First weeks with baby
That's it! Baby has arrived! We must now take care. For guidance, we present a summary of what to do.
From birth, the doctor will undertake a series of checking vital signs of your baby to check her breathing, heart rate, color of his skin, his reactions to stimuli and its various movements.
This test, called the test APGAR index, is denoted by numbers between 0 and 10. Most babies have a score between 7 and 10. The test is again 5 minutes later to verify the first result. Sometimes the latter is significantly improved.
The homecoming
The first few days after returning home with baby are often synonymous with confusion and upheaval. Even if you had the impression of being prepared for a little while already, you soon find that your knowledge and abilities will be tested.
The first weeks of life with baby will immerse you in a wave of emotions as varied and intense. Within a few days, you will go from being a childless woman than mother who discovers a wonderful little creature! Although it is probably very quiet during the first days, you will feel upside internally by all the efforts that demand this new learning.
And even if you factor in the superhuman effort that requires a birth, you will understand that the baby lives one of the greatest trauma of his life. Do not be too tough with yourself and allow yourself time to adjust. Your new situation become parents is being hatched!
If this is your first child, you have everything to learn: how to feed, hold your arms in order to be comfortable, how to groom him, understand his crying, etc..
Its size and weight
If baby was born at term, between the 37th and 42nd week of pregnancy, it will measure an average of 45 to 55 cm, the equivalent of 18 to 21 inches, and weight may vary between 2500 and 4300 gr gr (5 to 9 pounds).
Babies may lose weight during the first days of life, it is quite normal. Generally, they lose 5 to 10% of their initial weight. Considered normal, the loss is caused by the shock of birth and by small quantities of milk consumed. Rest assured, he will take the weight he had at birth between the 8th and 15th day.
His skin
At birth, baby can have pink skin and a little purple or dark depending on its origins. Often paler, his hands and feet may stay bluish even nearly 48 hours after birth. We must allow time for his body to regulate its temperature. However, if his skin has a more mottled color, it should disappear when the thermostat inside has regained its equilibrium.
You will quickly notice that your baby's skin is incredibly soft. Sometimes smooth and transparent in some places, it even lets see its network of blood vessels. Creased and wrinkled even more in other places, the skin may begin to peel.
At the time of birth, your baby's skin is covered with the same white coating which served as protection inside the womb. This substance will be absorbed by the skin during the hours and days to come.
Some babies are born also with a light down covering their skin (lanugo) and disappears during the first weeks of life.
Jaundice
Jaundice usually occurs in a term baby. Making its appearance 2-3 days after birth, baby's skin will turn yellow and the color will grow more and more as the hours. Commonly known as physiological jaundice of the newborn (or neonatal jaundice), affecting approximately 60% of children born to healthy term and 80% of premature infants. It reaches its maximum intensity after 3 or 4 days and disappears after a week. However, it can last almost a week in premature infants.
Jaundice is caused by a large accumulation of pigments in the blood called bilirubin orange. These pigments are the normal result of the destruction of old red blood cells improperly disposed of by the liver that can not perform his full work because of his immaturity. These same pigments can also be removed in the baby's stool.