https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 19 May 2026 01:20:52 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1830462 Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:44:00 +0000 Mrs. BD 1830462@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is awesome. Definitely subscribing. 28 weeks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1818310 Fri, 15 Aug 2014 13:58:22 +0000 MrsLonghorn 1818310@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It has been a long time since I bought pads, so I was surprised when my Always Infinity order arrived (gotta love Amazon!) -- they are made out of flex-foam now?! It doesn't look very absorbent....</p> <p>I saw earlier that @septca had warned about not getting DryMax pads, and just wanted to check in and see if this new foam material is the right stuff, or if I should look for a different version.</p> <p>Thanks ladies! There are very few places to get such great advice on the content of pads :wink: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1788196 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 21:31:41 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 1788196@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought a pack of the Hanes full coverage underwear. They were comfy, loose-ish and I didn't have to worry about ruining any of my underwear.<br /> I used Tena pads (meant for bladder leakage) the first few days. Soaking them in witch hazel, freezing, then putting them on with some Tucks pads on top felt so good. After a few days, I switched to overnight pads instead, then regular after two weeks or so.<br /> Get some stool softeners for SURE. Pooping can be terrifying if you're sore down there.<br /> I used a peri bottle with warm water and some witch hazel. Other people recommended sitz baths, but I couldn't sit properly to do them. </p> <p>Also, I made a bunch of muffins and things ahead of time and froze them. Grab a muffin from the freezer, and by your first MOTN feeding, it should be defrosted enough to eat. And a water bottle! And Advil! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1788164 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 21:00:22 +0000 allison 1788164@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>COLACE. Pooping is so scary. I took colace for several weeks PP, mainly because I was scared not to. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1788104 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 20:23:29 +0000 charmed 1788104@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@septca: thanks for the info :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1787687 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 15:47:02 +0000 Mommy Finger 1787687@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My friend just had her 2nd baby last Thursday and when I went to visit on Sunday, she told me how getting Depends this time around was so key. So I'll have to look into that for next time. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1787660 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 15:27:01 +0000 PinkBee 1787660@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Subscribing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions/page/2#post-1786798 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 10:07:15 +0000 ChitownRo 1786798@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Re: Underwear - I didn't have to throw any away, but I used the stretchy hospital kind when it was really bad at the beginning. But, to that end, I just bought regular thin always pads and used those for like two weeks. Then it was light enough that I just needed a panty liner (I didn't have that stocked in the house, I would recommend buying a panty liner).</p> <p>RE: stockpile - make sure you have some of the basics like toilet paper and paper towels. Also, laundry detergent because you will be doing plenty of laundry. Finally, buy hemorrhoid over the counter products.</p> <p>RE: food. I made soup and froze small portions of it prior to mat leave. That was my best frozen meal decision. Once I finished that stockpile, I would often skip lunch (bad me). Try to have snack type food in the house, you will be constantly hungry if you are nursing. Also, just buy plenty of frozen Trader Joe's meals. I used those for a bit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786763 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:57:55 +0000 mrskc 1786763@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought cheap Hanes underwear. I like the boy short ones. I needed a bigger size tho at the end of pregnancy. They didn't get ruined or stained at all and I saved them for this pregnancy! ha! </p> <p>I like the Always Infinity pads. They are nice and thin. I went through the tub of Tucks they sent home with me and had a to buy a couple more. I also liked using the Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Spray. Not sure that it really did anything but it smelled nice/felt good to spray down there. I actually saw them selling it at Target last time I was there. I also recommend sitz baths if you have stitches. I would just fill the bathtub up with some warm water and sit in it for 10-15 minutes. </p> <p>With #1, I didn't do any freezer meals and we got by ok. We wish we had though because only one person brought us food. I'm 37 weeks and have started really freezing stuff this past week. Something easy to do is cook up a bunch of ground turkey or beef and freeze it. Makes for making tacos or spaghetti really easily. I also cooked up some ground turkey with onions and bell peppers to freeze and use later for chili. </p> <p>@Seattlemom: Freezer breakfasts is a great idea! Thanks for posting that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786543 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 08:46:52 +0000 catomd00 1786543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh and as for meals we just ate out or people came over and cooked for us! Even thawing an sn heating a freezer meal would have been rough the first few weeks. Definitely stock up on quick snacks and breakfast/lunches though that you can grab and eat in bed with one hand! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786514 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 08:38:37 +0000 catomd00 1786514@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cole: </p> <p>I bought comfy boy short undies but they didn't get ruined at all and I still wear them! They were just easier to contain a giant pad. The mesh undies were way too big for me and no one could find me a ped pair to wear so I hated them.