Raising Children when you have Bipolar Disorder Advice?

I really didn't realize how much of an illness I had- in that very word, "illness," until... after a bought of mania (staying awake for nearly a week), I had taken some nausea medication and it made me sleep until 4:00pm. My children are two and 9 months old. They simply went back to sleep and weren't injured or anything, but our usual wake up time, of course, is 9:00am. I was so ashamed. I'm a single parent, but I know that any stay at home mom or dad can relate to raising children.

I'm very afraid, now. My children are safely with my parents while I've been prescribed an antipsychotic for sleep and eating. Of course, this makes me sleep most of my day away. Again, not something that a functioning parent can do.

I have sole custody of my children, because their father is a violent alcoholic. He isn't in our lives and doesn't want to be. I cannot stay with my parents at this time, as they have a full house.

I'm just... so afraid of this illness now. I've lived with it for fifteen years and dealt with it alone, aside from having a cat to take care of. Now I have two young children who need me at all hours.

Are there any other bipolar parents here who have had similar issues or other struggles?

I am a stay at home mom. When my 3 kids were those ages, I didn't experience mania but I did experience some level of depression. And when I did get mania, my youngest was 8 months old. I was hospitalized and I had help in the form of having my niece here for 2 weeks, I hired babysitters while I slept at times, and my husband was home early everyday in the evenings. It was very hard financially and for me, I was just existing. The medicine I took had me sleeping so much and I took an anxiety med which made me sleepy too. During the day, I had to drive my other child to school. She was in Kindergarten and I wouldn't take my anxiety med because I would get so sleepy. I do understand it is very hard. And I take into account that you are a single parent. That, in my opinion, makes things harder in different ways. My advice to you is to be completely honest to your family about your situation and also to your doctor and therapist so that they can work with you. Family can help out with babysitting and help keep an eye on you, and the doctor needs to work with you on getting you on the right meds that won't have you sleeping all day like you are now. I know it's not easy, but you are so good to want to be and do more for your children. My children are older and they love me so much. They keep me super busy and sometimes it feels like I can barely deal with everyday things and they ask more of me than I can possibly give, but then there are the times when they say goodnight to me and tell me they love me. No one can replace that love. Take very good care of yourself because that way you can take care of your babies too.