What did you need after birth?

Question

I’m looking for the things that we need after we give birth. 
What products did you rely on in the weeks after birth? 
Like day to day items? 
I’m due any day and rather than wallowing in the self pity of waiting for my bubble butt to get here I thought I’d get myself prepared.

Answer

Take all the mesh underwear and huge pads from the hospital that you can get. Seriously the best! Also if you’re breastfeeding get gel pads and nipple cream because the first few weeks suck. Get get comfy clothes to where after. Also have many snacks because having a full meal is kind of hard with a newborn

Answer

I say take as much home as you can from the hospital of their underwear and pads! Also tucks pads! I lined them along my pad the during my whole healing process. Also if you’re worried about your first postpartum poop I’d say invest in some stool softeners.

Answer

I'm only 3 days postpartum, but I can already tell I don't have nearly enough pads. Stock up on the hospital one's and the mesh underwear too because regular ones have way too much fragrance and they irritate. I am also living for dermablast and little soaked witch hazel pads to soothe tearing and stitches. I've also been using a little Peri bottle to clean myself after peeing because boy oh boy, no way am I wiping for at least another week.

Answer

Just get that pantry ready to go....think of every snack you could want! And make a few freezer meals, enchiladas and lasagna kind of thing that you can just throw in the oven. Also make sure all your laundry is done...I only washed the clothes I needed for baby right away...and thank goodness my mom did the rest when she was visiting, bc the last thing you want to do is sit around cutting 10 million tags off baby clothes when you have a little one

Answer

I stocked up on paper towels and toilet paper and then paper plates/utensils because I know we will need them and didn’t want to hassle hubby with going to to the store for them!!

Answer

Somewhere safe to set the baby down in that's easy to move around... cause you need a shower and a meal sometimes. So many women on here are so exhausted because they feel like they always have to hold their newborn, but sometimes you need a few minutes to yourself. I'm not advocating for "cry it out" but baby will be ok if you sit her in a bouncy chair while you take a quick shower or shovel something in your mouth. I move mine into the bathroom when I need to shower, or into the kitchen when I need to eat, etc. in the early days I'd even take it with me when I went to the bathroom cause I was scared to have her out of my sight for even a minute cause she had severe reflux. 
I'd also say a convenient place to change the baby's diaper. Our nursery is upstairs and in the middle of the night I don't want to go all the way up there to change the endless diapers so our loveseat had become a diaper changing station too.
As far as your recovery, lots of Ibuprofen and I loved the witch hazel pads for healing. I had several tears but honestly for me the worst part was just the pressure/swelling I still felt down there which lasted a lot longer than the stitches... the witch Hazel pads and compression underwear helped with that.

Answer

I’m going to tell you what I sent my husband to the store for the day after we got home from the hospital. I asked for 7-10 family frozen skillet meals to make for dinner, instant oatmeal, lots of berries, and sandwich making stuff. I also asked for tucks and menstrual pads, but honestly, these have gone unused. I’d wait to buy any pads until you nearly go through what they gave you at the hospital.
Be prepared to make a bunch of trips and online orders though. Babies can be rather picky, so sometimes, they don’t like the products we firmly chose. Nothing will change your mind about sleeping arrangements like having a newborn and being sleep deprived.

Answer

My friends have all told me to stock up on dermablast and if you are planning to breastfeed, nipple cream!

Answer

Witch hazel, lots of pads, comfy loose clothes, stock your freezer and pantry and deep clean your house.

Answer

Honestly I’d wait until baby is here to determine what you need. I wasted sooo much money on all this random crap people insisted I needed: new underwear, diapers, Tylenol, pads, extra leggings, a belly band, witch hazel pads, etc etc etc and I used NONE of it. Seriously. I used pads for a week and then used panty liners until the spotting was done but that’s it. So much money wasted.

What did you need after birth?

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