Читать книгу First-Time Parent: The honest guide to coping brilliantly and staying sane in your baby’s first year - Lucy Atkins - Страница 35

Being born is no picnic, so don’t expect to see a perfectly formed little beauty at first. Newborns often have a puffy, boxer-type face, and many have temporarily ‘cone-shaped’ heads from the journey out. If the birth involved a ventouse (a suction device), the top of your baby’s head may bulge noticeably and have a circular red mark on it. Similarly a forceps-delivered baby may have temporary marks where the tongs were. Caesarean-born babies, particularly if the Caesarean was planned, tend to be more ‘perfect’ looking.

A ‘term’ baby (one not born prematurely) can be anything from 5 lb to a whopping 10 lb or more. Twins on average weigh 5 lb 8 oz, but it’s normal for one twin to be much bigger than the other.

A greyish-blue colour at birth is normal (even with black or Asian babies, which has thrown many an unsuspecting dad), but within a few breaths they generally turn a more ‘healthy’ colour. Their skin can stay red, blotchy, peely, flaky or significantly lighter or darker than you’d expect for a while though. Some babies are also born covered in vernix (white, creamy stuff that protects their skin in the womb: you don’t need to wipe this off–it’s good for the baby’s skin).

Birthmarks are common, harmless and usually temporary. A ‘stork mark’ at the nape of the neck or eyelids caused by dilated blood vessels is the most common; it generally disappears within the first year. ‘Strawberry’ birthmarks–raised and red with a dotted effect–appear in about ten per cent of babies within four weeks and usually fade within two years. ‘Port-wine stain’ birthmarks are flat, red marks found in about 2 in 1,000 babies and don’t usually fade away. Ask your midwife if you have any birthmark concerns.

If the whites of your baby’s eyes and the skin below her nipple line are turning yellowish, it may be jaundice. Jaundice can be caused by prematurity, bruising at birth, infection or exposure to drugs the mother may have had in labour. Most newborns will become a little bit jaundiced between day two and day seven, and you should mention this to the midwife or GP if you notice it. Frequent feeding is usually recommended. Jaundice in the first forty-eight hours, however, can be quite serious, so call the midwife or GP straight away if you notice anything amiss.

If the midwife thinks your baby is jaundiced, she may take some blood from your baby’s heel. This helps her to work out how jaundiced she is, and your baby may then need to be put under blue lights (‘phototherapy’) to clear it up. You may have to stay in hospital for a few days if this happens.

Another new-parent surprise is that newborn boys and girls often have swollen genitals and breasts. A tiny amount of milky discharge may come out of the nipples, and girl babies may even have a bit of bloody discharge from their vaginas. This is all caused by the mother’s hormones circulating through the baby at birth; it is totally healthy and stops after a day or so.