Your Baby
Ok, enough about you. Here’s what to expect after baby is born.
When baby arrives, they will weigh him and clean him off, but they can also wait to do this at your request. Many hospitals now will present baby as-is, then get to business as time allows.
They will apply all sorts of ID bands and even a LoJack thingy on his umbilical cord. Baby will likely receive a shot of Vitamin K (to help with clotting) and his first Hep B shot. He will also get a heel prick, which they will use to detect diseases such as PKU. You will also likely be offered some shots as well while you’re in the hospital: DTap [Diphtheria, Tetanus (lockjaw), and Pertussis (whooping cough)] and whatever else is in style at the moment.
Your pediatrician will keep very close tabs on your baby the first week. They will attend to your baby in the hospital right after birth and every day that you’re in the hospital. They want to be extra sure that she is successfully eating and re-gaining the weight lost at birth. If your baby loses more than 10% of his birth weight, they will pay extra close attention to this situation.
After leaving the hospital, you can expect to go to the pediatrician once or twice the first week, even if just for a weight check. This is why it is so convenient to have a pedi who is CLOSE to you. The last thing you will feel like doing is schlepping your 1-week-old baby across town when you are postpartum.
Once your baby has established good weight gain, you won’t see them again until your 2-month well baby visit. From there, you will see them at 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months, yada, yada, yada.