First 24 Hours
Now that you’re back home from the hospital with your newborn, instead of losing sleep because your baby is kicking-you’re losing sleep because your baby is crying. What a change! Instead of worrying about whether your baby will be born healthy, now you worry if you’ll take good care of her (him) and how to prevent accidents and illness.
As all other parents do, you must have prepared for that moment the last nine months. You may already have made a nursery full of things your newborn baby could need. You may also already have read tons of books on topics from what name to be chosen for your baby to when you can expect your baby to deliver its first words.
Now that moment has finally arrived. There in the crib lies your sleeping baby, and one of the most exciting adventures of your life is about to begin. The first one week home from the hospital is just as important to you as it is to your baby. Being new parents, you will have gone through an exciting birth that will have made you breathless and exhilarated.
You will likely have many visitors to come in your first days at home, especially if you are from a big family. However, it would be wise if you limit the number of visitors that you welcome into your home. You will need time to recuperate and settle into the routine that a sleeping, feeding, and often bathing baby cause into your life.
Being a new mother, you will need to pay specific attention to the way that you are feeling. This is to prevent those “baby blues” feeling from making you creep up and surprising you unexpectedly. However, it is understandable to feel a bit out of sorts and sad for the first couple of weeks after giving birth. Just don’t get drowned into it.
Your Body
From the physical point, your body is going through some significant physical changes after the birth of your baby. Changes will be made to your hormones, and you likely will be feeling a lack of sleep. You need to be more patient towards yourself and understand that all these feelings are normal. In a couple of weeks things will start feel better.
But if you find that your feeling gets more and more depressed and you find it difficult to care for your family and yourself then you should consult your doctor. A professional can judge if you are suffering from a condition called postpartum depression. Though not severe a postpartum depression can cause a new mother to be depressed.
Siblings
During the first week at home, your whole family will be adjusting to a presence of an additional member of your family. And if you have other child/children at home, you may be dealing with feelings of jealousy from your new baby’s sibling(s) as the new baby takes center attention.
Just make sure that you involve your other child/children in the day-to-day activities that are part of the new baby’s routine. Let older sibling(s) help you with diaper changing, feeding, or just sitting and holding the new baby if possible.
Now is your turn to adjust to the changes in your life (though you might have experienced it before with your older child/children) and settle into an enjoyable routine.