All My Postpartum Tips and Must Haves

The postpartum period was a strange time for me. I think it’s a strange time for pretty much every first time mom. I did a lot of reading to try and prepare, and now I’m sharing things that I learned and did that I actually found helpful in those first few weeks after giving birth.

Take a walk down memory lane with me:

There I am, sitting in my bed in the postpartum ward. It was about six o’clock in the morning, I had given birth two hours earlier, I was settled in my room, Colter was asleep on the couch, and my brand new baby was sleeping peacefully in my arms. Because I only had my epidural for 40 minutes, I already had all of the feeling back in my lower extremities. A nurse came in to introduce herself and she asked how I was feeling. I told her I was fine. And then she started to push on my belly and talk about all of the products waiting for me in the bathroom and explaining how to position an ice pack in my underwear. And suddenly I didn’t feel fine anymore. I realized that I had to take care of myself on top of learning how to take care of my baby. Oy vey.

I was overwhelmed. I had Depends at home that some influencer recommended, but I hadn’t actually thought about what that meant.

HOW I FELT IN THE FIRST HOURS

The main term that comes to mind when I think of those first few hours (up to about 48 hours) is “sloshy”. Without a nearly eight-pound baby boy and all of the fluid he was swimming in in my abdomen, there was a lot of extra room for my insides to settle back into. I hated that feeling. I tried to move as little as possible because I didn’t like feeling like I was sloshing around. I actually enjoyed when the nurses would come in to apply pressure to my uterus, because I felt a little more “put together” afterwards.

I also had a very suppressed appetite. I was plenty thirsty, but I didn’t really feel that hungry. Colter was good to remind me to order each of my meals from the hospital and to actually eat them.

Despite all of my preparation and reading, there were two postpartum experiences that I did not expect and that I was not prepared for at all. The first was that I was so, so hot. Part of it was that our room was pretty toasty, but I was just so hot and sweaty for the first 48 hours after giving birth. I had prepared to be a little cold, since hospitals tend to cool down at night and I was expecting to be topless often when I was holding the baby, but I was not at all prepared to feel like I was being broiled alive. The second reaction I wasn’t prepared for was a bad case of hives. I had dealt with pretty severe hives during the first trimester of the pregnancy, but I realized it was sun sensitivity and I resolved the issue. These hives weren’t a sun reaction. I don’t know if they were an allergic reaction to the epidural or if they were a hormonal reaction to giving birth, but they were horrendous. My only medication option was Benadryl, which is known to dry up breastmilk, so I opted out. Instead, I just waited them out. It took a few weeks (maybe up to a month?), but they eventually went away.

