The First Week

THOSE FIRST MOMENTS

Welcome to the world of Motherhood.

You are here, it's intense... and you have been told to love it, no matter what. And that you will ultimately love your brand new baby more than anything else. In the Whole World. EVER!

But what if you don't?

Does this make you a bad mum. Does this make you a failure.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

I didn't totally fall in love with my firstborn on day 1. I appreciated her divineness, and I was immediately protective, but I didn't get those lashingly large love feelings for a little while. 

And it took me a long time to realise that didn't make me a failure or a bad mum.

Especially when, with my second, I did. I'm the same human, how was it different?

Sometimes your birth can play a big part to your connection. For me, this was it.

But for some mum's, the love grows over time. And this is NORMAL. Don't beat yourself up about that one.

BOOBS

Your little babe will suckle on your breast at some stage, often straight after birth, but sometimes it takes a while. Your breasts won't initially make much milk, they will make colostrum. This is normal. And the timing for when your milk comes in differs for each and every mama. 

Find someone calm and knowledgeable to help you with feeding. And if your gut instinct says what they have told you isn't working, go with it.

You have mama instincts now, and they are precious. Sometimes we need a lot of guidance, sometimes just a little support.

I needed help with breast shaping more than anything, and how to encourage my babes to open wide to the breast. But they got there on their own and it was great.

NIGHT 2

You are not a failure when you are awake all night because your baby is feeding. I was surprised nobody told me that, but they both did it. This is not them manipulating you because you are so tired, they are just trying to get your milk in. It's a hard yakka night, hats off to you!

 DAYS 3-5

Or anywhere in this first few weeks really. You will have moments where you want to cry all the time. This is normal. You will also have moments of feelings of invincibility... these are also normal. 

People will continue to tell you it's just the baby blues, but it isn't always just that. Make sure you speak with your support network and your care providers if you are feeling like it's more of a spiral and less of a moment.  Support here can be crucial for your ongoing journey.

END OF THE FIRST AND SECOND WEEK

Some babies will sleep ALOT. Some babies will catnap. 

There is no right or wrong.

They generally all want to be on you, near you or beside you. This is normal as they are adapting to life outside in the big wide world instead of in your womb.

Be gentle to yourself. Don't try and do some crazy sleep training at this stage. Surrender to the different schedules, try to avoid over-analysing it.

You are both doing an amazing job in this hard time of adaptation.

My hope for all mum's is that they are given support without judgement, information without overload and calm before crazy.

With much Mama love

Dr Ali

Chiro, Mama, Lover of the future Mama living inside each of you!