The Fourth Trimester...

Picture this:

Setting: Your place
Time Period: Present Day
Tone: Exhaustion mixed with Elation


You arrive home from the hospital on a high you've never experienced before after some of the most painful and miraculous days of your life. A new tiny person rules the roost, demanding all of your attention day and night. Your body is completely unrecognizable -- flabby in places it once was firm, painful and tender in places that once felt amazing and sensitive. You are tired all the time, and sometimes inexplicably emotional. But things should be back to normal soon right?? - After all, you're not pregnant anymore.


Setting #2: "The Womb"
Time Period: Ummm... What is "time" exactly??
Tone: Confusion and hunger... mixed with a little bit of gas.


There you are, barely 37 weeks old and all warm & snuggly in the womb. Suddenly you are wrenched from the only home you've ever known and thrown into the cold and unfamiliar outside world. You are handled by giants and shoved into clothes, a carseat and a crib. All of this... and it's still 3 more months until you have any clue what's going on.

THIS... is "The Fourth Trimester".

It's the transitional three months after a baby is born where "Women" become "Mothers", and "Fetuses" become "Babies". It's an extremely dramatic and emotional time for all.

And I'm not being cheeky! Actually, the term "The Fourth Trimester" is commonly used among medical folk. (Google it ;p) Scientists say that when primitive women evolved to stand up on two legs, the shape of the female pelvis became narrower and resulted in human babies being born 3-4 months earlier than they were supposed to have been... this is so that their heads didn't grow too large to pass safely through the birth canal! (Crazy right?!)

For this reason, some experts say human babies need the first three months of life to give their brain and central nervous system the time needed to mature. In the course of those three months, an 'infant' develops into a 'baby' who is able to respond to the outside world. Breathing starts to regulate. They are able to lift their heads, smile, coo, develop social interactions, and begin to soothe themselves.

This is why babies are so dependent on their parents-- for basic SURVIVAL. Compared to other mammals (like cows and horses) that are born with survival instincts that allow them to get up and walk or run as soon as they are born, human infants are RIDICULOUSLY more fragile and vulnerable at birth.

** STAT ** The human newborn's brain is only about 25% of its adult weight at birth, while most other mammals are born having 60-90% of their adult brain size!

Neat huh? ;p

OK. On to mom.

As a woman, you've probably been warned about some of the major physical 'changes' of the early weeks after birth... (not to mention the emotional ones!):

Exhaustion. Emotions on a rampage. Huge, sore boobs. Bleeding for up to 6 weeks... back aches... weak stomach muscles... blah blah blah. (Well considering I had a C-Section I was completely out of commission when it came to lifting, cleaning, carrying etc... you know the basics, like sitting up on my own. Funny thing - Brad actually had to act like a hospital bed & LIFT me to a sitting position in order for me to get out of bed to feed my baby). But apparently women who have a vaginal delivery experience their own awfulness like: pain or numbness in the perineum... and some women also experience dry skin and even hair loss!! (Yeah guys... it's a pretty sexy experience this whole "being a mom thing".)

And THEN they talk about BABY BLUES or postnatal depression.... (which I gotta be honest, I don't personally understand. How can something SOO amazing make anyone feel blue??) But it happens. All the time. And it's normal. And maybe it's because I didn't really enjoy that whole 'being pregnant' thing, which meant I got to avoid depression because I was SOO relieved when my little one arrived? I dunno. But I have felt nothing but elation since my daughter was born.

In Conclusion:

Sooo... as you can see... the first 3 months of a baby's life is a HUGE transition for both mom AND baby. And that's why I felt it was important to write about :)