The baby’s finally here! …What do you do now?

Once you found out you were pregnant, you were caught up in whirlwind of doctor appointments, Baby shopping, nursery decorating, and finding as many books/articles/blog posts on pregnancy as possible. You probably gave a lot of thought to the next nine months and delivery day, but what about after baby comes?

With so much focus on the pre-game, what happens after baby is born can get lost in the shuffle. Here’s what to prepare yourself for in that first month:

Your body

As you’ve noticed with pregnancy, your body is doing a lot of changing, and it will only continue once the baby comes. Right after birth, your breasts will start producing colostrum, which is a special, concentrated nutrition that is low in fat and high in carbohydrates, protein, and antibodies. Between 24 and 72 hours after giving birth, your regular milk will come in and your breasts will get very full and tender.

You will bleed for about 6 weeks once your baby is born. Okay, wait. Calm down. I know it’s annoying, but you haven’t had your period for 9 months! Plus, like a typical menstrual period (but drawn out over a longer time frame), the bleeding will be heavier in the beginning and then, gradually, become much lighter. This is all part of a really healthy process called “involution”, when your uterus shrinks back to its pre-pregnancy size.

Additionally, you will feel Contractions (MUCH less intense than labor contractions) as the uterus works to get back to about the size of your fist, and these contractions will mostly be felt during the first few minutes after the baby latches on to breastfeed. Interestingly, this is because the same hormone that causes contractions (oxytocin) also initiates the “let-down” reflex, which brings your milk forward from the glands. Isn’t nature A-mazing?! The pressure of the contractions will push some blood out, which you will likely feel. Although your uterus will be involuting during the entire 6 week period, you will probably only feel the contractions for maybe a week or two.

Depending on whether you had a C-section or a vaginal birth, very few to no medical interventions or many invasive procedures, and a short, relatively easy birth experience, or one that was long and/or difficult, you will have some recovery time after giving birth. Regardless of whether this time lasts a day or several weeks, it is crucial that you take care of yourself. Eat very nutritious food, drink plenty of water, and rest as much as possible. You must ask for help, and let certain tasks wait, even if you feel awesome!

Like many of you reading this, I am a DO-ER, so when my babies were sleeping I felt so compelled to take on the laundry and dishes and even stay up and make phone calls. But, I can’t encourage you enough to take the advice that was given to me… rest – even sleep – when the baby is napping. Do NOT overdo it. Your body is wise and will rebel if it is not allowed the time it needs to accomplish all its healthy action steps.

Your baby

For many parents, once they bring their baby home, they look at each other like, “Okay, so what do we do now?” The good news is that taking care of a newborn isn’t very complicated. As long as you make sure your baby eats when she needs to and gets a fresh diaper, that’s pretty much all she will require for a while.

It may not seem like your new baby can do too much, but there’s a lot going on under the surface. While it will take a little time for her eyes to develop, she can see well for about a foot in front of her. Her hearing won’t be great right away, either, but she will know the sound of your voice. Taste, smell, and touch are all pretty well-developed by the time she has come into the world.

Your baby will lose some weight early on, but this is nothing to be alarmed about. It is actually very normal and expected. In about two weeks, it will be regained and probably surpassed. As for sleep, your baby should be dozing for around 16 or 17 hours a day. While that may sound amazing to you, it doesn’t come all at once. She will need to eat anywhere from about every 45 minutes to 3 hours. (If you’re breastfeeding, you should put a sleeping baby on your breast at that point. Newborns are great at nursing in their sleep, and they should not go more than 3 hours without a feeding.)

The first month with a new baby can be a challenging transition, but the more matter-of-fact, go-with-the-flow and relaxed you are, the easier and more enjoyable it will be. You and your baby are resilient beings. Remind yourself of that constantly, and get the support you need and deserve. Be patient with yourself and the process as this new lifestyle develops and changes. Keep your sense of humor whenever possible, and do not hesitate to reach out to trusted family, friends and professionals (including me!) if you feel overwhelmed.

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