What to expect during the famous 3rd day in the maternity ward?

Day 3, 7am

A midwife gently knocks on your bedroom door. Her whispers gradually wake you from sleep. A night light stuffed in your suitcase to dim the light would have been helpful. First slap of the day: the violent white neon lights on the ceiling. Waking up is difficult, especially for a blood test. You had finally closed your eyes for 20 minutes. You found out last night Java night.

A night of java that has nothing to do with dancing

From birth you prefer to contemplate your baby rather than enjoy hours of sleep. She slept peacefully for two days to recover from his arrival. Now he’s letting you know that he’s awake. This stage of development of our little wonders is sometimes called second night syndrome. It corresponds to a period of great agitation of the newborn with crying – a lot of crying – in the wonderful hours from 7pm to 6am (roughly).

Just when you were thinking of stopping watching it and sleeping. She then asks for milk every hour, or almost continuously. Obviously his transit follows the rhythm and empties your diaper supply. This night consists of feeding him, changing him, rocking him and making him suck his little finger (parents know this). Java ok, but we’re a long way from swaying our hips on a glittery dance floor. That night, the presence of the co-parent or a companion is essential to take turns and be in numerical superiority.

A voluminous trunk on fire

As if the tiredness wasn’t enough, you feel that something is wrong. Your breasts are swollen, warm, firm and rock hard. Difficult to raise your arms or find a comfortable position. HI milk comes in.

Ok, this doesn’t concern you all. In some maternity wards, if you do not want to breastfeed, you are given (sometimes and under certain conditions) medications to prevent this. But for the most part, this is what will happen whether you breastfeed or not.

If you went up two bra sizes in one night, that’s because colostrum — the dense concentrate, very rich and in small quantities — that you have produced until now has given way to milk, also following the stimulation induced by the java night.

A weight curve at its minimum

It’s 11 in the morning. After the midwife it’s the childcare worker’s turn to enter your room. It comes, among other things, for the daily weighing of the baby. Verdict: he lost another twenty grams. How is it possible ? He spent the night in the bottleneck! Filled with guilt, you don’t understand why this child doesn’t gain weight. We reassure you: you had nothing to do with it.

The baby was immersed in amniotic fluid for several months. Like a little sponge, it’s full of them. At birth it arrives in the air environment and will therefore eliminate it little by little. He will also pass his first called bowel movements meconium.

However, at first, its stomach is the size of a hazelnut: it is impossible to fill it sufficiently to compensate for the loss of water. The weight curve then drops until the 3rd or 4th day, then rises again, until it quickly reaches the size of an apricot at the end of the first week.

A surprise visit from the family

From 3pm the procession of health workers goes out. You take the opportunity to close your eyes for a moment. Hopefully tomorrow the weight curve will reverse and you can consider returning home to your cocoon. There’s a knock on the door and the in-laws come to visit you. She is in pajamas, with dark circles under her eyes and a fishnet panty that welcomes them.

Everyone showers you with presents before leaning over the crib. The baby passes from one arm to the other. Uncle speaks loudly and Mamie didn’t have it easy with Chanel No. 5. For you, this end of the day is exhausting. So, imagine for him. Calm in his hot tub at 37°C for 9 months, he comes and faces the light, the noise, the cold, the gravity and now the scent?

And a start of baby blues to top it all off

9pm, you couldn’t wait for this day to end. The midwife comes to wish you goodnight. The baby whines a little, but you know: tomorrow will be better than today. However, this is when you choose to fall apart. The box of Kleenex doesn’t last five minutes, it stays with you and your partner comes to the rescue to comfort you.

This third day is busy, and very often marks the beginning of baby blues, which affects approximately 80% of new mothers. This Humor sadness is physiological, and generally lasts a few days. Due to the hormonal decline combined with tiredness, you cry over things that would normally never make you cry: the cuteness of your little sweetheart in her giraffe pajamas, your pen that has run out of ink, the disappearance of your sock… And above all, you feel terribly useless.

You’re not the only one who thinks about it “ enough, give me back my old life ». Yes, nothing will be the same again. But that doesn’t mean it will be any less beautiful. Nine months you prepare to give birth, but birth is not the finish line. Rather, it is the beginning of a new life, as a parent, full of magic, and which also has its share of disappointments.

A few words to survive this day

To prepare you, here is a little reminder to use as a mantra:

• Java night is never the result of a defect in my milk, neither in quantity nor in quality
• Skin-to-skin contact and carrying calm the baby and remind him of his sensations in the womb
• I will find it too heavy to carry soon

• I limit visits if I feel the need or do skin-to-skin contact to reassure him
• I protect him from stimuli: strong smell, intense light, intense noise…

• His crying is not always a sign of discomfort, it is his only way of expressing himself
• For milk flow: hot water compresses on the breasts and showers as desired, the jet of water on the shoulder which drips so as not to stimulate

• For the baby blues: eat what I want, laugh, get cuddles and let me surround you
• I’m not alone, many before me have felt this way
• Everything will be OK

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