Things you wish you had been told before the baby came!
Birth – Did it happen the way you wanted? I hope so, but for many women it doesn’t and that’s OK or is it OK? I think it’s very important that women and men are happy with THEIR birth choice. If it didn’t happen the way you wanted look for support groups online, there should be plenty of other help in your community ask your health visitor or DR for advice.
Put baby in a routine? – That was so easy to type out, now actually try and put the baby into a routine and things get a little tricky. At first your little one might have days and nights mixed up this is exhausting but quite quickly baby will realise and it will get easier. You will be in your own little routine by the time the baby is coming up 8 weeks and if you aren’t don’t worry because you will soon enough. I use the term routine lightly!
Baby’s poo – That first poo will forever be burnt on your retinas forever. It’s thick, it’s black and there is lots of it. It’s called meconium made up of amniotic fluid, lanugo, bile & mucus, nice huh.
Breastfed babies might poo every feed, and then not poo for three days this is normal, this is OK. It will also be green & yellow. It’s normal!
What’s that smell? – Babies have fat little necks, they also feed a lot, vomit a little, this ends up in that fat little neck & you have “neck cheese” just use a cotton wool ball & warm water and wipe it down same goes for the belly button once the cord drops off.
Baby acne – Babies get all sorts of rashes & pimples in their first few months this due to a few things,mostly hormones settling down. The other is milk rash from breastfeeding again it’s harmless not a great look, but harmless! Keep it dry don’t put creams on the rash.
Hairy baby? – Some babies are hairy all three of mine have had hairy ears at birth! I was very concerned as a first time parent let me tell you! Normal again, it disappears after several weeks.
Peeling baby? – Some babies peel especially their feet & hands this also clears up in a couple of weeks.
Noisy breathing? – Babies make all sorts of sounds snorting, snuffling rasping. If your baby was born by cesarean section it will probably have a bit of mucus on his lungs, normally he will expel that in his first few days, some babies need some extra help here and will be taken care of in the hospital. It’s important to get that checked.
Sleep! - Is your baby asleep? Well I suggest you do have a rest as well. This is solid advice do what ever you need to do & sleep!
Bleeding – Sometimes you only bleed for a week or so sometimes 6 weeks. It is not normal to pass large clots after the first week, speak to your midwife if that happens.
Enjoy it! Really enjoy those first few weeks, babies change so fast, it’s an old cliché but so, so true!
