Everything started great. I was 40 weeks and 2 days, on the control that day I was already slightly open and doctor said it could be any day now. Frankly, I couldn’t wait to go into labor, last few weeks of pregnancy were tedious. And that night, as I was sleeping, I felt something wet dripping down my legs. With excitement, I announced my water broke to my husband and we quickly went into the hospital. Thankfully, all things were ready. At the hospital, I was 4 cm open, things were progressing nicely, or so I thought. I went through obligatory preparation (shaving, bowel cleansing) and went into the delivery room thinking I’ll have my baby until the morning. Took a little longer - 13h.
My own contractions were irregular and therefore they decided to induce labor with drip. While before, the pain was manageable, after drip I quickly changed my “no epidural” decision. I felt little ashamed I didn’t stick with my decision, but reminded that you can’t really know how will you feel when the time comes. It helped for a few hours. But after few hours it stopped working and delivery was still not in sight. The next hours were torture. Baby head was not in good position, although on every checkup before everything was great. Doctors kept saying, breathe through just one more contraction and I knew they were lying.
Thankfully, my husband was with me. He reminded me to breathe, brought me water and wiped my sweat. It really helped a lot he was there as a moral support. I would recommend everyone to bring someone who will be there for them.
Finally, doctors decided I must give birth since the baby was at risk being so long without amniotic fluid and pushing phase started. After what seemed like hours, I heard that little cry that made all of this worth it. When they put Lea on my chest, I was in somewhat delirious state and 30 minutes of stitching has gone by in a breeze.
Hospital had the status of child-friendly and that means Lea was with me 24/7. I was in charge of consoling her when she cried and also changing her diaper. At the start, I was completely lost. I was terrified of picking her, she looked so fragile and I was still little weak from the labor.
Changing diaper also looked scary, those little outfits are so hard to put on! Thankfully, nurses were very knowledgeable about all those things and ready to help at any time. I took advantage of that and called them for help frequently. In a day or two, things improved. I was still tired and afraid but I started to adapt to baby’s rhythm. One thing I couldn’t do was to sleep. For all 5 days in hospital, I slept barely few hours. I felt constantly on needles and in fear for the baby. If I closed my eyes, I felt strange shivers in my body and I awoke from light sleep yelling in panic. I researched a little and found out that similar to postpartum depression there is also less known postpartum anxiety. Thankfully, my symptoms started to lessen when I came home. But it’s common for new mothers to struggle with similar issues in silence, thinking it’s should be that way or fearing what will other people think.
Lea picked up jaundice so we had to stay in the hospital longer than usual. Even though I knew that condition is common and mostly harmless, it was a scary experience.
Finally, after 5 days at the hospital, we got a green light to go home. Adventure just began!
We have 2 cribs at home, many toys that make sounds, lights, Rattle for newborns and we used it - never! From my experience, in the first month, all your baby cares for is: eating, sleeping, pooping and crying. Oh, boy, crying… But we’ll get to that in a moment. I just wanted to say, don’t feel bad if things don’t go as you planned, just try to find what works for your baby even if it means that you will sleep on 20% of the bed and your little one will take other 80%. I’m not kidding. You will be the happiest person in this world when your little one is asleep. And sleep will soon be a long lost friend that you miss so much.
I must admit that first week with a baby was one of most stressful time that I remember. Especially when baby starts to cry and you did everything in your power but it just won’t stop. You feel so incompetent, frustrated, angry and helpless that you want to jump out of the window!
But wait - don’t get scared, it gets better with every day. Crying won’t stop but you will cope with it easier - at least psychologically - in your head. You will soon learn that your baby needs to cry and that it doesn’t necessarily mean you are a terrible parent. It just means your baby is trying to communicate something to you - you just need to decipher it. We will talk about that more when we talk about Baby colic.
My thought is that every first-time parent who survives the first week with a newborn at home should get some kind of achievement or medal, because the change in your life is really drastic. Lack of sleep, new chores, lack of free time - lack of time in general can really take a toll on the person. But don’t worry. In week two it will get better, at least you will adapt to a whole new life and you will start to appreciate the positive side of the parenting.
The Baby colic are defined as crying episodes that last for more than three hours a day, and more than three days a week for a three-week duration in an otherwise healthy child. Typically, it starts between the age of two weeks old and four months and the crying most often starts in the evenings.
We were “lucky” ones whose child started to have colic right from the start. And when you experience it for the first time, you get to know the real stress. Is it hungry? No, It doesn’t want to eat. Hot, cold? No! Dirty diaper? Nope. Too much stimulation? Too little stimulation? Nope! Whatever you try it just won't stop crying. You think something is wrong but whatever you do, nothing helps. First time experiencing it, you really get the urge to jump through the window. And for the next few days, you feel cold sweat going down your spine as the evening nears. But with each new day, you become more experienced and you learn some new strategies. Also, you get to know your baby better, what it likes and doesn’t like which really helps in fighting big bad colic.
Five weeks behind us, and we still face colic every second or third day. But now, episodes are way shorter because we know what helps to calm our little crybaby. There are a ton of tips to handle baby with colic, but keep in mind that not all will work for your child. We found just two strategies that help to soothe our little “opera singer”.
When you see that little face and when you hug your little bundle of joy, all you feel is a immense happiness. Seeing your child growing and learning new stuff literally on a daily basis really fills your heart with happiness and those positive feelings greatly outweigh all the hardships you have to face. And knowing your baby, who is 100% dependable on you is (still alive) thriving and growing makes you feel competent. Because if you can succeed in this job, you know there is nothing in this world that you can’t handle!
We will “see” you soon in the second month in review and in the meantime, if you want to know what else can you expect from your child as it develops, be sure to check that article.
Article first published at https://www.stemlittleexplorers.com/en/what-to-expect-from-newborn-in-first-month/
