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The Fourth Trimester

bring birth back

The postpartum period is a time of transition, and is often referred to as “the fourth trimester.” The idea here is that your baby’s first few months are just an extension of it’s time in the womb. The first 3 months of your baby’s life is a time for your baby to transition to the outside world, and a time for parents to learn how to be a parent (or a parent of this many kids!).

Ideally the first few months of your baby’s life on the outside is spent lying in bed with you, as you all learn to feed, rest, and snuggle. In this ideal version, loved ones bring you food and arrive to hold the baby when you want to shower. If this isn’t the reality for you and your family, there are steps you can take to ease the postpartum period:

Prepare

There are many wonderful classes all over Atlanta in areas such as breastfeeding, newborn care, and parenting. The more you know going in the better! Dr. Harvey Karp has great tips for calming a baby, you can find out more on his website, including his video, The Happiest Baby on the Block.

Ask for Help

This is important, and can’t be emphasized enough. People want to help, you just have to ask. Not sure what to ask for? This blog post has great ideas about what a family needs-you can even send it to your loved ones!

Hire Help (many care providers offer gift certificates that you can register for!)

Postpartum Doulas are amazing women who come to your home and do whatever needs to be done to ease your transition to parenthood (or parenthood of multiple children). This might include making dinner while wearing the baby so that you can shower.

Lactation Consultants can identify breastfeeding issues and help you solve them. Some even come to your home!

Night Nurses come to your home to care for your baby overnight! If you are also looking for home improvements, visit www.muraledesign.com for more information.

Wear your Baby

Baby is happiest when you are holding her, and wearing your baby is a way to do this and other things at the same time. There are classes and groups dedicated to baby wearing who can help you find your way if you are interested. A good place to start is with Babywearing International of Atlanta.

Trust Yourself

Parenting is about an on-the-job training. Trust your intuition, and trust that you will figure it out. It gets easier, and by many estimates it takes about twelve weeks of transition to fin your family’s new “normal.”

Find out more about the fourth trimester here

 

www.seebaby.org

#BringBirthBack! with #SeeBaby and #SeeBabyMidwifery

 

 

 

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