From Womb To The World: Baby’s 1st Weeks Of Life
Welcome to motherhood, mom!
After what seemed like a never-ending journey, you’re finally here. Your precious one has finally arrived and your world is changed forever, in the best way possible. This is perhaps one of the most inspiring, exciting, and nerve-wracking moments of your life, but the same goes for your little one.
Moments after birth, newborn babies spend their first few weeks of life adapting to their new environment.
Your baby’s new world appears very different from the womb. After months of constant warmth, comfort, and silence, she is now surrounded by bright lights, faint noises, and movements. And as your little one tries to adapt and make sense of this new environment, you can help her get used to the outside world by giving her warmth, attention, security, and love.
A new baby marks the beginnings of all things – wonder, hope,
and a beautiful dream of possibilities.
-Eda Le Shan
The first few weeks of your baby’s life are a special yet overwhelming period. And although it may be a challenging role, as a new mom, it’s important to savor all the firsts you’re going to experience- first cuddles, first feedings, and first chance to create an everlasting bond.
To help you better prepare for your baby’s homecoming, here’s what you need to know about what’s in store for you and the newest addition to your family.
Your Baby’s Developmental Milestones
For the first weeks of life, your baby will work on harnessing the fundamental skills she’ll be needing to survive and adapt to the new environment outside the womb. She will mostly focus on the senses of touch and smell. So, it’s then very important to communicate and have skin-to-skin contact with her as much as you can.
A key occurrence for newborns in their first week of life is their irregular breathing patterns, with normal apnea episodes. It may be frightening, but it’s actually normal, especially while your baby’s sleeping.
In the first week, you can usually expect your baby to:
- Focus shortly on things that are near (about 12 to 15 inches away)
- – This is about the distance of a breastfeeding baby looking at her mother’s face.
Use senses of sight and hearing often
- Infants perceive simple, high-contrast patterns during the first weeks of life, but their vision will quickly develop over the next few months. She may also respond to loud noises and look at or follow objects toward the midline of the face.
Lifts head briefly when on her tummy
- However, you should remember that newborn babies have poor head control and need their heads supported at all times.
Display rooting, sucking, startle, grasp, and tonic neck reflexes soon after birth
- Reflexes are involuntary movements that are a normal part of infant development. These early reflexes gradually disappear as babies mature, usually by the time they are 3–6 months old.
- Rooting and sucking reflexes help your baby avail nourishment. Rooting causes an infant to automatically turn in the direction of a food source (breast or a bottle). Whenever a food source is placed in the baby’s mouth, the baby will then begin to suck reflexively.
- Babies also have a startle response called the Moro reflex. An infant who is startled, perhaps by a loud noise or abruptly moved, responds by throwing out his or her arms and legs and curling them in again.
- Tonic neck reflex, or fencer’s pose, happens when an infant’s head is turned to one side and she automatically straightens her arm on that side of her body while bending the other arm.
On Feeding & Nutrition
You may still be choosing your preferred feeding technique for your one-week-old baby. But it may change as she grows. You can opt to feed your baby breast milk, formula from a bottle, or a mixture of both.
A day after your baby is born, you might notice that she may seem sleepy and impassive even when eating. This can be a normal phenomenon as newborn babies also need to recover after delivery. They also went through a lot. You can check if your baby is getting enough nourishment by how much she needs her diapers changed.
Sleep Schedule
Newborn babies need 14-17 hours of sleep a day. However, because sleep is quite inconsistent during this stage, nap time will vary in length and duration. Ideally, newborns should get 4.5-6.5 hours of day sleep and 10-12 hours of night sleep. Knowing that your baby’s still adjusting to life outside the womb, she may have a hard time telling the difference between day and night. This can make sleep feel a bit blended.
At this age, it’s still too early for you and your baby to have a super structured sleep schedule. While you can start implementing a simple bedtime routine, your baby may just go to sleep whenever she feels like it. So, to help your newborn clear up the confusion, teach her the difference between day and night by keeping the day environment bright and full of activity, while the night is dark, calm, and quiet. This will help her make an association that will aid and guide her to sleep better as she grows.
Crying
Babies communicate their needs through the distinct sounds they make; whether it’s hunger, tiredness, or discomfort. Once their need is satisfied, they should calm down.
If you take a moment and listen to the various sounds your baby makes, you’ll be able to learn from the cues they’re giving and decipher what they need. And when you’re able to understand and respond appropriately, it will foster a strong bond between you and your baby that’ll enable her to feel a deeper sense of security and comfort.
Having a baby is a life-changer.
It gives you a whole other perspective on why you wake up everyday.
– Taylor Hanson
Nothing can fully prepare you, a new parent, for the whirlwind experience of having a newborn come home. Because of all the expectations (from others and from yourself), panic, anxiety, and doubt may start to creep in.
But, there’s no need to fret! Your fellow intuitive moms have put together some tips that may help you and your precious one not only to survive but thrive, during this newborn phase.
How To Survive & Thrive In The First Weeks Of Motherhood
TAKEAWAY:
Every mom enters the world of parenthood with a set of optimistic expectations on what it means to be a good mother. And while it’s inevitable to silence the noise of idealistic expectations, this robs the time you’re supposed to be enjoying with your precious baby and inhibits you from growing in your journey.
The first few weeks of motherhood may prove itself challenging, overwhelming, and tiring. But with the right support, healthy and realistic expectations, and your immense determination to be the best mom you can be, we assure you that this lifelong adventure will be worth it.
We know you’re trying your best.
You’re gently recovering. You’re probably tired and exhausted, and this role may feel so foreign. But we also know that you’ve never loved anything or anyone like this before. Your heart is filled with love, gratitude, and adoration towards this little one. We encourage you to use that as you figure out how vital your role is as a mother, and that’s when you’ll discover the strength you had within you all along.
