Wow what a magical moment it was seeing our baby girl for the very first time!
After carrying her for 9 months and feeling connected to her through the pregnancy journey I was eager to reach the final stage.No-one can prepare you for the moment where you bring your baby into the outside world for the the first time which is both exciting but daunting.
Week 1 – Feeding & Weight
What a huge sense of responsibility I feel having this helpless precious person and caring for her 24/7. This first week felt a bit like a dream with one day merging into the next. We had a few visits from the midwife mainly to check her weight- she had lost about 12 {c9ac3e852dc0d2f30c4f2db56dbbf1a5145ea7c146f4cb6acaa057e475f7e8d8} on day 3 and I later found out that day 5 is normally when they should be weighed for the first time. I was advised to top up with formula which I did for 24 hours reluctantly as I had always wanted to exclusively breastfeed. The following day she was weighed again and had put on 70 grams and no longer required the formula top-ups which was a relief ! I was also instructed to wake her 3-4 hourly for feeds until she reached her birth weight, which I was more relaxed about for the night feeds. In hindsight I would have followed my gut instincts and would have held out introducing formula top-ups until day 5, as this would have allowed enough time for my milk to come in.
I was finding that my baby was very windy and often vomiting after feeds. The midwife advised to help the baby to latch, that I should hand express to slow down the initial flow of milk.
Week 2 – Nappy Rash & Skin Care
I was finding that our baby had developed a nasty nappy rash. I had tried Bepanthen at first which didn’t seem to work very well after a few applications. I then switched to Sudocrem which seems to be working well. I have also being advised to try Metanium, Paw Paw and Penaten cream but are yet to try these out. I also used cotton wool and water the majority of the time rather than baby wipes as I believe at this early age it’s kinder to their skin and cheaper ! The midwife also advised to use Olive Oil or Sunflower Oil on babies dry skin and to massage it in preferably after bath time.
Week 3 – Cluster Feeding & Winding
By week 3 she was establishing her own patterns and was feeding roughly every 4 hours. I did find that in the late afternoon until about 8-9pm she would want to feed every 1-2 hours to stock up for the night. Apparently this is common until 6 months – although a little exhausting I was happy that it was not happening in the middle of the night! At times like these your life draws comparisons to that of a dairy cow! On a serious note it’s so important to eat and drink plenty and to make sure you get enough rest, as breastfeeding really does take it out of you.
With her now cluster feeding in the evening it was more important than ever to get her to burp immediately after each feed. If she did not burp it would often result in her being unsettled for a long period. The winding positions I found most useful were having her over my shoulder and lying face down on your arm.
Week 4 – Settling
By week 4 I could not believe how fast time was going past. I was feeling more confident day by day as she felt more manageable. During the day time the baby was fitting into our daily routine – for example in the morning after a feed I would take her on walk in her baby carrier. She loves the carrier as I am sure it reminds her of being back in the womb. In the afternoon we would often go for a drive and she is very content in her car seat with the motion. We also encouraged her to sleep in the cot in the daytime. At nightime we find bathing her in the early evening and giving her a baby massage followed by a small feed settles her nicely for the night. She tended to wake twice during the night, often sleeping in 4-6 hour blocks.
I was conscious to place her in the cot in a semi drowsy state so that she started to learn to self settle.
That’s it for now, will look to post some specific tips in the coming weeks and also my month 2 experiences!
