What to Expect with a Newborn in the Hospital

On Friday the 1st of July at exactly 12:50 pm, we welcomed our newborn baby girl into this world.

Little Avalee-Rose instantly filled our hearts with love, gratitude, and warmth.  We all fell head over heels in love with this tiny newborn child, thankful for what life has blessed us with!

I will briefly share the story of the birth of my newborn baby as well as share some quick tips of what to expect with a newborn in the hospital!

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What to Expect if You are Scheduled for a C-Section

Our little girl was born on the 1st of July 2016 via elective C-section.

It is fair to say that that Friday happened to be the longest day of the year.

It started really early in the morning with a 5:15 am wake-up call.  After very little sleep (due to nerves and anxiety), as well as due to not being allowed to have any breakfast or COFFEE!! (EEEK!) pre-op, it was tough to get moving that morning.

But within no time at all, adrenaline and nerves of the operation that lied ahead powered up. We had to arrive at the hospital by 6:30 am.  And there we were booked into a private maternity room where we waited and waited and waited for our turn to arrive.

As luck had it, we were third on the list of due caesareans for the morning and that meant that we had a very long 5-hour wait ahead of us!

While we waited we had the doctor come around to introduce herself; the midwife that would join us in the operating room also came around with some paperwork.  She kept popping in and out, bringing all the fun things such as the ‘gorgeous’ purple hospital gown, the tight stockings that prevent blood clots when you are stuck lying in bed for hours after the op, as well as bringing some brochures and sharing some knowledge of what we could expect.

We watched a bit of TV while we waited, by the time they came to fetch me it was already around 11:30ish, and by that time the anxiety and nerves had completely worn off, and exhaustion had already set in.

But once they started wheeling me towards the operating room, excitement exploded inside, as I realized I would be holding our newborn baby girl soon!

What to Expect during the C-Section

In the theatre prep room, we waited and waited some more. Hubby changed into his hospital scrubs and eventually, I was wheeled off to have my spinal, drip and catheter inserted.

Again, I spent ages just waiting around while they finished the C-section that was scheduled before mine.  Eventually, we were ready, I was hooked up to millions of monitoring devices, I was numb from the chest down and hubby was allowed in to come and hold my shaking hand.

From this point, I, just remember various groups of doctors and nurses chatting madly around us.  There were so many people in our operating room.  The midwife floating in and out of view as she briefly explained what was about to happen next.

It was my third C-section, so they knew that I had a fair idea of where we were heading.

Within 10 min or so,  a nurse came around to grab our camera and told us to ‘get ready’ and before long, the curtain in front of me was lowered and hubby excitedly exclaimed that he could see her being born!

And suddenly that first sweet cry of our girl filled the room and the baby was lifted so I could get my first glance of her!

My Newborn Baby – Just Born

Proud dad snuck over to grab a shot of him and his daughter!  His smile says it all!

They whisked her away to dry her off and check her over and before long, she was passed over to us so we could enjoy some skin to skin contact!

We were in love!

Tears rolled down our eyes from gratitude!  Everything went so smoothly and she was as healthy as could be!

What to Expect with a Newborn in the Hospital

Of course, all babies are slightly different and even my experience in the hospital with each of my three babies differed in various ways from each other.  Typically, this is what you can expect with a newborn in the hospital (the brief basics)!

Day One

• If you choose to breastfeed, the first feed will flow alongside with the skin-to-skin contact straight after the baby is born.  Some babies are great at breastfeeding, while others need to be coaxed a lot more.  The midwives will be around to help you get the ‘hang’ of breastfeeding.
• A lot of the newborn babies sleep a lot on day 1 (after the exhausting journey of being born).  Our Avalee-Rose decided to be unique and spent most of the first day having short periods of sleep and crying instead!  Even though adrenaline and excitement will be pumping through your veins, and it will be hard to stop staring at your new little being, try to rest when your baby is resting – trust me you will need to be well rested for when day 2 comes around.

Day Two

• Day 2 will most likely be the most challenging day as the baby is hungry, but your milk supply won’t have come in yet. As a result, it will feel like you are feeding round the clock and you will most likely start to experience some pain from all the feeding.
• Bubby will be frustrated with not being full and will most likely sleep less than day one and spend more time crying.  Don’t forget to ask the midwives to help you as you find yourself struggling on this day.  And if you shed a tear or two, don’t worry this is perfectly normal mommy behaviour due to hormone changes, exhaustion and just struggling with the demands of life with a newborn.
• Expect some pain in the form of cramping or very mild contractions whilst you breastfeed. This is a good pain as it means your uterus is starting to contract back to pre-pregnancy size. I found that this pain increased with each baby, whilst the first time around you might not even notice it too much at all.
• Expect your newborn baby’s nappies to be filled with meconium poo, which truly looks like black goo!  And it is a sticky goo, truly tricky to wipe this stuff off your baby’s tiny bum.  Bonus though is that it doesn’t smell! YES!!
• The midwives will be in and out asking you various questions about shots for baby, sometimes it is tricky to decide which shots you would like your baby to get, so don’t hesitate asking as many questions as you need in search of the answers that allow you to make the decisions that feel best to you.
• Baby will also go through a hearing test, a pediatrician will come and check how baby’s health is progressing and you will also have the choice of getting a neonatal heel prick test done – This procedure helps doctors identify rare conditions before a baby’s symptoms are obvious.

If you had a natural birth, you could be discharged after 1-2 nights in the hospital. If your birth was via C-Section, expect to stay in the hospital for up to 3 nights.

Every birthing experience is truly unique and no mother’s story will be the same as another.  This birth was my smoothest experience out of the 3 I have had so I am very thankful to Nambour General Hospital and the wonderful staff there who did their best to provide us with a calm, problem-free and happy birthing experience!

Over to you:

• Are you still waiting for the birth of your baby?  Do you have any questions about what is waiting ahead for you?
• Has your baby arrived yet?  Please share your birthing experience in our comments down below!