</p> <p>Always infinity pads were great (the overnight ones)</p> <p>I stocked up on tucks pads but just ended up using the ones te hospital gave me. Also take the dermaplast and peri bottle home with you! You can buy dermaplast in the drugstore as well. Tylenol is a must have! </p> <p>I wore pads for probably two weeks then was able to just use a long panty liner. That really varies person to person though. The bleeding can ebb and flow. </p> <p>Instead of padsicles, my nurse taught me a trick! You open up the lining of a diaper (near the waist band) and stick crushed ice inside! It stays on better than the ice packs they give you and is absorbent.</p> <p>Don't forget lanolin and breast pads of you're going to breastfeed! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786373 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 07:49:19 +0000 septca 1786373@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@charmed: they defrost pretty fast, so it's a 15-20 minute thing. Sure, they get a little bloody, but the really heavy bleeding doesn't last forever. The Padicles (*great* name, @Grizz!) are a total lifesaver.</p> <p>You layer Tucks inside your pad, too, so it's not like just wearing a pad like on AF... Pp is a whole different world. :grin: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786333 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 07:31:18 +0000 littlek 1786333@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Take everything you can from the hospital!! The mesh underwear are amazeballs. Ask your nurse for double of everything. I didn't buy any underwear. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786328 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 07:28:38 +0000 charmed 1786328@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>TMI question for the ladies that did "padsicles": are they still absorbent enough to work as a pad, or do you alternate with a regular pad, or how does that work?<br /> They sound like a great idea, but I can't wrap my head around how you keep up with any bleeding while using them :meh: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786306 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 07:15:35 +0000 LemonLong 1786306@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Colace stool softener, since the first couple bowel movements can be scary. My hospital made the padcicles from newborn diapers and they worked well too, but are very bulky. Ibprofen is good to have on hand if you have cramps after. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786222 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 05:51:45 +0000 CRGmama 1786222@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought some Hanes (or whatever) granny panties that I wore but I found they were kind of uncomfortable for me with a pad on. It was like too much in between my legs and the seams felt like they were cutting into my crotch even though I bout size large. (I'm a sm/md). I was more comfortable in boy short or hipster type underwear. I also much preferred the hospital pads, I bought the always overnight with wings that I saw a lot of people had online but they are GIGANTIC. Like a boat. No pad is comfortable to me the but the hospital ones were much softer and not as wide. I ended up having like 4 different varieties of pads/liners throughout my PP stage. I think next time I will try some of the Kotex ones other people mentioned because they seem similar to the ones my hospital provided. I loved the mesh undies and the peri bottle felt so good because I was told not to wipe at first. </p> <p>I pretty much lived in nursing tanks the first two weeks, I have 4 of the gilligan omalley ones from target. I had my husband go get 2 of them in the first few days so I suggest getting them ahead of time. </p> <p>I didn't freeze any meals but I would suggest lots of easy snacks and sandwich making materials. I'm not a coffee drinker but I had a nice cold coke with my lunch and it was like heaven every time. So get your favorite caffeinated beverage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786159 Tue, 29 Jul 2014 00:28:10 +0000 meganmp 1786159@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I didn't buy Depends, just pads, and I never threw out any underwear. Get varying thickness, though- I hate pads, and as soon as I could transition to thinner ones, I did.</p> <p>We had no freezer meals, but we had enough people coming by bringing us food that we didn't really need anything. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786137 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 23:52:53 +0000 Mrs.ThinMint 1786137@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had an emergency c-section at 27 weeks and I was totally unprepared. If I had been prepared I would have have gotten some loose underwear. It doesn't have to be granny panties, but something a little higher waisted than what I normally wear would have been nice. When I used my regular underwear with the giant pad the hospital had the waistband hit exactly on my incision. So, I ended up wearing the mesh panties the whole time. As soon as I got out of the hospital I had to stop and get some better underwear and pads. I got the kotex overnights. They're alright, but they're a little too long. It's nice that they are really thin though. Make sure you get something with wings. I haven't had any trouble with staining any of my underwear except when I tried to switch to a panty liner a little too early. I would definitely bring your own pads though. The ones they provide are ridiculously thick. </p> <p>I had planned to make a bunch of freezer meals, but I obviously wasn't prepared at 27 weeks. I've had friends and family bring food which has been great. I have a friend coming next week to make me a bunch of freezer meals though. I feel like I would be able to cook easy stuff next week (I'm 10 days pp now), but because my LO is in the NICU it will be nice to have quick meals to pop in the oven since we are going to be up at the NICU every night after DH gets off work. I would think they would be really nice to have when you're exhausted from being up with a new baby though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786110 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 23:21:48 +0000 Anagram 1786110@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>hmm...i bought several things that I never needed. So, I would probably wait until after and see what you might need and send a mom, friend, or hubby to the store to get anything you feel you really want.</p> <p>I thought the "granny panties" were a waste--I'm not used to high waist underwear so I found the type I bought very uncomfortable and switched to the stretchy hipster underwear I was wearing towards the end of my pregnancy.