Although you generally picture a healthy, bouncing baby, many babies are actually small, damp creatures when they first arrive. The birth canal causes their heads to frequently have a small point. This is only transitory; within a few days, the skull will begin to seem rounded. You might be surprised to learn how large a newborn’s head is in relation to the rest of their body. Due to the legs and arms being bent at the knees and elbows while in the womb, your baby may also appear scrunched up. This is quite natural after months of expanding in progressively smaller spaces. As your baby grows, the limbs will become more straight. Look at the little fingers and toes on your infant. At first, your baby’s skin can appear a little bit red, pink, or purple. Vernix caseosa, a white coating that some newborns have, shields their skin from amniotic fluid exposure by the time they leave the womb. The infant’s first bath removes the vernix. Some newborns have severe wrinkles. And others, particularly premature infants, have lanugo, a fine hair that grows while in the womb, giving them a velvety, furry appearance. Usually, lanugo disappears after a week or two. On neonates, rashes, blotches, or tiny white patches are also typical. These typically disappear within the first few days or weeks following delivery.
