How was the labor and delivery?
Depending on how labor and delivery went, you or your baby may require some special care. This can greatly affect how your first few days go, but most of the big milestones will be the same for every mom and baby.
Baby’s first feeding
Very soon after delivery you and your baby will get to enjoy some skin-to-skin contact. Holding your child for the first time is a magical moment, and you should cherish it as much as you can. Keep in mind you might get some support from a nurse or a loved one to help lift your baby into your arms.
Once you’re skin-to-skin, your baby might try to nurse for the first time. If you are breastfeeding, you’ll have a nurse or lactation consultant there to guide you.
In the first couple of days your baby will feed as many as fifteen times a day. A newborn’s stomach is growing and expanding quickly, and just can’t hold much food quite yet. That’s fine, because whether breastfeeding or formula, you’ll get a lot of opportunities to practice this whole ‘feeding a child’ thing.
You’ll both start recovering
A typical hospital stay after a delivery is about three days. You’ll get comfortable in your recovery room and your little one will likely be by your side in a clear bassinet.
It’s entirely common to be exhausted after giving birth – months and months of growing a baby with labor (or a C-section) as the cherry on top will do that to a person. It’s fine to catch some sleep once your adrenaline wears off. This is typically a peaceful time.
Your baby is still acclimated to being inside the womb, so they’ll be snuggled up, eating and sleeping as much as they need, and you should do the same!
Staring contests
The best part of the hospital stay is getting to finally see this tiny person you’ve made, and feeling them look back at you.
Don’t forget to take a break from those long, loving looks to close your eyes for a while.
Baby and caregivers go to school
During those first few days you’ll probably start to feel like a student all over again…in a good way.
You’ll have nurses on hand making sure you and your fellow caregivers know how to properly hold your newborn, how to swaddle, feed, change a diaper, keep your baby clean, and care for their umbilical cord.
There’s a lot to learn, and thankfully you’ll be surrounded by experts.
Enjoy the moment
Those same experts are what make your hospital stay so pleasant. You can relax knowing that you and your baby are in good hands.
If you brought some extra clothes, you’ll have an opportunity to change into whatever is most comfortable. For your newborn, they’ll be wrapped in a button-up swaddle provided by the hospital, which is ideal for those first days.
They’ll also almost certainly be wearing a Pampers Swaddlers diaper, the #1 choice of US hospitals*. Pampers Swaddlers will help keep your newborn comfortable and dry.
You’ll want to have several diapers on hand for when you finally get to bring your newborn home, and Pampers Swaddlers are the perfect thing for the job. They’re Pampers softest diaper, designed specifically for a newborn’s delicate skin. Pampers Swaddlers are Blankie Soft™ and have a unique Absorb Away Liner™ that pulls wetness and mess from your baby’s skin.
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