Little guy is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Any last minute tips or advice?

[weixiao]

Update: he’s here!! What a crazy 48 hours it’s been. I’m so in love with him already. Thank you all SO MUCH for all your words of wisdom and advice. I read every single one of them and truly learned something new from each. Tonight is the first night at home… little dude is fed, diaper changed, and has been sleeping for a solid hour, he’s a sleepy boy this little guy. He hasn’t taken very much milk yet and has only woken to feed once on his own in the 4 hours we’ve been home. We’ve woken him to feed but he doesn’t seem to take much milk? I guess we’ll figure it out! Thank you again for all the helpful and amazing advice, y’all are real ones

Tomorrow (!!!!) is our little one’s due date. In 24 hours, we will have a baby. I am scared sh*tless. Although we’ve been preparing for nine months, my husband and I are laying here googling/redditing/youtubing/even freaking bing-ing any information we can find on how the h e double hockey stick to do this. We feel like we’re cramming for a test. I’m likely being induced tomorrow afternoon/evening. Any last minute errands we should run tomorrow? I know I should sleep considering I won’t have an uninterrupted night for the next x amount of days, weeks, months, years?!, but I’m feeling so anxious and emotional right now. Each kick I feel reminds me that tomorrow this little human inside of me will be real. I’m so overwhelmed with emotions. Would love to hear any (super) last minute advice or expectations or words of encouragement!!! Thank you!!

 

[dac]

@weixiao The first night might make parenting look easy, you might tell everyone what a chill baby you have. The second night is a hellish awakening. Baby will want to feed every 20 minutes, you’ll keep wondering what’s wrong with him, what’s wrong with you (if you are breastfeeding), and your first thought might be “oh my god is this colic?” Seriously, go read up on the second night! Nobody warned me! Congratulations and well wishes for your delivery!

 

[rorymoran]

@dac My second night in the hospital I was literally hallucinating. Just staring down at my little precious baby who was swirling with green and blue and yellow patterns all over her skin. It did get better after that.

 

[thietkenhaxinh]

@rorymoran To be fair, while this is super common, it isn't 100% guaranteed. My first baby was like this, but the second one slept very well from the beginning (for a baby) and didn't do the bait and switch. That said, there is no shame in combo feeding to top baby up when needed or while milk supply is still coming in. There is no sense in having a baby that's starving and a mom who is in tears.

 

[weixiao]

@dac Every 20 minutes?? When does he sleep???? Thank you for the heads up haha and THANK YOU for the well wishes

 

[dac]

@weixiao He’ll basically be in a state of in and out that second night, going from 0 to absolute 100 within seconds but I promise you it has nothing to do with his every day temperament! Since they’re so new to the world and they’re a little more aware of their surroundings that second day, it can be really scary for them! And they have teeny tiny stomachs so they are constantly hungry. He will basically want to feed then lay on your chest ALL NIGHT, so make sure you and your husband work something out ahead of time. If you’re breastfeeding you will need to feed on demand to help your milk come in, so maybe you stay up (if baby won’t sleep) from 8 PM to midnight while you let your husband get rest, then he stays up to take the second shift with you feeding baby and then immediately handing him the baby to comfort and soothe back to sleep so you can rest. Seriously try to get as much rest as you can, your body really needs it right after birth! Seriously, it all sounds really overwhelming, and Google will be your best friend and worst enemy all at once, but ultimately you will get the hang of things (until everything changes the next week, but you’ll get the hang of that too).

 

[missrancher]

@weixiao Baby will sleep in bits and you guys probably won’t sleep at all that second night. Try to sleep whenever you can even though you might be compelled to just chill and look at your baby. Hospital staff will be interrupting you constantly and have a trusted family member be the one managing any family or friends visiting.

 

[lexi0903]

@weixiao This doesn't happen with every baby. My boy was like sleeping beauty for the first two weeks, then I started getting an idea of what I was working with after that. Not every baby is the same. First time mom here who had no idea what to expect. All I can say is follow your gut and intuition. You are hardwired to be an amazing mom to your baby...
I'm sending positive vibes your way. You got this! It will come naturally and you'll know what to do! Good luck!

 

[ironrose13]

@dac My second night at the hospital was great, however first night after coming home was terrible! I didn’t know what’s going on and my baby was a totally different baby.

 

[csotoloco]

@dac This is exactly my experience! First night my husband and I were bragging about our baby, second night we were both in tears from cluster feeding. Nobody warned us about the second night

 

[charlieblues]

@dac This. The second night is a bit crazy. If you plan to breastfeed, you might think you should give some formula on the second night. We were still in the hospital for our second night and the nurses told us this is how your milk comes in. Just continue putting baby to the breast. The night will pass, your milk should come in, and baby should be less fussy. See a lactation consultant if you can. Even if you think things are going okay. They will have helpful advice and tell you about different positions to feed in.

Good luck to you!

 

[marlow7]

@charlieblues My milk took days to come in and I had to start pumping in the hospital to move things along. We use formula to top up on night 2.

 

[charlieblues]

@marlow7 For sure! Not saying not to top up, just that the thought will definitely cross your mind (at least in our case) and to keep putting baby to the breast regardless.

 

[marlow7]

@charlieblues 100% and if you give formula, replace with a pump session

 

[corderadegracia]

@dac The second night, in my opinion, it should be standard practice for hospitals to supplement with formula. Baby can still get plenty of latching in to stimulate milk production, the colostrum (which many countries even debate is necessary), etc., while also giving the parents a chance to breathe and fucking sleep a little. I’m convinced the second night is hell because they’re STARVING because most haven’t had milk come in properly yet. It’s barbaric to me on top of the constant interruption from the nursing staff that’s unable to sync vitals and meds at all (I know this is mostly not their fault and due to understaffing).

 

[rosepetel]

@corderadegracia Omg I didn’t realize this wasn’t standard. My baby was born with jaundice and underweight, so they had me nurse him on each side for as long as I wanted and then brought me a bottle of warm formula to top him up. I thought that was normal but I guess it was just because he was so little

 

[corderadegracia]

@rosepetel Wild, isn’t it? And I find it hilarious these hospitals say they’re following “baby friendly” protocols.

 

[byzantine]

@corderadegracia Lol where I live they discharge after 24 hours unless you have a c-section or there’s an unforeseen problem. Baby had jussst started his cluster feed and the nurse was like “oh yah they do that! Buh-bye”!! There was no offer that first day of letting the baby chill in a nursery either, we were just told to feed him every 2-3 hours! And that we shouldn’t supplement with formula unless his weight dropped.

Although I understand some might want to be home right away, I do wish we had more support in hospital for an extra day or two. It was so intense coming home 30 hrs after labour (the nurse was magnanimous enough to not kick us out at 1am…) to a screaming inconsolable infant who only wanted to shred my nips.

 

[corderadegracia]

@byzantine Oh absolutely. That’s nuts. Where do you live?

 

[marlow7]

@dac Man my baby was really tough the first night. Born at 8am. Second night wasn’t so bad but we had to start topping up with formula after feeds.