Week old baby, is this ok?

[sebsmama]

Had gorgeous baby girl by emcs one week ago. Also have ds, age 3.5. Due to the emcs i have been spending a lot of time recovering in bed whkst DH looks after the house and DS. Have now moved down to the sofa so we are all together.

DD is feeding well (BF) and has put plenty of weight on. However feeding and sleeping is all she does. During the day it seems she would sleep all day if let her.i wake her gently every 2.5 to 3 hours to feed her and she is fairly alert then, but the Midwife hs said I can feed on demand, and she will go 4 hours,which just seems too much. Is it? At night she feeds loads and will only sleep on me which is lovely. She generally settles in her moses basket for a while (usually under a hour) before waking again. I am fine with this, i get plenty of rest anyway in the day. But she tends to drop off during her feeds (day or night). Is this ok? Is she supposed to be doing anything else at the mo.... Tummy time, etc? Shall i just relax and enjoy the peace?

Ihavent taken her out yet as I feel I need more time to recover. Is this OK? Am I making too much of the fact I have had a CS and should I just get on with it??

I had a hard time with DS whehe was born, he was much smaller than DD and I was on a 1.5 to 2 hour feeding thing for quite a while with him, so the early weeks passed in a blur. This means that I cant really remember what he was doing at the same stage as I was so stressed about his weight and feeding.

Think I just want reassurance that this is all OK. I feel I am finding it too easy, and so, peversely, am worried that she shouldbbe doing more!!

Thanks in advance.

Ds was only ever feeding or asleep, he wasn't alert and looking around for ages.

I'm not sure what Tummy Time is but at a week old I think you are doing just fine :)

All sounds lovely. At a week old, cuddles, sleep and milk are all that are required.

Sounds just like all 3 of mine, completely normal. Sleep, eat, occasional grizzle. That's what newborns do! And mine sometimes went 4 hrs, but I would wake them to feed as I felt uncomfortable!

Oh, and no, fine not to take her out. Lots of cultures expect mum and baby to stay in for a month at least - after a vaginal birth, c-sec you'd need more recovery! So lie on the sofa and enjoy it. X

Ah, sounds like you are doing well, and congratulations .

You are doing totally the right thing taking it easy for the next few weeks - your body needs time to recover and repair from the CS, and adjust to the huge hormonal changes you are going through. If you try to do more than you are ready for, you just risk setting back your recovery and it could take longer.

I don't see why you can't try to gently encourage more feeding during the day if you want to, and as you are doing. You don't need to, but then you don't want to feed more than you need to at night either! But tbh a week old baby is pretty hard to make wake or feed if they don't want, so going with the flow is fine. When they get to about 2 weeks and discover there is an interesting world around them, and perhaps they don't want to sleep even when they need to, that's when it gets hard exhausting mental interesting, ime (all depending on the baby of course).

So carry on listening to yourself and enjoy .

By the way - don't ever worry about tummy time, and especially not at a week old. If you want to put them on their tummy, and they like it, fine. If not, then also fine. So long as you hold them in all the different positions you naturally would (lying back, upright etc etc), then they will get plenty of muscle stimulation. Tummy time is only really needed for babies who are left in cots or car seats all the time , so don't get to use different muscle groups.

Tummy time is a daft idea anyway but not supposed to be till they are a fair bit bigger.

all you have to do now is sleep, cuddle and feed and change nappies.

Make the most of dh being at home, if it's not going to be forever - I had a short sharp shock with ds3 when I had to do the school run when he was 5 days old. And ever since! I hated it and my instinct was to stay in for as long as we could, so please please do this on behalf of all us poor things who didn't get the chance

It's very natural and babies need your full attention, in the first few weeks.

Ah thanks everyone. I suppose I should relax then! Think I foundthe early days so hard with DS I was expecting the same. I will definitely make the most of DH being here, he is fab. He goes back week after next.
Will go and enjoy!

I didn't even see the colour of dd's eyes for 2 weeks, all she did was eat and sleep

I fed on demand and didn't wake baby to feed with any of mine (I have 3)

But I would be tempted to wake her after 3 hours during the day, and then let her sleep at night until she wakes herself, just to move towards a day/night pattern (but not worry about it at all)

If you have had a EMC, you need to rest and be pampered!