Here's a scenario many new mothers may recognize: You've come home from the hospital with your bundle of joy … as well as a series of emotions that are out of character and perhaps a little alarming. All of a sudden, you're experiencing bouts of weepiness, irritability, anxiousness, stress and sadness -- sometimes for no reason. But if you find yourself tearing up almost as often as your newborn, is that cause for concern? Not necessarily. You may have a case of the baby blues, which are very common among postpartum mothers. In fact, according to Ho, a whopping 75 percent of women will experience the baby blues after giving birth.

But mothers aren't destined for an emotionally unstable existence. On the contrary, Ho explains symptoms usually go away within 7 to 10 days after giving birth. If they don't, Ho recommends consulting a pediatrician, OB or a mental health professional versed in reproductive mental health because prolonged symptoms could point to a variety of conditions -- including postpartum depression. And if you have any thoughts of harming yourself or your baby at any time, she says you should seek immediate help.

So, let's say you make it through those first ten days and you're still not feeling like yourself. There are symptoms that may indicate you're suffering from postpartum depression (more on those in a minute), but Kleiman is quick to point out that "one of the best determinations of whether something that a mom is experiencing is problematic is the extent to which it bothers her." Take bouts of crying, for example. Kleiman says she talks to patients about the intensity, frequency and duration of the crying, because that's what clues her in to whether a woman might need help.

"Whatever it is that mom's feeling, if it's interfering with her ability to get through the day, if she's thinking about it too much, if it's making her feel too bad, that tells us that she needs some attention," says Kleiman. "So, it's not necessarily the symptom itself*, but when it becomes a problem for her, when her distress is so high that it interferes with her functioning, that's when we know she needs help -- and that can be very different from woman to woman."

So, what exactly are some of those symptoms that may point to postpartum depression?

*Thoughts of suicide or harming your child, however, qualify as symptoms that require immediate attention.

If you are suffering from postpartum depression, you could have symptoms in keeping with clinical depression -- think lack of pleasure, inability to concentrate, change in appetite and energy level. But, as Ho explains, a patient's energy levels and appetite might be "less useful" in diagnosing postpartum depression because a mother could potentially be exhausted from middle-of-the night feedings, or she may be hungry all the time because she's breastfeeding.

That said, there are certain symptoms that tend to be more common with postpartum depression. "Postpartum depression generally manifests as anxiety -- often high anxiety," explains Ho.

That anxiety can translate into physical symptoms like chest tightening, muscle tension, eye twitching and nausea, but it can also manifest in the form of anxiety-driven thoughts that usually revolve around something bad happening to the baby. And while Kleiman points out that all postpartum women -- not just those with postpartum depression -- have these kinds of thoughts, for those suffering from depression, the thoughts can become especially intrusive and sometimes even OCD-like in nature. "Some of the most common ones are, "What if I drop the baby while I'm walking down the steps? What if I burn the baby? What if I slip and fall while carrying the baby? What if I inadvertently do something that causes harm to my baby?" explains Kleiman.

If these types of thoughts begin to impede your ability to function or care for yourself or your baby, you should seek help.

Mothers -- and even fathers -- can have scary thoughts about intentionally harming their baby, and those thoughts are considered normal as long as there is some accompanying feeling of guilt or embarrassment. If, for example, you have thoughts of smothering your baby but are distressed by the nature of those thoughts, there's no cause for concern. But again, if the thoughts begin to affect your ability to function, you should talk to your doctor. And if you have scary thoughts without any accompanying guilt or anxiety, you should seek immediate help because that may be a sign of more worrisome conditions, including postpartum psychosis.

There's no doubt that the weeks following your baby's birth can be particularly stressful. "A lot of what I hear from women in the postpartum period is that they're so overwhelmed -- there's just not enough time in the day; they can't make the time to take a shower or eat," says Ho. And in cases that Ho describes as having more "difficult circumstances," this feeling of being overwhelmed can have more debilitating consequences. "One of the challenges for someone who is suffering from postpartum depression is that they feel like they can't make decisions," says Ho. And we're not talking about huge lifestyle choices, like what -- if any -- religion to raise the child but basic, everyday decisions that can overwhelm and paralyze a new mom. "They feel like they can't even make a decision about what to put on the baby to wear -- or what to wear themselves," says Ho.

And since this inability to make simple decisions can impact a woman's ability to care for herself or her child, it's definitely something she should speak with a professional about.