Everything You Need to Know About Pregnancy: First Time Mom Guide
It can be scary when you think about having your very first child, but the experience is quite unique for every new mum. Now that you are so lucky to have internet where you can get a lot of information and many resources are available online that are going to advise and prepare for what is going to come.
There are many women who are planning to be a mother but they are not sure how they are going to handle it. There are many of them who are not planning it because they are working ladies and they feel it is going to be tough for them.
If you are the one who is planning to have a baby, then from where are you going to get all the information which is needed about pregnancy? And how to manage when the baby arrives?
You may feel that there is nothing which will prepare for what is coming next!
But, this is not really true.
You can get all the information around and you can arm yourself with all of it. If you want your transition from woman to a mother to be seamless then you should gather much of the information.
There will be many questions about pregnancy that you will ask from your relatives and friends. If you want all the information which is going to help you throughout the nine months, then here it is. Just keep reading and you will not regret it.
Quick Links
Here you will find tips and information for every trimester, and you can say that it is a wealth of information for you. Let’s go!
1.Do not rely on Doctor Google
It is a known fact that there are not all the posts on Google, written by real doctors. So, in case if you need any medical related help, just do not rely on Google. If you need a real help, make an appointment with your concerned doctor so that you can get the accurate help which you needed.
2.How to deal with the symptoms
You will face many symptoms such as some aches, nausea and fatigue, and we can say that they are the parcel and part of pregnancy. It does not means that if they are a part of pregnancy you should not pay attention, you should pay attention to these issues. Do not take them as normal, at least let your doctor know about what you are experiencing each day so that you can secure yourself from a bigger issue. These small symptoms can be an indication that a large one may be arriving, so when you have dealt with it in the beginning then you can easily prevent the bigger issue.
3.What about Maternity clothes
During the first trimester you can easily wear the regular clothes and surely you will not face any problem during it. Now, when it is the time you have started showing then it does not mean that you have to go on a shopping spree for that time. You only can have the most comfortable clothes for you, a few pants and long shirts would do it for you. Moreover, you can also use the belly bands which will allow you to wear the normal clothes without having any kind of problem.
4.What a body pillow will do
You should invest in a body pillow to help you get better sleep as you all know that sleep is pretty much important during pregnancy. Now how a body pillow is going to help you? Well, it will get you a comfortable spot so that your growing belly will not get into any kind of issue. Moreover, it will keep the baby active and it will not prevent its kicking as the normal sleeping without body pillow will do.
5.How doing exercise is for you during pregnancy
By doing exercise, we do not mean here that you should start jumping and doing hard exercises. You should not follow a rigorous routine and must ask the doctor about what kind of exercises you can do all along your pregnancy period so that you can follow heathy exercises. What exercise is going to do for you? It will help you fight the fatigue throughout and will also slow down the weight gain you were worrying for. Moreover, it will also help to ease the delivery for you so you should start doing the exercise from the very first trimester.
6.Stop worrying about weight gain
You know that it is going to happen anyway, you should not stress about it. So, what are you going to do? Well, all you have to do is to talk to your doctor about how much weight gain is normal for your case, so that you will not have to worry if you are staying in that limit. Moreover, ask your doctor to tell you about how much calories you can take daily so that you should not cross the calories intake limit.
So, these were the six tips for your pregnancy period which you will be following throughout your pregnancy and you should not worry about anything else. Now, we are going to talk about a few more things that are necessary to add in this guide as you know that we have created an extensive pregnancy guide for you.
You should think smart when you are going to start shopping for yourself, home, and baby. If you are on a budget then getting second hand things for this period is going to help you a lot. You should not stress yourself over the things, as you will not be able to enjoy this experience if you are taking stress of the things that are pointless.
You know clearly that pregnancy is pretty much important time for you and your baby. You should focus on creating a bond with your unborn baby, rather than paying attention to the other things. For example, you can talk with the baby and tell him that you do love and care about him, and you will not take stress just because of his sake.
It is a challenging time for you, and if it is unplanned, then there is no need to take stress and let the life inside you know that you are taking stress because of it. You should focus on doing the best you can, you should remember one thing that it is not about only you anymore, there is another one sharing your life as well.
Of course, how are you going to take care of your baby, is to take care of yourself. This will be the most important thing you can do for your baby, so indirectly you are taking care of him. You have been dreaming about your baby, how is he going to look like? Whether he will be like his dad or like you?
7.Taking care of the new born
Now, this is your first experience and you don’t know much about taking care of the new born baby. As you are here, we have compiled a complete guide for you, with everything that you should know for taking care of your baby.
Let us get started!
