Congrats! The long awaited bundle of joy is here, on your lap! It’s one of the blissful moments to cherish forever! After all those pregnancy blues and your labor dramas, you have finally given birth to the little wonder.
The real thing begins here. Don’t panic. You step into the new phase of life, and started a brand new journey! It’s going to be wonderful and of course, given yourself assurance you would experience a few tantrums (or few too many). There are quite a few rituals alongside taking care of the baby!
Your baby is born with some great inbuilt qualities aside some important aspects in terms of baby development in first week.
- There is literally no control over muscles! It’s all the game of reflex in the first month! Yawn, sleep, cry, feed and repeat.
- Does your baby weigh less than the birth weight? It’s normal and don’t panic.
- Go and check the diapers every 3 to 4 hours. Do this meticulously.
- Expect a lot of dirty nappies.
- Keep an eye on the umbilical cord.
- Gently cover the stump with thin cloth or baby wipes.
- Expect your baby to sleep about 16 to 18 hours a day. Of course, not continuously.
- Witness the changes in the skin tone / color of the baby.
- Enjoy watching the blue or green veins of your baby, which appears like tiny blue droplets in fresh rose bud!
- Prepare yourself to feed her more often.
- Try to understand that she is a little fussy during the first few days. She is in the mode ‘Only me and mommy!
- Talk to your family that you both need peaceful atmosphere at least for a few days, just in case if the atmosphere is not comfortable.
- Put your baby to sleep on back and it’s the safest and most comfortable position.
- Check if the lips, fingers and toes are shivering due to cold temperature.
- Go to baby, make a loud noise audible to your baby with heavy sounding instrument or a big vessel closer to the baby whether she hears the voice. She will certainly start crying hearing a loud noise.
- Clap your hands and watch whether she could recognize the sound.