What they don't tell you about your newborn!

[guestmama9906]

Along the lines of the "first-timer" thread, I was thinking last night about new babies, and what I wished I had known...

The first thing being all the involuntary, jerky, epileptic-like movements they make (at least my three did!). Or the eyes rolling in the head, when they're falling asleep. All that freaked me out, and one of my kids I even rushed to the ped. b/c I thought he was having a seizure! (turns out he just "shuddered" when he peed, and that is quite normal, weird!!).

[ILoveMySofie]

I remember being freaked out by what looked to me like red rash. Apparently they have baby acne? Thats harmless and goes away on its own and is very very common.

[Xiaguan]

The biggest myth that my first showed was wrong was that newborns sleep alot Not her! She stayed up but did not cry just wanted to look around~ Now my other 3 slept alot Esp my preemie~

Melissa

[gnutter]

And cradle cap!! It is a wierd looking flaky maybe even crusty looking stuff on baby's head. Don't pick at it-it is sorta like a scab in that it sticks to the skin and it can make baby bleed. If you lossen it with olive oil or by washing their head you can get some of it off-but it is mostly harmless it just looks odd. If it bothers you check around there are a lot of things you can do to help take care of it. ds#2 had it for a while.

[Vanessa]

Here's my total FTM story. After I had ds and was waiting in the recovery room for him with my dh and mom, she asked me if I would know him when he came. I assured him that I would because he had some skin tags on his face. She was like, "Are you sure there were skin tags? Did the doc say anything about it?" I told her that I was sure they were, but no one had mentioned them, and I really didn't care because I was just so happy he was here.

When he showed up, no skin tags. Apparently, they were just little balls of gunk that hadn't gotten wiped off in the first go round. I still recognized him, though.


I wasn't aware of how much my chest would hurt when my newborn would cry. He constantly cried in his car seat when the car stopped moving even if I had just fed him. Luckily, we both adjusted after a while.

[KC in KS]

Oh man, you aren't kidding about FTM status! I thought I was doing pretty well, even my MIL who was visiting didn't have to straighten me out on much.

But DD didn't recover her birth weight well. I had two different lactation consultants help us establish breastfeeding, I had no pain or soreness from nursing, everything was going great. But she just wasn't recovering that weight.

Her pedi was great about not suggesting formula, but at two weeks old we were all starting to get a touch nervous. Finally the pedi had me bring DD in to the office so *she* could observe a nursing session (not delegated to a nurse!) Great swallowing sounds, great latch. What's going on here?

Finally we realized the problem. DD would guzzle one side (let down), then pause. I figured that meant the breast was empty, and switched sides. Two sides, and she's done, right? The whole process took about fifteen minutes.

Somehow, in all the reading I did, and all the LLL meeting I attended, no one ever told me that babies might rest in the middle of a feeding.

[Momto1and1ontheway]

My DH and I freaked out many times about the eye rolling thing too! YIKES, why don't they tell you this! Then, there are the noises my DD made when she dreamed. Kind of like a puppy does when they have a subdued yelp. Not so bad when you're awake, but it startled us MANY times in the middle of the night!

[newmainer]

Deep sleep! a couple of times i freaked out because dd went into such a deep sleep with such shallow breathing that i thought she was... well, way too out of it. Called the midwife, and she was a bit amused and said, "it's deep sleeping.. and it's a good thing!" The irregular breathing really freaked me out, i just always was afraid she would stop.

my midwife gave me this mantra: a pink baby is a happy, healthy baby.

so, whenever i felt freakish about her breathing or whatever, i would note her skin tone and that would calm me down.

[mamacatsbaby]

Sweet, more good heads up for the newbies! Thanks ladies!

[luckylady]

The WEIRD noises they make! My DD sounded like a 90 year old man, and then a billy goat. LOL.

They aren't as fragile as they look.

Yep - not all are sleepers! My DD hated to sleep - still does 4 years later.

Those first smiles when they are like a week old, ARE smiles and NOT gas.

[guestmama9906]

Originally Posted by newmainer

Deep sleep! a couple of times i freaked out because dd went into such a deep sleep with such shallow breathing that i thought she was... well, way too out of it. Called the midwife, and she was a bit amused and said, "it's deep sleeping.. and it's a good thing!" The irregular breathing really freaked me out, i just always was afraid she would stop.

my midwife gave me this mantra: a pink baby is a happy, healthy baby.

so, whenever i felt freakish about her breathing or whatever, i would note her skin tone and that would calm me down.

