To say that Teen Mom cast member Tyler Baltierra has been through a lot would be a major understatement. He and his wife Catelynn Baltierra gave a baby up for adoption as teens and experienced a miscarriage. She experienced postpartum depression and went to rehab twice. And on top of all that they are raising their daughter Nova.
Through all of that, Tyler has stepped up to the plate to be there for his family and now he’s realizing that he needs to take care of himself in order to do what’s best for his wife, daughter, and other family members.
Tyler opened up about all of that and more in an interview for the Reality Life With Kate Casey podcast. There was no filler during this podcast. Tyler and Kate Casey got right into it and discussed Catelynn’s time in rehab.
Tyler shared, “She went for six weeks, came back, and then decided she needed to go back for another six weeks because she felt like she had to fulfill that part of her journey. During that time I was just kind of going and going in dad mode.”
While Catelynn was away, it was a major period of growth for Tyler. He revealed, “I realized there are probably some things I should look at and dive into deeper, some personal stuff that I’ve been having and putting on the backburner because of the postpartum depression and all the stuff that’s been happening in the past three years. My focus has kind of been on other people like Cate, my dad sending him to rehab and sending my sister to rehab a month ago. I guess I can say I kept myself busy.” That’s putting it mildly.
Tyler continued, “So when everything kind of died down and Cate was in treatment, my dad goes to his treatment, my sister went to her treatment, it was just me sitting here.” He had a realization, explaining, “I figured I should probably dive into some stuff of my own, so I started going to therapy myself and just kind of figuring out all my crap.” He also said, “I was just figuring out my journey and how I am going to accomplish stuff. I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder and going through that whole process has been kind of hell.”
Tyler explained, “I’ve been finding out natural remedies to just kind of combat those symptoms of bipolar, so not really taking any medications, just trying to do a lot of meditation, self-awareness, deep breathing, and that kind of stuff. Also stim machine, it’s a little machine you put to your ears and it’s electric kind of stimulation therapy. I’ve been doing tone therapy and other natural stuff I can do to kind of figure everything out.”
He continued, “I’ve been on my personal fitness journey wanting to get healthier, eating better, and looking better, feeling better. I think wellness kind of starts from the inside and comes out. I got the inside stuff figured out and I went to the outside to match it. So here I am.”
Then the conversation shifted to the baby that Tyler and Catelynn gave up for adoption when they were just teens. Kate asked Tyler what it was like to be the father in that situation.
Tyler revealed, “I just felt an immediate attachment. I think guys would have either ran off or let the woman do it on her own, but I felt very compelled. I felt passionate to stay there, help Cate, and just be with each other because I think it’s also really unfair for women to be alone during that traumatic experience. They need someone else, not necessarily a mom or grandma, but someone else who they can be like ‘this is your baby too.'”
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He explained, “You’re both experiencing the same traumatic loss. I felt very compelled to be there. I’m the type of person who’s like I’m not going anywhere, if that’s my baby, I’m going to be there regardless. I guess my main advice is really honestly to just figure out what’s right for you. That can mean anything, whatever that means for the woman, that really honestly in my opinion has nothing to do with the guy. The guy has no say. He has to go along with whatever the woman decides to do because he’s not the one that’s going to have to carry that child, go through the birthing process, and all that stuff. It’s really not his right to say anything. I think the only job for man to do is to support the mother of his child no matter what happens.”
Tyler emphasized, “I think it’s a man’s job to stand by a woman and a woman’s job to do whatever is right for her.”
The conversation shifted to Catelynn’s miscarriage and how he processed the ordeal. Tyler confessed, “Oh god. it was very emotionally intense for me. My first, initial reaction was just to help Cate. I just kind of ran to her, held her, we cried, and we just kind of held each other for two hours just crying. It was our way of letting go and accepting reality for what it is. As far as a man’s perspective, I can’t necessarily say it’s as hard as what women go through, but it’s devastating.”
He mentioned, “I was breaking down every single day.” He added, “Crying, just every single day. I’m assuming a lot of women do the same thing, it’s just not really talked about as much with men.” He also said, “It’s devastating as a loss.” Tyler shared, “I definitely think it should be talked about more. I think men should be able to feel more comfortable displaying that grief.”
After the miscarriage, Catelynn entered rehab. How did Tyler get through that time period? He admitted, “Honestly it was Nova. ” He shared, “I don’t have the freedom or ability to just kind of sulk in my pitty. I gotta be strong. I have to engage with my daughter, laugh with her still, and take her to the park.I still have a job to do in raising her in the happiest environment I could make for her. She was my motivation to keep strong.” Aaww.
Now Catelynn is pregnant again. Tyler confessed, “I would be lying if I said I didn’t have some fears.” He revealed, “I’ve come to realize from my own therapy, I’m not in control of Cate’s therapy, her treatment, I’m not in control of her depression or any of her anxiety. I’m only in control of myself and how I perceive things and how I do things, so just kind of like continuing to work on myself and get one hundred percent with myself is the best way that I can be able to aid her in whatever happens with whatever happens.” He added, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, but I feel be prepared.”
What does Tyler have planned for the future. He revealed, “With the home renovation stuff, I really want to work on helping people that kind of come from my family background. I would really love to flip homes and then make them into sober living houses for people, recovering drug addicts. I think that’s kind of the next big thing I would like to do.”
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