</p> <p>My hospital has terrible pads with no adhesives, so they would slide all around and cause leaks---so I will definitely bring pads from home next time.</p> <p>I used all the hospital Dermaplast spray and bought some more and used that after the peri bottle every time I peed. So NICE! I also bought the the Earth Mama Angel Baby spray and thought it smelled awful and didn't use it. I bought pad-shaped ice packs and never used them. Never used the sitz bath thingie.</p> <p>Really, all I needed were pads with adhesives, good lowrider underwear, the Dermaplast spray and the peri bottle. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786103 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 23:07:52 +0000 MrsBeluga 1786103@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cole: I took home two weeks worth of mesh undies, and happily wore those! Second putting breast milk on your nips after nursing and as much as you can!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1786097 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 22:47:12 +0000 Corduroy 1786097@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I'll be the oddball, I rocked the Depends. My friend recommended them to me so I bought some pre-delivery. I bought them for blood but I ended up having less than ideal bladder control post partum. I think I was just too busy/tired to remember to pee without a baby sitting on my bladder. Maybe that's just me. </p> <p>Overall my strategy was to stock up on everything and return what I didn't use a few weeks after delivery. One thing I would really stock up on is snacks. I ate through all my snacks in labor but there is no hunger like new nursing mama hunger. Freezer meals are nice but even getting those out of the freezer and heated took me a few weeks. Again that might just be me </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785675 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 17:51:32 +0000 swedishfish 1785675@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@grizz: yes! Padsicles are a must.</p> <p>My hospital doesn't have mesh underwear anymore so I had to wear my own. I did end up having to throw away a few pairs so I will buy cheap granny panties next time.</p> <p>My flow is always extremely heavy so I had to use the extra heavy overnight with wings Always pads. I still bled through a few times. I made my Padsicles with these pads and they felt amazing!</p> <p>ETA - lanolin made my nipples crack in the hospital. I switched to Earth Mama Angel Baby nipple butter when I got home and, voila, no more cracked nipples. Ever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785672 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 17:47:39 +0000 Mrs. Cheesecake 1785672@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought a pack of Hanes women's boy shorts because in all honesty, I wanted to wear something down there that wasn't too tight. The Dermaplast and Tuck's from the hospital didn't last very long for me so I bought more. I also didn't like the super thick pads that I got at the hospital so I used my own Kotex ones. I did however, love my peri bottle from the hospital! Since I was too scared to wash down there I used it to keep myself feeling clean. :happy: </p> <p>We didn't freeze any food ahead of time since family would bring over food whenever they visited. One piece of advice I would give is to not be afraid to accept help when others offer it. Whether it be taking your dog for a walk or picking up some items at the store, these instances of help with give you more time to spend with your baby and less to worry about.</p> <p>Lastly, if you plan on BFing one invaluable trick that I learned from a LC was to put BM on my nipples after BFing to prevent cracking and help with soreness. It worked better than Lansinoh for me! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785671 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 17:47:16 +0000 tysonja 1785671@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i think the only true must haves was infinity pads, nursing tank, nursing pads, and lanolin. every thing else was extra!</p> <p>I had really bad bleeding with #1 (6 weeks of bleeding) and I got by with a bunch of pads. baby #2 recovery was a lot faster :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785663 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 17:38:37 +0000 Emsmems 1785663@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Seattlemom: @Tanjowen: Ohh, yes, easy to eat snacks are very good for breast feeding but also in general. I know eating was the last thing I was thinking of, until I realized I was STARVING. Muffins were awesome for me! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785635 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 17:07:59 +0000 MrsLonghorn 1785635@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>32 weeks - subscribing! Thank you! :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785559 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:50:55 +0000 psw27 1785559@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Subscribing! Great list ladies! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785542 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:38:16 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 1785542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just bought a Hanes pack and didn't throw them out. None got ruined! I kind of wish I had depends for the hospital. I tore so bad t was hard to move I think they would have been easier. Lol! But really it's not as much blood as you'd think!</p> <p>Also --- buy some Kotex and squirt them with water and witch hazel and put them in the freezer. They feel lovely if you are sore! I used a few every day.<br /> @grizz -- that sounds like a good remedy! </p> <p>No advice on food. We just ate a lot of subway! Haha </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785541 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:36:33 +0000 snowjewelz 1785541@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Total subscribing to this thread! This is awesome! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/postpartum-prep-questions#post-1785529 Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:26:16 +0000 Boheme 1785529@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also, this is awkward, but these are lifesavers. The most important item I had in my freezer? Padsicles. </p> <p>You take a jumbo pad, and add a liberal layer of aloe vera gel (NOT concentrate). Then add a teaspoon of alcohol free witch hazel. Optional: a couple of drops of lavender essential oil. Wrap in foil, not too tight, and freeze. I used these with a bit of epifoam and tucks pads, and they were amazing. </p>