The first-week post giving birth is equally exciting and exhausting. The beautiful process of bonding with your little treasure will be something you’ll never forget but simultaneously you’ll be recovering emotionally and physically from the birth. Here is everything you need to understand about your first days postpartum
The most important thing is not to be afraid to ask for help from family and friends and other resources in your community. For everything else, there is the Internet.
Whilst this far from covers the whole spectrum of your many postpartum needs, we have narrowed down and listed a few seemingly straightforward hacks for getting through this whirlwind time.
Get as much sleep as you can first days postpartum.
We can’t reemphasize this part enough and yes, we know, it will be easier said than done. The old school of ‘’sleep when your baby sleeps’’ still applies. The sense of exhaustion is normal, it’s to be expected and can’t be avoided but it will subside as your body heals. If possible try to do the nights especially in shifts with your partner or support person, that way each person is able to get some interrupted sleep, and before you type ” is it normal to check your baby is breathing every 10 mins” the answer is yes, this too will subside as you find your feet.
It is now important to encourage your partner to help you.
It’s not that they don’t want to, they simply might not know how. Ask your partner to supervise any older children you might have and talk to him about how you both feel after the birth. Granted that you are the hero here, but his life is going through a big transition for the whole family so consider the new dynamics and how each person will adapt.
Recognize the baby blues.
Tears, feelings of sadness, anxiety and utter overwhelm are perfectly normal three to five days after birth, you can thank your hormones and exhaustion for that. This too shall pass as the tale goes and take our word for it when we say that it will pass after one to two weeks.
Identify postpartum depression.
Which is something different and more severe than the baby blues we mentioned earlier. It usually starts two weeks to two months after the baby’s birth and if your feelings of sadness have not shown any signs of subsiding (perhaps even started to increase in their intensity) it is now time to talk to someone you trust and contact your doctor.
The most important part to remember here is that you are not alone and that it is 100 percent ok and encouraged to vocalize how you feel to the ones you trust. The fact that you are here reading this article means you are already doing a great job.
