Life with a Newborn: Days 2 & 3

Last week, I wrote about my experience during the first 24 hours after giving birth to my new baby, Charlotte. Today, I’ll describe days 2 and 3.

Days 2 & 3

• Even though Charlotte was more alert than she had been on the first day, she still slept a lot. On day 3, she seemed irritable, crying more than she had the 2 days before. She’d wake up about every 2 hours to eat and would be awake for up to an hour before dosing off again. Just like the day before, I was having trouble sleeping. Once I was able to shower and change into my own clothes, I was much more comfortable.

• I remember saying “She is just so stubborn!” It wasn't until my friend laughed that I realized that I was projecting behaviors of an older child onto my newborn daughter. Even though it really felt that way at times, Charlotte wasn't being stubborn, she was just being a newborn baby, adjusting to a whole new world. When I kept that in mind, I wasn't nearly as frustrated!

• Our hospital has a “rooming-in” policy, which means that the infants stay with the moms and are not taken to a nursery unless there is a medical need. Even though my husband and I saw this as one of the benefits of the hospital, there were times in the middle of the night that we found ourselves wishing we could send her to the nursery while we slept. Even though we were so tired, I noticed that we seemed to have the best feeding sessions in the middle of the night and those times helped boost my confidence about breastfeeding.

• Charlotte had trouble latching well, so we met with the lactation consultant several times. When she did latch on, she would fall asleep soon after. I started to get discouraged and despite my professional experience, I still needed help.

Charlotte and her big sister!

• Our older daughter, Olivia, enjoyed coming to the hospital to visit. Even though I was happy to see her, it was hard having her there for more than 20 or 30 minutes. The room was small, but there was a lot for a 2 ½ year old to mess with and I noticed that it was easy for the adults to lose track of time paying attention to the baby. I recommend working out a system ahead of time to ensure that the sibling visits aren't stressful.

Next Time: Days 4 & 5