Can I ask what your gut feel is on the situation? What is your heart telling you? If you really feel deep within yourself that you simply aren't coping, then of course you should seek help. If you feel that you are coping and can find some enjoyment and happiness in things (like going to the movies with Rowan as you said) but of course are still feeling an immense sense of loss, then perhaps it is grief as opposed to depression. It's always best to err on the side of caution with depression however and I think it's fantastic that you have people around you who are aware of this issue. You will probably be the best judge as to how you really feel about this issue at the end of the day, but I think at this stage you are handling yourself incredibly well - you're getting out of the house and exercising (which is particularly great as it helps clear the mind and it's definitely something that is good for you if you suffer depression) as opposed to locking yourself away from the world entirely.

Don't worry that you aren't handling yourself in the best possible way - if you feel that you need some space and time to yourself or just with Rowan right now, then that's exactly what you should do. Getting out of the house however as you say to go for walks is fantastic and I highly recommend that you keep it up. I guess what I'm suggesting is that in the long term it's not good if you feel that you can't converse with people, but right now, you need to look after yourself and it's only natural when you're grieving to retreat a little bit. If you start to find yourself not wanting to leave the house at all - not to go for a walk, not to do the grocery shopping or you just find yourself feeling lower and lower, then you really should seek help as it may well be depression. There can be a very fine line and I can't emphasise enough that if you feel within yourself that you are depressed, that you should talk to somebody about it as it's better to address it now rather than let it progress to a point where it's even harder IYKWIM? I'm not sure if any of this has helped at all - at the end of the day yes, it could be that you are depressed, or it could be part of your grieving process and perhaps sitting down and thinking about how you really feel within yourself, and perhaps talking to Rowan a bit about it may help you figure out the best step to take next.