ALL MY POSTPARTUM TIPS

• Take a shower – this sounds like a dumb tip, but hear me out. I didn’t take a shower in the hospital because I just didn’t want to deal with it. Then I got home and had a newborn and people coming to visit and I was trying to deal with being postpartum and I didn’t get around to taking a shower until Calvin was like five days old. It was disgusting. If you deliver in a hospital and can manage it, I highly recommend taking your first shower before you leave the hospital. There’s lots of room, lots of towels. lots of hot water, and you can know that your baby is safe and looked after while you’re in there.
• Buy the Depends that I recommend below – I honestly cannot tell you how much easier these made my life in those first two weeks. I was more comfortable, I felt fresher, and I didn’t ever worry about leaking or making a mess on the couch while I sat there for hours on end. I really hated the mesh underwear from the hospital, but those adult diapers were possibly my best friend.
• Keep your baby in as little clothing as possible for the first few days – I say this for two reasons: 1) babies make a lot of mess, especially when they are brand new and if they aren’t wearing much, you won’t have to wash as much. So I personally just did a diaper and a zippered sleeper. No onesies, mittens, socks, pants, etc. for us, and 2) skin-to-skin contact is so beneficial to baby and mom. This doesn’t just apply to the first hour or while eating. Literally anytime you can give your little one some skin-to-skin contact, it is good for them.
• Buy a big package of paper plates, bowls. cups, and plastic cutlery before having your baby – I don’t care if you have the easiest and most efficient dishwasher in the world, having disposable dishes to use in the first days and weeks of newborn life is much easier than washing dishes.
• Invest in GOOD toilet paper and put all your stuff in a basket in the bathroom – buying high quality toilet paper may not be a priority for you normally, but when you are sore, tired, bleeding, drinking two gallons of water in a day, and trying to make your bathroom trip quick, that ultra-plush TP is going to be much appreciated. Also, grab a basket or bucket from the dollar store and fill it with Depends, pads, flushable wipes, Dermoplast, Tucks pads, hydrogen peroxide (for stains), and your peri bottle, and keep it nearby.
• Temporarily put a larger trash can in the bathroom – you are going to be producing a lot more garbage in the bathroom for the first few weeks, so put a bigger can or bag in by your toilet so it doesn’t have to be emptied as often.
• Have easy snacks available – I’m talking like really easy. Like, you could hand to a two year old and they could manage it. Because you’re often going to be snacking one-handed and in the dark. If there was ever a time to spend a little more money on a snack you don’t have to make or portion out yourself, postpartum is that time. I also love having snacks in my ZipTop containers, because I can open and close them with one hand. I liked having:
  • Mini Clif bars
  • String cheese and pretzels
  • Whole almonds
  • Kirkland trail mix
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Grapes
  • Protein balls (pre-made at home)
  • Baby carrots and ranch
  • Celery sticks and ranch or peanut butter
  • Guacamole
  • Croutons (judge me, I dare you)
  • Peelz oranges
  • Boiled eggs (already peeled)
• TAKE YOUR STOOL SOFTENER – you will likely receive a prescription from your doctor. Take it as often as instructed and for longer than you expect. Don’t skip out on this.
• Go outside – I gave birth to Calvin in February, in northern Utah, so it was snowy and cold out when I had a newborn. But I promise that if you can manage to go outside for even 10 minutes, it will make a difference in your mood. I noticed that when I would spend too many days in a row without leaving the apartment, that I started to feel stuffy and almost ill. So I made it a point to get outside. Sometimes I bundled Calvin up and took him out with me, sometimes I went while he was napping and just took the monitor and stood right outside my front door for 20 minutes. The fresh air is good for you. If your baby was born in warmer weather or climate, opening the windows can also help.
• Continue taking your prenatal – you can also get a specific postnatal vitamin, but just make sure you are taking something. Your body is trying to heal and potentially nourish a new human at the same time. You need all of the vitamins and minerals that you can get.

ALL MY POSTPARTUM MUST-HAVES

• FridaMom Peri Bottle – If you deliver in a hospital, they will provide you with a peri bottle. And it’s a pain to use. The FridaMom bottle is 100x better and easier to use. I also would bring it into the shower with me to fill up with warm water and give everything a good rinse.
• Women’s Depends – I. LOVED. THESE. THINGS. I wore them all day, every day for the first two full weeks postpartum. I was not a fan of the mesh underwear and I felt like the pads never stay put when I was wearing them. I combined these adult diapers with these extra-long pads from Always, and I was golden. I used the diapers like my underwear, put a pad in the one I was wearing, and I would change the pad twice before changing the Depend. It worked flawlessly for me and I intend to manage the first couple of weeks of bleeding that way for all of my babies.
• Lavender Epsom Salts – Sitting in a couple of inches of warm Epsom salt water with a warm baby sleeping on your chest is a pretty amazing feeling in the first days of the postpartum period. I highly recommend it if you get the all clear from your doctor. I used the “kids” option, because my skin was so sensitive and the gentle formula appealed to me.
• Sollybaby Wrap – I wore Calvin quite a bit when he was a teeny little babe (I actually still wear him fairly often), but especially early on. I was so used to having him with me all the time, that wearing him in my wrap on my chest just felt natural and actually helped me feel more stable.
• Oversized Wrap Style Cardigan – this was important to me for two reasons: 1) easy access for nursing and covering up after nursing, and 2) having something easy to put on and take off depending on how I was feeling right that second. I think I wore mine all day every day for the first several weeks.
• Cortizone-10 Maximum Strength – this stuff was one of the only things that I could use to treat my hives. I tried to keep it to a minimum (I mostly used it before bed to help me sleep instead of itch) I would also mix some lavender essential oil with coconut oil for a more natural option, but it wasn’t as effective as this OTC topical.
• High Waisted Control Top Leggings – the sloshy feeling was the worst, and I loved the compression from my leggings. I felt like they held everything in where it was supposed to be and made moving around much more comfortable. I love these ones from Fabletics.

If you are reading this newly postpartum, or about to be, all I can say is good luck and congratulations. I also promise that this weird transitionary period will eventually end. Also, I want to remind you that your baby wasn’t the only new person introduced when you gave birth…you became a new person too. A new mom. Go easy on yourself, understand that there will be a learning curve, and know that there is no better momma for that baby than you.