Week one is smaller than you think
The first week is not a project plan. It is temperature, milk, nappies, and you noticing three things that should be said out loud.
Outside the womb the temperature swings and the noise is not muffled. Raising Children says you help by warmth, love, security, attention, cuddles, smiles and a gentle voice. That is not soft padding around the real work.
For a newborn it is the work. You can do all of it with your shirt off and the lights low.
The body will look odd and mostly be fine. A head shaped by the birth canal, or by a vacuum, should round out this week. Swelling around face and eyes should drop in a few days.
Bruises, including after forceps, fade, and bruised babies are more at risk of jaundice. Yellow skin on the face is a sentence you say to the midwife, GP or child and family health nurse. You do not wait to see if you imagined it.
The cord stump dries, blackens, and usually falls off within 10 days. Clean and dry. If the skin around it is red or sticky, same call.
Birthmarks are common and usually need nothing. If one worries you or it changes, get it seen. Swollen breasts or a little milky discharge can happen from hormones and usually settle in weeks.
Sudden jerks in sleep are typical. So is a fist, and a startle at a loud noise. You do not need to fix a startle.
You need to stop slamming the drawer.
Feeding is frequent because the stomach is tiny. Most newborns feed every 2 to 3 hours, around 8 to 12 times in a day and a night. A breastfeed can take up to an hour.
If the baby was born healthy at or after 37 weeks, follow the baby. Cues look like this. More alert.
Mouth and tongue moving. Hand to the mouth. Sucking on fingers.
Most wake themselves. A baby who has lost a lot of weight, is very small, or is jaundiced may need to be woken for feeds. Ask the midwife before you invent a schedule, and before you refuse one they gave you.
There may be no pattern yet. The pattern will change anyway. Your body is part of the system.
Eat. Do a bit of movement. Sleep when the baby sleeps if you can, instead of proving you can answer messages.
Help from family is useful when it is food and an hour, not an audience.
You will bond by talking, touching, and looking at the baby. They are already sending cues back. Responding with warmth is how attachment is described, and it is tied to development, including the brain.
You do not need to feel a movie feeling. You need to answer the cue in front of you.
If you are frightened by how the baby looks, say so to a clinician before you search it. Week one is for learning this baby, not for matching a chart you saw once.
Source: Raising Children Network