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Your baby is the greatest gift you will ever receive. From the moment you first hold this miracle of life in your arms. your world will be broader and richer. You will experience a flood of feelings, some of wonder and joy and others of confusion and of being overwhelmed and wondering whether you can ever measure up to the needs of your new baby. These are feelings you could barely imagine before - feelings that no one can truly experience without having a child.
Even describing them is difficult because the bond between parent and baby is so intensely personal. Why do tears come to your eyes the first time your baby smiles or reaches for you? Why are you so proud of her first words? Why does your heart suddenly start to pound the first time you watch her stumble and fall?
The answer lies in the unique two-way giving relationship between you and your baby.
Pregnancy is a time of anticipation, excitement, preparation, and, for many new parents, uncertainty. You dream of a baby who will be strong, healthy, and bright - and you make plans to provide her with everything she needs grow and thrive. You probably also have fears and questions, especially if this is your first child, or if there have been problems with this or a previous pregnancy. What if something goes wrong during the pregnancy.
What if something goes wrong during the course of your pregnancy, or what if labor and delivery are difficult? what if being a parent isn't everything you've always dreamed it would be? Fortunately, most of these worries are needless. The nine months of pregnancy will give you time to have your questions answered, calm your fears, and prepare yourself for the realities of parenthood.
PREPARING FOR A NEW BABY
Pregnancy is a time of anticipation, excitement, preparation, and, for many new parents, uncertainty. You dream of a baby who will be strong, healthy, and bright - and you make plans to provide her with everything she needs grow and thrive. You probably also have fears and questions, especially if this is your first child, or if there have been problems with this or a previous pregnancy. What if something goes wrong during the pregnancy.
What if something goes wrong during the course of your pregnancy, or what if labor and delivery are difficult? what if being a parent isn't everything you've always dreamed it would be? Fortunately, most of these worries are needless. The nine months of pregnancy will give you time to have your questions answered, calm your fears, and prepare yourself for the realities of parenthood.
BIRTH AND THE FIRST MOMENTS AFTER
Giving birth is one of the most extraordinary experiences of a woman's life. Yet after all the months of careful preparation and anticipation, the moment of birth is almost never what you had expected. Labor may be easier or more physically demanding than you had imagined.
You may end up in delivery room instead of the birthing room you'd wanted, or you could have a Cesarean section instead of a vaginal delivery. You health, the condition of the fetus, and the policies of the hospital will all help determine what actually happens. But fortunately, despite what you may have thought when you were pregnant, these are not issues that will make your child's birth a "success" What counts is the baby, here at last and healthy.
BASIC INFANT CARE
When your baby first arrives, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by the job of caring for her. Even such routine tasks as diapering and dressing her can fill you with anxiety - especially if you've never spent much time around babies before. But it doesn't take long t develop the confidence and calm of an experience parent, and you'll have help. While you are in the hospital, the nursery staff and your pediatrician will give you instructions and support your needs.
Later, family and friends can be helpful; don't be bashful about asking for their assistance. But your baby will give you the most important information - how she like to be treated, talked to, held, and comforted. She'll bring out parental instinct that will guide you quite automatically to many of the right responses, almost as soon as she's born.
