Postpartum Must-Haves

I read a ton of postpartum must-have blog posts the last couple months of my pregnancy and compiled a small list of the items I saw come up the most frequently. It’s now 5 weeks after Si was born and I feel recovered and wanted to share what items ended up being my “must-haves”.

DRUGS

Ibuprofen and Tylenol

Between tearing pretty bad, and just the soreness and tension that having a baby brings, I had some pain I wanted to numb. Thankfully it wasn’t that bad and taking ibuprofen and tylenol around the clock kept me feeling fine. That first week I set alarms on my phone to take them every 6 hours, I spaced the two drugs out so I was taking something every 3 hours. I got lazier and lazier with it as the days went on and I needed them less and by around 10 days I quit taking anything.

Stool-Softener

I packed a store-brand stool softener in my hospital bag and took it as soon as they let me, which I think was the next morning. Pooping is a scary thing after having a baby and I wanted to set myself up for success! Kyle joked that I had to get in the mood, light a candle, drink a glass of wine, etc… and while that’s an exaggeration it’s partially true. I HAD to relax. My butt muscles were so tight for 2 weeks after giving birth so every time I had to poop I had to make a conscious effort to relax.

PADS

The heavy bleeding lasted a couple days for me, then I had light bleeding for another 3 weeks. At the hospital I used the mesh undies and giant pads they provided. When I got home I used depends for a day! It sounds ridiculous, but it was nice to not have to worry about leaking. I only used a couple, and they came in a box of 10, so I’d recommend looking to see if Dollar General or a similar store sells them in smaller packages. After that I switched to Always Infinity Heavy Pads, and by week 4 I switched to Always Radiant Incredible Thin Liners. I also got some super comfy, one-size-up cotton undies to wear the first couple weeks. Beware that even if you haven’t bled in a couple days you could randomly start bleeding again so just keep wearing some sort of liner for way longer than you think you need to.

OTHER

I got a bunch of stuff and only ended up using a few things. I ended up not using the sitz bath, tucks, or hemorrhoid cream. I just didn’t have time to fuss too much in the bathroom. I did use lidocaine spray and really liked it. Between the aloe and the lidocaine, Solarcaine Cool Aloe Burn Relief Spray felt so good. I got an inflatable donut to sit on and that ended up being really nice for the first few days. My other must-have was the perineal bottle they give you at the hospital. You really don’t want to wipe much down there at first but using the peri bottle you can still feel clean with just a quick pat with toilet paper.

There is one thing I didn’t have and wished I did. I saw a bunch of people post about “padsicles”. Basically they took heavy flow pads and made these glorious little ice packs with wonderful soothing ingredients like witch hazel and aloe. I had the supplies to make them, but I didn’t get them done in time for Simon’s surprise arrival two weeks early.

BREASTFEEDING

I used a whole bunch of stuff to help with breast/nipple soreness the first few weeks. I’m kind of a wuss when it comes to pain so I did everything I could to minimize pain and keep my nipples from cracking/bleeding. I went though two tubes of lanolin the first 2.5 weeks (1.41 oz tubes). I’m on my third now but it will probably last a super long time, I barely ever put it on anymore. I use hydrocortisone cream sometimes, the lactation consultant recommended that. When I mentioned sore nipples to my doctor he gave me a prescription for nystatin, a cream for treating thrush, I don’t know if I or baby had it, but I went ahead and used it. I also picked up some natural nipple butter from the health food store, it’s Earth Mama Angel Baby brand and is made of olive oil, cocoa butter, Shea butter, mango butter and calendula, I got it a couple weeks in so I’m not sure if I could have substituted it for the lanolin. I LOVED Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads, they basically feel like heaven on sore nipples. I kept them on nonstop in between feedings the first week and off and on the week after. Do yourself a favor and get a few boxes even though they’re expensive. Lastly, I like these cold/hot gel packs from Lansinoh (THERA°PEARL® 3-in-1 Breast Therapy). They feel great cold after a feeding, and they feel great hot before a feeding!

The thing that helped me more than any cream or gel pack was the amazing lactation consultants at Goshen Hospital. These are two amazing women who make themselves available day and night and provide such support and encouragement to us breastfeeding mamas. One of them met with us the morning after we had Simon, I’ve been in to see the other one twice, and I go weekly to the moms breastfeeding group at the hospital to get Simon weighed, hang out with the other moms, and bounce questions off the lactation consultant.