You have to get your motherhood started even when you are still in the hospital after delivery.
7.1 Breastfeeding
If the new born baby is in the hospital’s nursery than you should ask the nurses not to give him anything in the bottle and you want to breastfeed him. There will be a colostrum which will be yellow in color and this is full of immune boosting nutrients, so you have to squeeze this in the baby’s mouth directly. You should take care of this fact that do not give your baby any kind of other milk, other than you own milk, keeping all the advantages of mother’s milk in mind.
You should feed your milk supply, which means that you should drink ten glasses of water every day. You have to set a daily intake of calories according to your activity level, metabolism, age and weight, so that you can stay healthy for your baby.
What is a surprising fact here!
If you are conscious about the weight gain during this period, then according to the research the mothers who breastfeed their babies can lose 1 to 5 pounds in a month even if you take more calories.
There are a few mothers who are not able to breastfeed the babies and they should check the commercial formulas to give to the babies. You should ensure that there are complete nutrients that your baby is going to get. Ask your doctor about the formula that you can add nutrients, DHA and iron in it. You should take care about the allergic reactions of the formulas as well so that your baby will be safe and sound even after using that formula. But, do not get afraid due to this allergic reaction thing, because there are only 3 percent of the babies which can have this milk allergy, others are prone to it and you will not have to worry about it.
How to keep the formula safe?
- First of all you should heat the formula with bottle warmer, and you should not microwave it as it is not safe to do so.
- After making it, you should not use it after four hours if the formula is on room temperature and it must be discarded right after that.
- If the formula is in refrigerator then you can use it within 8 hours, not after that of course.
- If you do not want to lose the nutrients of the formula then you should not freeze it anyway.
- If the baby has left the formula after feeding through it, you should not save it for the next time because the baby’s saliva can contaminate the formula, you should discard it immediately.
7.2 The Poop
The baby might pass a black and thick or greenish substance which is known as meconium, now this totally normal. After some time the baby will pass six to nine bowels in a day, which is again normal. This will happen when he is breastfeeding and when he is on formula then he will pass only two stools per day. One thing you should take care of is to check that the poop is not white in color, which can be an indication that there is diarrhea.
7.3 The Visitors
This is the time that you and your partner want to spend with the baby and you should do that of course. All of the friends and family will want to visit and want to see the baby as soon as possible and they will do exactly the same. You will have to keep them a bit away so that you can spend time with your baby more. The perfect time to bond is the time right after the birth as your baby will be receptive and alert by that time. You should look him in the eyes, and talk to him, let him know how much you love him with your touch. As he knows your voice because he have heard you while he was inside, so your voice will be the most soothing thing for him.
7.4 Sleeping close to the baby
When the baby is close to his mother, his heart rate, stress levels and immune system regulate, moreover, breastfeeding will also be easier. Baby will experience the lighter sleep phase which will allow him to wake up and go to sleep early, which is thought be good if there is any sleep problem with the baby, such as sleep apnea.
You should make sure to take good care of the baby if you are letting him sleep close to you. If you are doing it then you should make sure that nobody is a smoker or has taken drugs.
7.5 Dressing up the baby
When you are dressing up the baby you should keep this thing in mind that the body of your baby will not be able to regulate temperature for at least 6 months after he is born. So, you should dress him up carefully. Mostly, people over-bundle the babies which is not recommended. By doing that they cause him sweating and later on due to sweating the baby can become chilled. By keeping these things in mind you should dress up your baby accordingly.
7.6 Taking him home
You should know how you can use the car seat before the delivery so that you can easily use it when you are taking your new born to his home. You can also ask your partner to get the seat into the room where you are your baby are waiting to go home. We will have a look on the basics so that you will not face any kind of problem when you are going home, let’s check them out:
- The harness will not fit properly if you had over-burdened the baby with clothes. So, what are you going to do if it is cold outside? Well, you will have to put the baby in the seat and then later on you can put the blankets over him so that he might not catch cold, this is the right way.
- Take care about the comfort of your baby in the seat, it should be comfortable around his shoulders and hips.
- The clip on the chest should be level against the baby’s armpits.
- You should install the seat to 5 degree angle so that the head of the baby should be in right place while travelling.
- Make sure the seat will not move in any direction while travelling so that your baby will not face any kind of harm.
You should carefully follow all these basics about the seat so that your baby may not get any harm.
7.7 What to do if the baby is crying
There is no way other than crying that your baby can communicate with you in the early days, so we can say that he wants to take your attention towards himself and whatever the problem is. Mostly people think that it is normal if the baby is crying, but that is not true, he might need something or maybe he is having ache somewhere, so you should pay attention every time your baby cries. You should check if he is feeling irritated due to soiled diaper, or maybe the diaper is pinching him.
