help after childbirth

hi all,
i am 28 weeks pregnant..i am from overseas, only me and my husband stay here in brisbane. my husband is too busy, he works for atlest 16 hrs a day, and we dont have any friend or reletive here.. this is our first child and we have no clue about the situations that we might face after the childbirth.we are really scared!!
I read different topics here and what i found that after the delivery i might feel physically down.i am sure that only thing my husband can help me with is cooking, because he is scared about handling a newborn and i am sure he will make a mess with a new born!! now what kind of help we can look forward in this situation?like nanny or baby sitting or any other helping organization who can help us regarding this with nominal cost?please suggest us something because those days are becoming my nightmare already!!i dont have problem with handling babies, becasuee i did that in case of my sister, but only thing i am scared about is my physical condition.how long it may take me to come back to a good physical condition if everything goes normal?and who can help us in this matter?? please please suggest us something.......
thanks in advance....

You need not worry. There's so much support and information around. Once your child is born, you'll naturally learn things. There are parenting classes and prenatal classes you can attend. Your hosptial should provide you with that information. After the birth of the child, you'll have a health nurse to see often who will answer all your questions and there's a 24 hours maternal nurse phone number you can call if your worried and need help. Dont stress out too much. Being a mother is a wonderful learning experience and you'll want to have more after this one. Trust me. I've just had my first baby.

I had a normal delivery, no complications, only a 2nd second degree tear. But it still took a good couple of weeks, for the swelling and pain to go away, and for me to be moving about freely.

Have a bit of faith in your partner - my DH was also worried about handling babies etc - but as soon as DD was born he was very hands-on, even gave her very first bottle. He was a bit awkward at first, but learnt very quickly, and was a huge help to me in those first couple of weeks.

As previous poster said - the community nurses and midwives will generally visit you at home for the first week or so. And there is plenty of support out there if you need it - just ask at your hospital for some brochures and phone numbers.

thanks to u people for ur information and support..actually i am panicked about the happening as i have no idea!!hope everything goes fine !!
cheers!!

Have you thought about hiring a doula? either for birth, postnatally or both? Fantastic help! i wish i knew about doulas when i had my bubs! now i am one grin lol

Hi Piki

Try not to worry too much. It's not good to stress too much when pregnant. I had an emergency c-section and although I was sore still found myself able to manage with the baby, cooking and cleaning. By about 6 weeks after the birth I was feeling back to normal physically (ie. no discomfort) but you are obviously still tired etc from lack of sleep.

All I can suggest is that the first six weeks are the most difficult as you establish feeding and sleeping patterns and focus mostly on your baby. After these initial six weeks things improve a lot and you'll find you're better able to cope with juggling bub and other duties. Make your husband aware that this will be a difficult period so you will need his support as much as possible. Cooking dinner would be a great help. But like the other posters said, the minute your husband lays eyes on that baby he won't be able to keep his hands off. I was shocked by how smitten my husband was with our baby girl. Instant love!

For mothering support the hospital midwives and your Child Health Nurse, who will be assigned when you leave hospital, are great sources of information and support. I also advise you join a Mother's Group in your area. Your Child Health Nurse should be able to help you with this. It's a great source of support and a great way to make new friends as you are new to the country.

As for the domestic stuff - if you can afford it, get a cleaner! But most of us can't on a reduced income so just learn to live a little chaotic for a while until things settle down. Put a load of washing in every day so it doesn't build up - just things like that.

Good luck on the impending birth! Motherhood, although challenging, is the most wonderful gift. Enjoy every minute!

dear kellie
thanks for the sweet msg!! thanks to others also for ur gr88 support!! u people r helping me a lot to gain confidence!!
thanks again..

thanks for uinforming about doula!! but the thing is the trained doulas more expensive!! can u suggest me about trainee doulas??how can i get a trainee doula in my locality?