For first-time mothers, it can be startling to bring home your newborn baby girl, unbundle her, and find that on day 3 or 4 of her life she has apparently — and quite suddenly — developed what look like actual breasts. "Startling" may be an understatement.

Believe it or not, this is actually quite common, and there's no reason to get back into your car and return to the nursery. The tiny proto-breasts on your baby simply mean that she's received a large amount of female hormones from you.

During her first week of life, these hormones can create temporary (the operative word here is temporary) changes to her body, including swelling of her breast tissue and projection of the nipples.

In rare cases, you may even notice a bit of fluid or a sticky substance emerging from the nipples. Or she may even have what appears to be a menstrual period in the form of a tiny amount of blood in her vaginal area — this is unusual, but it does happen.

If nothing else, these temporary changes certainly confirm for you that all her parts are in perfect working order.

In a matter of days, these unexpected phenomena will disappear all by themselves, so please don't try to treat the symptoms in any way. Simply embrace your wonderful new baby girl. By the way, baby boys can likewise have larger-than-expected testicles when they are born. This, too, will subside in about 2 week's time and is also due to hormones being high at the time of birth.