Then there are mothers who always give pacifier to their crying baby, which is not a good practice. You should not give him pacifier all the time, rather you can feed him or play with him, or remove the discomfort he is going through.
You should swaddle him safely so that he can stop crying and make sure that he is completely in blanket. Let us check out the tips you can follow to safely swaddle the baby:
- You can take the baby into car to give him a good ride, babies like it.
- You can also put him in an infant swing and swaddle it, babies like the motion.
- If you are tense then baby will also get tense, so try to keep it cool when you are around him.
- Walk around carrying the baby, slowly swing him and let him go to sleep while hugging him, singing something for him.
You should follow these tips rather giving your baby pacifier all the time.
7.8 Protecting from SIDS
SIDS is known as an unknown Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and the reasons are unknown, but with care you can reduce the risk of SIDS. Let us have a look on some tips to go with this.
You should take care of the fact that the baby is always on a firm mattress and you should not put him anywhere on sofa, waterbeds etc. You should make sure that wherever he sleeps, he should be on a firm mattress not anywhere else. For example, if you are leaving your baby in his grandma’s house or he is at day care, then make sure that they also follow these instructions too.
You should not cover baby’s face and head when he is sleeping, they must be uncovered. You should put him in his sleep sack or a wearable blanket, these are ideal.
It is seen that there are a lot of toys, pillows, comforters, blankets and other objects in the baby’s crib, but you should not place these things in the crib as they are not recommended.
As we said that earlier, do not overburden your baby with clothes and keep the baby in the comfortable temperature as overheating can be a cause of SIDS. Research shows that the running fan in the baby’s room has decreased the risk of SIDS.
7.9 No smoking
You should not expose the baby to any of the cigarette smoke, as it is pretty much harmful for him. It can increase the risk of SIDS and will also harm the health of the baby even if he is not having SIDS. You should take care that nobody among your friends and family is smoking near your baby or coming towards him when he/she just has smoked a cigarette. You have to keep an eye on everybody so that your baby can stay sound and healthy.
7.10 What about the Fever
Do not ever neglect your child if he is having fever, this can be an indication of serious illness. If the baby is less than 2 months old then you should pay more attention to him when he is having fever. He might show signs that he has fever inside, for example, he might be acting strange, not drinking or eating, showing that he has pain somewhere, you should contact the doctor immediately.
If the fever is quite high you should not wait for anything, you should take him to the doctor and do not ever give aspirin to your baby.
If the baby is coughing and is having a fever of around 101° F then you should ask the doctor to check for bacterial infections or urinary tract infections.
You should call the doctor if:
- If the baby is less than two months old and he is having fever of 100° F
- If the baby is more than two months old and he is having a fever of 102° F
- He is getting irritable and is crying for so long
- He has mucusy and watery stools
- He is refusing to feed
- He has swollen or red rash anywhere on his body
- Swelling or redness at the base of his umbilical cord
- He is unresponsive, sleeps a lot and lethargic
- He is always not feeling comfortable while passing the stools
You should carefully observe your baby for all those things and whenever you see any of these call the doctor immediately as these things are not normal and must be treated as soon as possible.
8.More Tips for First Time Mother
When you are not stressing over it and just enjoying all that time and even after the birth of baby you are completely satisfied that you have delivered a normal and healthy baby, then you are doing it all right. You should take care of the baby if he is having redness anywhere on his body, your attention is needed. You should wash your baby’s face with a mild baby soap so that he might not catch any bacteria. You need to wipe the eyes of the baby with the moistened cotton ball so that the crusting around the eyes could be cleaned. As far as the scalp of the baby is concerned you might have seen that he is having a scaly scalp, you do not have to worry about it as it is normal and it will disappear in a few days. You can remove the scales with a soft toothbrush after giving him a bath and remember you have to be a lot gentler. You will see that the nasal passages of the baby’s nose might get filled with mucus and you will have to clean it almost daily so that he can breathe easily. You should cut the nails as well, but after giving him bath when the nails are pretty much soft so that they will give an easy cut. You should not use too much moisturizers on the bottom down, as it will cause him rashes and stuff like that, all you have to do is to change the diaper frequently so that the baby will not get any painful rashes there.
End note
Now you know everything about how to take care of yourself while you are pregnant and everything after the birth of your baby. All you need to do is to carefully follow the above mentioned tips and recommendations for your baby and you.
If you are planning to have a baby and go through this beautiful experience then you should not stress over it. Just do it!
