Everything you need to know about your 1 day old baby.
Becoming a mom to a newborn baby is life changing in every way. Not only will you be learning how to care for your baby, you will also be going through your own postpartum recovery following delivery.
Learning about baby feeding schedules, newborn sleep, baby essentials and how to take care of a baby can seem a little overwhelming, especially as a first time mom.
That’s why in this post, you will learn everything you need to know about your 1 day old baby plus a few helpful postpartum tips.
- Newborn Sleep
- Newborn Eating
- Newborn Tests
- Postpartum Feelings
- What To Do With Your Baby All Day
- Hospital Visitors After Baby
1- Newborn Sleep
Your baby will sleep a lot, especially as a 1 day old baby.
You can expect your baby to sleep most of the day for the first few weeks, or about 14 to 17 hours in a 24 hour period, sometimes more.
Your baby will fall asleep easily and he or she probably will not be picky about where he is sleeping in the first week or so. But no matter what, safe sleep is extremely important.
You will still be in the hospital at 24 hours post delivery of your baby. For that reason, I recommend you bring the following to the hospital for nighttime sleep:
- Swaddle – This is my favorite
- Portable sound machine
- Pacifiers
2- Newborn Eating
A 1 day old baby will mostly eat on demand or at least every three hours.
Your baby may take some time to get used to feeding, breast or bottle, but you can expect your baby to eat small amounts around the clock, even at night.
Your 1 day old baby will have a very small stomach and therefore will eat very small amounts at each feeding. Plus, it is normal for babies to lose a little weight in the first few days so your doctor will most likely instruct you to wake the baby to eat at least every 3 hours, even overnight.
The nurses at your hospital will be able to offer you so much good advice and newborn feeding tips. Plus, there are usually lactation consultants floating around that can assist you with breastfeeding too.
If you are bottle feeding, your hospital should provide ready to feed formula bottles but it is always a good idea to confirm with the hospital before delivery!
3- Newborn Screening Tests
The hospital will perform several standard tests on your baby to check for various things following birth.
The standards newborn screening tests in the hospital include:
- Apgar scale. Within five minutes after birth, your baby’s initial condition is assessed on a scale of 0 to 10 based on observations in five assessment categories such as skin color and heartbeat.
- Weigh baby and measure length and head circumference. This typically happens multiple times and it is normal for your baby to leave the hospital weighing slightly less than when he or she was born.
- Count fingers and toes.
- Examine baby’s internal organs (kidney, liver, spleen, etc) by external touch.
- Check the infant’s reflexes, hip rotation and umbilical stump. What’s left of your baby’s umbilical cord will fall off with a week or two after birth but until then it is important to keep it clean and dry and keep an eye out for any sign of infection.
- Record the baby’s first pees and poops. Get used to this because your pediatrician will be very interested in it for the first few weeks. Plus it’s a really good indicator of how your baby is doing!
- Administer a vitamin K injection in the form of an antibiotic eye ointment, which will prevent infection. Most babies are born with low levels of vitamin K so a shot helps to enhance their ability for blood clotting.
- Give baby his first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
- Blood Test. This usually occurs shortly after birth and is a small heel prick. The test looks for at least twenty one different kinds of serious genetic, metabolic, hormonal and functional disorders.
- Congenital Heart Disease Test. This easy and painless test involves a sensor being placed on the baby’s skin to measure his or her pulse and the amount of oxygen in the blood. If the results are unclear, the doctor may order further tests such as an echocardiogram or an ultrasound of the heart to determine if there is something wrong.
- Hearing Test. This test is quick, painless and can be done in less than a minute in a sleeping infant. The nurse will put a little ear bud in one of the baby’s ears, play a sound and the ear sends back an echo. This is then repeated on the other side.
- Circumcision for male babies. This is not required and is only performed at the parents’ request. It is a very quick procedure but requires additional care for a few weeks afterwards until everything is healed.
4- Postpartum Feelings
Postpartum hormones kick in immediately following birth.
Postpartum hormones and the mental and physical changes that come with them are usually not thought of during pregnancy. But they kick in right after you give birth, so they are definitely something to understand.
Four common postpartum hormones that change following birth are:
- Progesterone – Drops dramatically after birth once the placenta is delivered and no longer in your body. This allows milk production to begin. Your body will not start to produce progesterone again until you get your first period, which may create a temporary postpartum imbalance.
- Estrogen – Plays a vital role in pregnancy by maintaining pregnancy and preventing miscarriage and decreases as soon as you give birth. This is especially important if you are breastfeeding because too much estrogen can prevent milk production.
- Prolactin – Increases during pregnancy to prepare your body for milk production and continues to increase after delivery. It is known to contribute to feelings of euphoria and happiness. A deficiency of prolactin may lead to bonding issues between you and baby. Therefore, skin-to-skin contact is highly recommended and if you wish to breastfeed, you should do so as soon as possible after the baby is born.
- Oxytocin – Immediately rises after birth as you snuggle and feed your baby and is known as the “baby bonding hormone”. The hormone is responsible for the strong mothering instincts you will feel and helps compensate for the initial drop in progesterone and estrogen after birth.
It is hard to predict exactly how you will feel during the first 24 hours after birth but it is normal to feel everything from happiness to overwhelm to complete exhaustion.
The dramatic decrease in progesterone and estrogen following birth can contribute to feeling the “baby blues” and a range of other postpartum emotions including mood swings, anxiety, sadness and irritability.
It is important to talk to your doctor, in or out of the hospital, if you are worried about how you are feeling mentally postpartum.
5- What To Do With Your Baby All Day
Your first day in the hospital with your 1 day old baby will go by FAST.
Your day will consist of feedings, diaper changes, nurses visits and sneaking in naps whenever you can. Your body might be feeling sore depending on how your baby was delivered too.
For those reasons, you will not have to worry much about what to do with your baby. But what I would put emphasis on during the first 24 hours is:
- Skin to skin contact and snuggling as much as you want
- Talking and getting to know your baby
Once you get settled at home, you can focus more on singing, reading, going for walks outdoors and eventually playing with some baby toys.
6- Hospital Visitors After Baby
You will need to decide what you are comfortable with when it comes to having visitors in the hospital (or once you are back at home).
It can sometimes feel uncomfortable to enforce “rules” but your time in the hospital will feel like a whirlwind between delivery, postpartum recovery, learning to take care of your baby and all of the nurses in and out of your room. Plus your newborn baby’s immune system will be very weak.
- Some common guidelines you can enforce include:
- No visitors that might be sick.
- No unannounced visitors or other guests with visitors.
- It’s ok to keep visits short or cancel if needed.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for food or help.
- The visitors don’t have to hold the baby.
- Wash your hands before any contact with the baby.
- Absolutely no kissing the baby.
- Don’t forget about the other siblings.
- Be a good listener and only offer advice if asked.
This post was all about your 1 day old baby.