Post Partum Reminders

1. You may pass a few blood clots, which is normal. 
   Report any abnormal bleeding - soaking more than one sanitary 
   napkin in a one hour period - to your midwife

2. Empty your bladder often.

3. Nourish your body with food and take in fluids every 2-4 hours. Try
   to drink something every time you nurse the baby.

4. Take your temperature every morning and evening at about the same 
   time, and report any temperature 100.4° or above to your midwife.

5. Baby may be a little mucousy or sound like he/she has a stuffy nose
   while nursing. This is normal. You can suction with the bulb syringe
   if the baby seems to be having trouble.

6. The baby's first stool is meconium, which is a black, sticky, tarry
   stool. You may want to put Vitamin E oil on the baby's bottom to make
   it easier to clean this stool. The meconuim will transition into a 
   thinner, greenish brown stool. The normal breastfed stool is yellow
   and very runny. It may be only a watery stain on the diaper.It is 
   normal for a baby to stool as often as eight times in one day or as 
   seldom as one time in fourteen days.

7. Baby may have a long sleep period , but should have definite sleep 
   and active, awake periods. A baby who never wakes up really well
   is not normal.

8. Contact your midwife with a progress report within 12-24 hours 
   following the birth.

9. Keep baby closely supervised for the first 24-48 hours. Baby should 
   continue to breathe well, have less than 70 respirations per minute 
   a few hours after birth, breathe fairly regularly and not require an 
   undue amount of effort. You may notice that the baby sometimes holds 
   his or her breath for a few seconds (up to 10 seconds) and then resumes 
   breathing spontaneously. This is a normal pattern for a newborn. You 
   should count respirations for 15 seconds and multiply by four, and 
   repeat two to three times to get an accurate respiration rate.

10. Apply alcohol, or calendula with alcohol to the umbilical cord stump
    with a cotton ball every time the diaper is changed. Try to keep the 
    diaper folded back away from the stump. (This can be difficult with a
    little baby and a big diaper.) NOTE: Do not put anything on the cord
    stump after the herbal bath, as you don't want to wipe away the herbs.

11. Take the baby to a well-baby check up within the first 2-3 days. Baby 
    will also need to have a PKU test 48 hours after the milk has "come in"
    or within three weeks after the birth.

12. Keep taking your vitamins as long as you are breastfeeding.

13. Rest, eat well, and enjoy your baby. Nurse your baby frequently (as 
    often as he or she looks willing to suck) so that engorgement will be 
    less of a problem and your baby will gain weight.