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Bringing Baby Home

The first days home from the hospital are important ones for everyone. As parents, you have experienced a bonding probably like nothing you have ever experienced before. As a mother you no doubt will be feeling drained, both emotionally and physically. The father at this point often is feeling a bit overwhelmed with the huge responsibility he faces, financially to provide for the additional needs. He probably is also feeling a bit inadequate, lacking experience in even just handling some thing so small.

Mom, your body has just gone through some major physical changes, you probably are low on sleep and your hormones are going through some changes. You need to pay attention to how you are feeling so you will know if those dreaded "baby blues" are creeping up on you. It's perfectly normal to feel a bit out of sorts and even sad for the first couple of weeks after giving birth. It's important to realize that it is natural to allow yourself a significant amount of time to recover from this. If you find yourself feeling more and more depressed it is advisable for you to discuss this with your doctor to see if could be suffering from "postpartum depression." Some of the symptoms of postpartum depression include:

• Overwhelming feelings of sadness and depression accompanied by crying
• Experiencing little or no energy
• Feelings of guilt and worthlessness
• Either having no interest in your baby or being overly concerned and worried about your baby
• Experiencing either Weight gain accompanied with overeating or weight loss accompanied by not eating
• Either insomnia or oversleeping
If you do have postpartum depression, then here are a few things you can do to try to beat it:

• Try to get as much rest and relaxation as possible. When the baby is asleep, use this quiet time to get some rest yourself.
• Be patient and understanding with yourself and don't put pressure on yourself to "get back to normal."
• Get help from family members for some of the simple housekeeping chores.
• Try to limit your time alone and try to keep you mind and body active. Take walks, either while someone watches the baby or even take the baby for a walk in a stroller. Just get out.
• Get professional help if the depression seems to be ongoing.
• Discuss your feeling with other moms, share experiences. You may very well find that some of your family and friends have gone through the same issues and have come out of it just fine.

You would be well advised during you first days at home to limit the number of visitors that you welcome into your home because you will need some time to recover from the birth process. You also don't want the baby to become over stimulated. Other than you immediate family and close friends, you might want to ask others to wait a week or two before they descend on you with gifts and wanting to hold the baby.

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