Dear Pregnancy Blogger,
What is an acceptable time frame for receiving visitors after you have your baby? I don’t think I’ll be ready right away, but I don’t want to offend anyone.
Sincerely,
Almost Due
Confession: I completely made that question up for the sake of this blog, but I am convinced it is something that crosses every pregnant woman’s mind. Women who are not on their first pregnancy will probably already know the answer, because they remember how they felt with their first baby and they know how things go when it comes to visitors. The answer is…
The acceptable time frame is the one which is acceptable to you!
After nine months of pregnancy and who knows how many hours of labor, you are entitled to call the shots when it comes to visitors. Remember, you are in the hospital for at least 2 days. If you want to be alone to rest and bond with your new baby the first night, there is no reason you shouldn’t. If you want people to wait until you are home from the hospital, that is okay, too. Recovering from childbirth is hard and sometimes all you want to do is sleep. Sleeping is hard to do when everyone is popping in and out your door all afternoon. Most rational people will understand if you want to limit visitors to immediate family at first. Asking everyone else to wait a day or two to visit does not reflect how important they are to you.
Sleep isn’t the only reason to postpone visits. You may need a lot of privacy during the first few days to get a good start on breastfeeding. You may not be very alert if you were put under anesthesia. Whatever the reason, put your husband in charge of speaking with friends and coordinating visits. That way, you will not have to be the one to tell people to wait. We all know how hard it is to wait to see those cute little newborns!