CLOTHING

Basically comfy sweats, a tank top or t-shirt, a cozy open sweater/cardigan, and a pair of mens socks are what worked for me. Specifically I have one pair of PJ pants and one tie-belt sweater that I wear almost every night to bed. The PJ pants are Total Comfort Pajama Pants from Target and they were the only PJ pants that were super comfy through the end of my pregnancy, and now they’re still my favorites. A cozy short tie-belt robe ended up being a go-to for me because the tie-belt keeps it “closed” when I’m sleeping so I’m not getting all bunched up all the time, but it’s easy to slide either side out of the way for nursing. I just wear a sleep nursing bra (or a comfy not-tight sports bra) and a tank top underneath. During the day I’ll change out of my nighttime uniform pretty much just so I can wash it (I get spit up on almost every night). If I’m staying home I’ll usually just wear a pair of sweat pants and a tank top/cardigan. If I’m going out I either wear maternity jeans or one of the size-up jeans I recently bought to tide me over, a nursing bra, a nursing tank or a regular tank that can be pulled down (I started wearing these layering tank tops from Target during my pregnancy and continue to love them because they can be pulled down!), and a button up shirt or open front sweater/cardigan.

NURSING BRAS

I want to talk a little bit about nursing bras, because I’ve bought an assortment and totally love a few, hate a few and am so-so on a few. I didn’t buy any from Motherhood Maternity or similar stores, or go to any independent lingerie shops to get fitted or buy bras, although I’m sure either of those would have been nice. I bought a few at Target (and exchanged a couple times until I got the right size, first time the band size was definitely not what it claimed to be, second time I exchanged for a cup size down), I bought one on Amazon, and I bought a few at Aerie (online) and Wal-Mart. Bras are such a personal preference kind of thing. I am small-chested (36B pre-pregnancy, 36C right now) so I don’t need a ton of support, I’m mainly looking for comfort and something that will look nice under clothes and give me a smooth shape.

HATE

(1) Gilligan & O’Malley® Women’s 2-Pack Nursing Sleep Bra from Target: These are not comfortable. I bought size L and feel like the band is too tight, but even had I gone up a size the material is not at all soft and cozy, it’s stiff and rough.

(2) Loving Moments by Leading Lady Maternity Comfort Wirefree Nursing Cami Bra with Full Sling from Wal-Mart: The only reason I wore this a few times is because it was the only black non-sleep bra that I had. I don’t like that it shows over the top of my tank tops (at least what’s showing is black lace, but I’d still rather not have black lace showing) and I don’t like that there’s no padding and that the fabric/design makes it so that when I put nursing pads in I end up looking all lumpy, yuck.

SO-SO

(3) Gilligan & O’Malley® Women’s Nursing Full Coverage Lace Bra from Target: This is the cutest bra I have, but I don’t love it. Pros would be that it’s pretty, it doesn’t peek over the top of my tank tops (seems to be a big issue with nursing bras), and it gives a smooth shape under clothes. Cons would be the poor quality (but it’s inexpensive so I can’t complain too much), it’s not super easy to unclasp or get the cup out of the way for nursing, and lastly it’s underwire which I was trying to avoid. Oh, and a big warning, try it on before you buy it! The first one I bought (before I knew my size) was marked 38C and it was definitely a 34C.

(4) and (5) Aerie Lace Racerback Bralette and Aerie Softest Jeweled Bralette from Aerie: I bought 2 bralettes when Aerie was having a big sale. Both of these are fine for sleep or wearing around the house. They are definitely not for the large-chested, there’s not a lot of fabric on these things! I got size L and probably would have been better off with XL.

LOVE

(6) Women’s Nursing Sleep Bralette - Gilligan & O’Malley™ from Target. The one I had four years ago is no longer available but this one is similar and very well reviewed.

(7) Women’s Nursing Wirefree Seamless Bra - Gilligan & O’Malley™ from Target. They don’t have the same brand I had four years ago but this one has stellar reviews!

(8) Bravado Body Silk Seamless Nursing Bra from Amazon: This was my “splurge” bra that I bought after researching to see what other people liked and reading tons of reviews on Amazon. It’s not comfortable for sleeping in (the band starts to feel tight and bunch up), but it’s awesome for wearing out. I love the light padding and it’s easy to get out of the way for nursing.

(9) Danskin Now Womens Front Close Plunge Sports Bra from Wal-Mart. I can’t link to the exact one I had or is in the photo but this one is from the same brand and has the same deep plunge that made nursing really easy (just pull to the side!).

I have included links for your convenience and some of them are affiliate links - these are all products I personally tried and used.

posted January 24, 2014