Archive for the ‘Baby’s First Year’ Category
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 |
Week 2 – How big is your baby this second week?
Baby weighs 7-3/4 pounds and is 20-1/2 inches long this week.
Baby Care and Equipment
Breastfeeding Your Baby
Breastfeeding is a healthy way to feed a baby, and it can help create a close bond between mother and child. (See the discussion of bonding below.) You can usually begin breastfeeding your baby within an hour after birth, provided your delivery is without complications. At this first feeding, you will provide your baby with colostrum, the “premilk” your breasts produce. Colostrum helps boost baby’s immune system. Breastfeeding helps you, too, because it stimulates the pituitary gland to release oxytocin, the hormone that causes your uterus to contract to help keep bleeding to a minimum.
Partner’s support is important. Whether a woman breastfeeds may depend on what her partner thinks about it. Research has shown that if a woman’s partner does not want her to breastfeed, she usually doesn’t. If breastfeeding is important to you but not to your partner, explain to him the health benefits for baby. Assure him he’ll be able to feed baby expressed breast milk. Often a father will be supportive once he understands how positive an experience it is for the entire family.
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Sunday, April 6th, 2008 |
Week 1 – How big is your baby this first week?
The information we provide in this section each week is based on average expected growth for a baby. Growth changes we cite here are based on a full-term baby weighing 7 pounds who is 20 inches long. Your baby may grow a little more or a little less in a given week. If your baby is born small, growth may be less than what we indicate. The same holds true if your baby is large; her growth may be faster or she may gain more weight. There’s also a difference in size (and sometimes the rate of growth) between boys and girls.
The object of providing this information is to help you determine if your baby is growing and gaining weight at a steady pace. It’s important to remember that if your baby is born prematurely, her weight gain and growth may be delayed for a time but usually catches up.
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Saturday, April 5th, 2008 |
Your baby has just been through one of the toughest battles he will ever face. It’s a big job to be pushed down the birth canal and out into the world. Sometimes mother and baby need help, and baby must be delivered with a vacuum extractor or forceps, or by Cesarean section. No matter how your baby arrives, it is wonderful to meet him!
Your newborn is amazing. When he enters the world, all his major organs are functioning. He can see, hear, smell, taste and feel. He may look as though he has no awareness of what’s going on, but he is sensitive to events taking place around him.
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Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 |
Preparing for a new baby is a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of effort, too. You want to be prepared to take good care of your new baby— from buying the right nursery items to choosing a pediatrician. Here’s a plan of action that will get you ready for one of the most exciting days of your lives.
This chapter contains a fairly comprehensive discussion of things baby may need. We include information on your baby’s layette, swings, cribs and bassinets, and various nursery items. We discuss car seats because you’ll need to have one available for baby’s first car ride—home from the hospital. Finding a pediatrician may be one of the most important decisions you make, so we discuss this first.
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