Yes, the breathing is very freaky. DH and I STILL watch our little ones breathe and get very nervous. They're laying there, asleep, breathing 100 times a minute, very shallow breathing, then it looks like s/he isn't breathing at all, then s/he takes a breath every 10 seconds...Still scares the pants off me, but as the above said, it's all normal.

[guestmama9906]

Originally Posted by luckylady

Those first smiles when they are like a week old, ARE smiles and NOT gas.

Yup!

[KatSG]

Those first smiles when they are like a week old, ARE smiles and NOT gas.

Originally Posted by cicerosum

Yup!

Absolutely. I have no idea where that got started. Babies are capable of expressing all their emotions and will mirror your own facial expressions. Clara's first real smiles came at 3 weeks, just when I was starting to go bonkers and wondered if this kid even liked me. I was singing her some silly song that a parrot was singing on the Ellen show ("How Much is that Puppy in the Window") and she grinned liked crazy. That's when I knew I was going to make it through this mama thing.

Another thing people tried to tell me but I didn't believe it...You'll want to sit and stare at your baby all day long. It's true. I find myself dreading the marathon nursing sessions this time, but I think that's only because I don't like to slow down and I worry about dd1 not getting the attention she needs. But I'm looking forward to the times dd is with her nanny or at preschool and just staring at this new baby. Oh, and those nightime feedings? They can be absolute bliss. Just you and your baby and nursing and the way her/his head smells...those are the things that make all the hard times totally worth it.

[Brinda]

I had difficulties with their breathing. First rapid and shallow, then nothing, then slow breathing. A few times I was afraid they couldn't breathe! DS had sleep apnea, and so it freaked me out even more. He outgrew it after a few months. The monitor really helped, because it would startle him to breathe when it went off.

[gnutter]

here is a really wierd one-it has happened to a lot of people I know though. if your baby starts crying like they are in pain and you can't figure out why-take off their socks-when you wash baby socks sometimes a hair will get in the sock and then it will wrap around the baby's toe. it can really get wrapped around tight-I don't know why this happens but it has happened to me and a few other friends of mine. One friend didn't realize what it was until it had actually started to turn the toe blue-strange but true. It doesn't happen all the time but its always a good thing to know that it can happen.

[teacup]

That you can hear a baby poop from across the room.

That cluster nursing can mean more frequent (every half hour) and longer (try 6 hours!) feedings and don't last just one day.

That you'll just feel raw for a while after, and I don't mean physically. Emtionall,y mentally. The world is so harsh, fast, and loud when you have that wee babe.

[JayGee]

Some babies cry A LOT ~ try not to take it personally . DS cried for 8-10 hours at a time some days, totally inconsolable. I tried everything ~ changing my diet, slinging, rocking, car rides, literally everything. Eventually he just outgrew it, but it was the hardest 6 months of my life.

[luckylady]

That you'll just feel raw for a while after, and I don't mean physically. Emtionall,y mentally. The world is so harsh, fast, and loud when you have that wee babe.

SO true! I remember driving with DD the first time - everything was too bright, too loud, and I felt like every car was a missle aimed at us!

[guestmama9906]

Originally Posted by gnutter

here is a really wierd one-it has happened to a lot of people I know though. if your baby starts crying like they are in pain and you can't figure out why-take off their socks-when you wash baby socks sometimes a hair will get in the sock and then it will wrap around the baby's toe. it can really get wrapped around tight-I don't know why this happens but it has happened to me and a few other friends of mine. One friend didn't realize what it was until it had actually started to turn the toe blue-strange but true. It doesn't happen all the time but its always a good thing to know that it can happen.

My ped. actually told me that this has happened to little boy's penis' so be careful!

[eco_mama]

That when they say they will "shoot poop out." They mean LITERALLY!! My dd did this SEVERAL times!! And lemme tell ya...it really shoots right out!

Also, that for at least the 1st week you won't want ANYONE to hold him/her, family or not. That's how I was. Very protective. Of course I let my family hold my dd but the whole time I was thinking, "OK, just give her back to me now, that's enough...thank you very much."