Happy Momma, Happy Baby: A Guide to Postpartum Care
So you've just delivered a watermelon and your hoohah is sore and on fire. You might have stitches from a vaginal delivery, or better yet, an incision from a C-section. No matter how your baby was delivered, you have to some how manage taking care of a tiny, screaming, wiggly newborn, and yourself.
So grab your maxi pads and some witch hazel and let’s heal your vajayjay.
(It’s time I mention that I am not a nurse or doctor and it’s always best you follow your discharge orders. I also did not have a C-section so my experience is only with vaginal deliveries)
Leave no stone unturned
While in the hospital, you will get a variety of items to help take care of yourself. I’m a weirdo and LOVE the mesh panties. They are so cozy on your sore body but hold your empty floppy tummy in place. Giant maxi pads, tucks pads, dermoplast, and a spray bottle are some of the items you’ll be provided. Before you leave, ask your nurse for extras. Whatever is in your room is fair game!
Bleeding, Bleeding, and more Bleeding
After delivery, your nurse will start to massage your uterus to help it start the process of shrinking. I'll be honest, this hurts. A. Lot. I would rather deliver another baby than have them push and rub on my abdomen. Your nurses will continue to do this for the first 12 ish hours. They will also be checking your bleeding every few hours. Bleeding should be about like a heavy period at first and then begin to taper off. If you're not used to clotting, be prepared to possibly pass some large clots. It's totally normal! Somethings that are not normal are excessive bleeding (soaking a pad in an hour), foul odors, and mucus or pus.
Once I'm at home, I like to use the giant hospital pads until I've used them all. Then I switch to Stay Free Maxi pads. I will use two at time and overlap them, so that it comes up higher in the front and back. This helps with leaking when I'm laying down or sitting up in bed to nurse.
No Wiping!
This goes without saying, but wiping after you pee is completely out of the question. Plain and simple. In comes your handy dandy water squirt bottle! Fill it with warm water before you need to change your pad or pee. When you're ready, squeeze and enjoy a little warm bidet action. When your bottom is sore and swollen, warm water feels SO good! Then pat dry with toilet paper.
Cool as a Cucumber
Now that you've rinsed and patted dry, it's time to grab your witch hazel. Once I have my two maxi pads in place, I pour a little witch hazel directly onto the pad. Then I place about 2 tucks pads or wipes on top of my maxi pads. Witch hazel has a refreshing feeling and promotes healing of skin. Then I spray some dermaplast onto the area where my stitches are (you may not have stitches!). Pull up those panties and get some sweet cool relief!
I know some mommas who have made the padsicles that are on Pinterest. Check those out if you're interested!
Storage
Pads, witch hazel, Tuck's pads, dermaplast...post partum supplies can over take the bathroom pretty quickly! This time around with D, I bought little storage baskets to put everything into. I already do this when I have my period and have my pads and tampons out in a basket when I need them. When my period is over, I put them away in our cabinet until next month.
I organized my pads and supplies in the basket and placed them on the tub next to the toilet. Everything I needed was within reach and easy to get to. I will say, I don't know how many times I sat down only to forget to get warm water from the sink for my spray bottle!
Bedside
Enough about the bathroom! During postpartum, it is my personal belief that you should be resting as much as possible. It's so tempting to want to get up and move around! But resting is exactly what your body needs after it's gone through pregnancy, labor, delivery, and now the 4th trimester of healing and sustaining a baby's food supply if you're breastfeeding.
As a breastfeeding momma, you learn to do a lot of things one-handed. It's extremely helpful to have everything you need within arms reach.
I used the same storage baskets from the bathroom for my night stand. I keep breast pads, lanolin, hand lotion, tylenol, chapstick, personal cleaning wipes, and snacks in it. I've always got a full Yeti Tumblr with ice water as well. Except for getting up to use the restroom, there's almost no reason to get out of bed!
It Takes a Village
The biggest key to your postpartum care has nothing to do with pads, witch hazel, or snacks. It has everything to do with your support system. During that first week home, Daddy takes charge of most chores and most diaper changes. He also watches baby while they sleep, so I can get even more rest.
When we came home with D, a few friends set up a Meal Train on mealtrain.com to provide meals for us. This was such an amazing blessing! I had frozen some extras from dinners prior to delivery, but we were so exhausted that the thought of cooking anything was overwhelming.
For us, and for my mental health, I did not want a lot of visitors in those early days. We didn't even tell many people that D had been born! Keeping visitors to a minimum was one of the best things for us. Family and friends can support you in more ways than just visiting the baby. Both our parents live very close to us so it was easy to ask if they could grab some items from the store if we needed.
