Newborn - a general description

Head. Asymmetric, melon-like head shape is due to the displacement of the child's skull bones, which move to facilitate passage through the birth canal.(This process is called deformation.) If you hold hands over the crown of your child's head, you can grope the tubercles formed by the

on each other during a strong compression at birth of the bones of the skull. The deformation is more noticeable in children with a larger head and after prolonged delivery - evidence that tried not only the mother, but also the child. Less pronounced deformity in children in the breech presentation, and, depending on whether the mother tried to push, may be completely absent in children born with caesarean section. The deformed head again takes a round shape in a few days.

Head skin

Once you feel more confident when you touch your child's head, feel for the

a relatively soft area( called fontanel) in the center of your child's head. Sometimes under this soft patch you can grope and see the pulse. You can find another soft area, smaller in size, in the center of the head closer to the nape of the neck. There is nothing to worry about if you touch these soft areas and wash them. In fact, under them there is a rigid membrane. Enjoy this feeling as long as you can: these soft areas gradually decrease as the bones of the child's skull grow together. The scalp of the child's head can be both bald and densely overgrown with hair, tangled and disheveled. Rather fix this first hairstyle in the picture. Once the nurses, the

pen First statistics

Approximately 95 percent of full-term children are born with the following characteristics:

• Weight from 2.5 kg to 4.1 kg, average 3.4 kg.

• Body length 46-55 cm, average 51 cm

• Head circumference 32.5-37.5 cm, average 35 cm

The respiratory rate and the number of heart beats per minute in a newborn are twice as high asof an adult.

stylists of your child, they will attach their caring hands, you will get a child with sleek hair. Feeling the child's head, you can notice a "goose egg" - a soft swelling in one area, caused by the accumulation of fluid during labor. The cause is a rupture during passage through the birth canal of small blood vessels under the scalp. It may take several months before this clot disappears, and it can become very hard to the touch as the blood inside it solidifies. The general outline of the baby's head changes rapidly, and the hair grows. Catch these volatile moments.

Eyes. Your first eye to eye can be very short. Note the swollen eyelids and eyes-fissures, because the child squints to protect his sensitive eyes from bright light. Appreciate if you manage to discern eye color, usually dark blue or gray, right after birth, because your newborn is likely to constantly look, squint, and, due to squeezing during childbirth, his eyes may temporarily be reddened. Eyelids can be hanging in the first few days or weeks, or even a child can open one eye at a time. Tears rarely appear in the first few weeks, but sometimes an easily removable adhesive film appears in the eyes of the newborn

.Although your child's eyes may be closed most of the time, there will be periods of calm vigilance with wide-open eyes, joyfully acquainted with another pair of eyes - yours.

Face. The features of your child's face may indicate severe compression that has taken place: swollen blue eyelids, chubby cheeks with bluish bruises and faintly visible stripes of burst blood vessels, flattened nose, depressed chin and some asymmetry. During the first day, the child removes this ancestral mask and acquires a less swollen appearance, the bones of the facial skull return to its natural position, and the facial features seem more normal. Fix this first person on film, if you can. You will never see him again.

Leather. For the first time stroking your child, you will notice that your newborn's skin is covered with white, curdled, slippery substance. It is an original, or damp, lubricant that protects your baby's skin while he was inside of you in the amniotic fluid, and which served as a lubricant( i.e., providing good glide) during childbirth. With a hand on the child's back, earlobes, cheeks and shoulders, you will feel gentle fluffy hairs, called lanugo. Enjoy the velvety feeling that these soft, like silk, hairs of a newborn give - they too will disappear. In appearance and touch, the skin is different in different newborns, it also has a different body. Some large, born-in-time children have smooth, well-fitting skin, relatively thicker, with a bright pink, ruddy color. In other children, especially those who are moved and too small for the term of labor( with a delay in intrauterine development), the skin is wrinkled, saggy. In some newborns, the skin is thinner, and through it the blood vessels are visible, most noticeable on the bridge of the nose, eyelids and occiput.

As if the blood in the still immature circulatory system of your newborn baby is still hesitant about the direction in which to flow, the skin of the newborn has areas of different colors. In some places the skin may be pinkish-red, in others it is pale pink. Since the hands and feet are the ultimate point of mature blood circulation, be prepared for the fact that in the first few hours or days they will be cool and bluish. When the baby cries, the blood flows to the skin and the spots from the bursted capillaries, especially in the middle of the forehead, become brighter. In the first one or two weeks, the baby's skin can be dry, covered with scales, cracked, especially on the hands and feet. Lubricate it with any cosmetic means is not required.

Body. Most of the children after birth seem very fat due to the presence of extensive areas with fatty deposits, the so-called fat folds, from the back of the neck, on the cheeks, on the sides of the nose and under the handles. Because of the fat folds on the shoulders, it is very difficult to see the child's short neck. Since during the birth, the mother's hormones partially fell into the child's body, your baby's mammary glands can be swollen, and several drops of milk can even flow out of them. If

puts your hand on the child's heart, then you will hear a heartbeat so frequent that it is almost impossible to count the number of strokes. The cult of the umbilical cord with the plastic clamp is like a vase in the middle of the globular tummy. A large round belly together with its legs raised up almost completely covers the newborn's groin. The legs are all in constrictions, the feet are turned inwards;the child pulls his legs under him when he is put on his tummy.

Hands. Handles are tightly clenched and tightened to the face;some children begin to explore their face with pens already in the first hours after birth. A baby can even scratch its delicate skin with thin fingernails, like paper, which can be quite long. The skin of the hands usually has a blue color, it is wrinkled, it does not fit tightly, the wrists have deep constrictions. The child's clenched fists usually unclench during periods of calm vigilance and deep sleep.

Feet of the feet. Like the hands, the feet are bluish and wrinkled. Usually they are turned inward, and the fingers often find one on the other. Skin folds most often, overhanging, partially cover the child's relatively small heels. Tiny toenails on toes seem ingrown, but it's not.

Feet and arms. Feet raised up, like a frog, and arched, as in the position that it occupied in the uterus. Playing with the legs and arms of the child, you will notice that they, like a spring, always return to their original position, i.e.cling to the torso, especially when the child does not sleep or if it is concerned;but they relax and straighten out during a deep sleep.

Genitalia. Vulva( external genitalia) in girls, as well as the scrotum and testicles in boys immediately after birth, are very swollen due to excess fluid accumulated during labor and a jump in hormones immediately before birth. The swelling of the vulva usually disappears during the first week, but the excess liquid in the scrotum can stay for weeks or months. The foreskin is normally very tight.