Settling In With Your New Baby
In the Hospital:
What to Expect and Why
- Your newborn will receive topical antibiotics in the eyes to avoid infections
- Your baby will get Vit K to avoid a potentially severe bleeding issue in the brain or gut
- Their weight, excretions and bilirubin level will be monitored closely for dehydration and jaundice
- If you have a boy he may be offered a circumcision
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics“Circumcision is for the most part a cosmetic surgery and is a personal decision with little medical indication, except in rare circumstances.”
Discharge from the Hospital and Settling in at Home
The first few hours and days at home can be very stressful. Your baby may not sleep as well as you expect and you may not be sleeping either.
“You’ll have lots of questions and everyone will give you advice, often times conflicting, about everything.”
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics
You may be concerned about the umbilicus; leave it alone, we can discuss it at the well visits. You may be concerned about the poop; don’t be concerned, unless there isn’t any during the first days when jaundice is an issue (after that infrequent pooping is usually less of a concern than parents realize) or it’s bloody. If it’s bloody please call.
You may be concerned about the pee; amount of urine produced is a good indicator of hydration, so this is actually important, especially during the first few days. As a rule of thumb they should have as many wet diapers as their age in days for that first critical week.
“We will follow your baby’s weight very carefully. Typically they will lose weight over the first week, but will usually be back to birth weight by 2 weeks old.”
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics
During the First Year, Well Visits
We will want to see you and your baby at the newborn visit, then at 1 month, 2 month, 4 month, 6 month, 9 month, and a year. During those first few visits we will also be a resource to help new mothers and fathers handle the stress of parenthood and possible postpartem depression.
“We will follow your child’s growth parameters and development comparing against standardized measurements, but we will always treat your child as an individual with specialized concerns.”
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics
You may need visits in-between to monitor growth and development even more closely if there are concerns. These are the visits you can ask all your questions and get detailed answers and plans.
Vaccinations
“Vaccinations are perhaps the most consequential advance of modern medicine.”
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics
Vaccines are, in a word, brilliant. Instead of waiting for people to become sick, then giving them medications which can have significant side effects and may or may not work depending on how sick they are before starting the treatment, we have learned to harness the body’s natural system of protection by preparing the immune system for the worst illnesses ahead of time in a safe and highly reproducible manner. This proactive natural immunity harnessed not just to treat, but to prevent and even eliminate disease.
“Vaccines, along with antibiotics and modern surgery, have saved literally millions of lives over the past half century alone. They are a modern day miracle!”
– Dr. Natalya Davis, Norwell Pediatrics
We at Norwell Pediatrics fully endorse the CDC’s immunization schedule. While we will consider slight modifications to vaccine schedules on an individual basis, we are strong advocates for vaccines in general and the CDC’s recommended timeline specifically.