Your postpartum care is a pivotal piece in your transition to becoming a momma! I hope this gave you a few ideas on how to care for your healing body and mind. Taking care of you leads to a happy baby! Sometimes taking care of you means doing a Target run at 5 days post partum...you do you momma!
So grab your maxi pads and some witch hazel and let’s heal your vajayjay.
(It’s time I mention that I am not a nurse or doctor and it’s always best you follow your discharge orders. I also did not have a C-section so my experience is only with vaginal deliveries)
Leave no stone unturned
While in the hospital, you will get a variety of items to help take care of yourself. I’m a weirdo and LOVE the mesh panties. They are so cozy on your sore body but hold your empty floppy tummy in place. Giant maxi pads, tucks pads, dermoplast, and a spray bottle are some of the items you’ll be provided. Before you leave, ask your nurse for extras. Whatever is in your room is fair game!
Bleeding, Bleeding, and more Bleeding
After delivery, your nurse will start to massage your uterus to help it start the process of shrinking. I'll be honest, this hurts. A. Lot. I would rather deliver another baby than have them push and rub on my abdomen. Your nurses will continue to do this for the first 12 ish hours. They will also be checking your bleeding every few hours. Bleeding should be about like a heavy period at first and then begin to taper off. If you're not used to clotting, be prepared to possibly pass some large clots. It's totally normal! Somethings that are not normal are excessive bleeding (soaking a pad in an hour), foul odors, and mucus or pus.
Once I'm at home, I like to use the giant hospital pads until I've used them all. Then I switch to Stay Free Maxi pads. I will use two at time and overlap them, so that it comes up higher in the front and back. This helps with leaking when I'm laying down or sitting up in bed to nurse.
No Wiping!
This goes without saying, but wiping after you pee is completely out of the question. Plain and simple. In comes your handy dandy water squirt bottle! Fill it with warm water before you need to change your pad or pee. When you're ready, squeeze and enjoy a little warm bidet action. When your bottom is sore and swollen, warm water feels SO good! Then pat dry with toilet paper.
Cool as a Cucumber
Now that you've rinsed and patted dry, it's time to grab your witch hazel. Once I have my two maxi pads in place, I pour a little witch hazel directly onto the pad. Then I place about 2 tucks pads or wipes on top of my maxi pads. Witch hazel has a refreshing feeling and promotes healing of skin. Then I spray some dermaplast onto the area where my stitches are (you may not have stitches!). Pull up those panties and get some sweet cool relief!
I know some mommas who have made the padsicles that are on Pinterest. Check those out if you're interested!
Storage
Pads, witch hazel, Tuck's pads, dermaplast...post partum supplies can over take the bathroom pretty quickly! This time around with D, I bought little storage baskets to put everything into. I already do this when I have my period and have my pads and tampons out in a basket when I need them. When my period is over, I put them away in our cabinet until next month.
I organized my pads and supplies in the basket and placed them on the tub next to the toilet. Everything I needed was within reach and easy to get to. I will say, I don't know how many times I sat down only to forget to get warm water from the sink for my spray bottle!
Bedside
Enough about the bathroom! During postpartum, it is my personal belief that you should be resting as much as possible. It's so tempting to want to get up and move around! But resting is exactly what your body needs after it's gone through pregnancy, labor, delivery, and now the 4th trimester of healing and sustaining a baby's food supply if you're breastfeeding. As a breastfeeding momma, you learn to do a lot of things one-handed. It's extremely helpful to have everything you need within arms reach.
I used the same storage baskets from the bathroom for my night stand. I keep breast pads, lanolin, hand lotion, tylenol, chapstick, personal cleaning wipes, and snacks in it. I've always got a full Yeti Tumblr with ice water as well. Except for getting up to use the restroom, there's almost no reason to get out of bed! It Takes a Village
The biggest key to your postpartum care has nothing to do with pads, witch hazel, or snacks. It has everything to do with your support system. During that first week home, Daddy takes charge of most chores and most diaper changes. He also watches baby while they sleep, so I can get even more rest.
When we came home with D, a few friends set up a Meal Train on mealtrain.com to provide meals for us. This was such an amazing blessing! I had frozen some extras from dinners prior to delivery, but we were so exhausted that the thought of cooking anything was overwhelming.
For us, and for my mental health, I did not want a lot of visitors in those early days. We didn't even tell many people that D had been born! Keeping visitors to a minimum was one of the best things for us. Family and friends can support you in more ways than just visiting the baby. Both our parents live very close to us so it was easy to ask if they could grab some items from the store if we needed.
Your postpartum care is a pivotal piece in your transition to becoming a momma! I hope this gave you a few ideas on how to care for your healing body and mind. Taking care of you leads to a happy baby! Sometimes taking care of you means doing a Target run at 5 days post partum...you do you momma!
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