Postpartum Checklist with Explanations

I am finding myself staring at my screen deciding on how to start this checklist. I think it is taking me a minute because everyone’s postpartum experience is different and it is hard to know exactly what to say to someone who is about to go through such a beautiful, fragile, and life-changing time.

My postpartum experience with my 1st was very different from my postpartum experience with my twin boys. I believe the 2 experiences were different for various reasons. Some of those reasons being:

 – Becoming a parent for the first time is one of the most life-changing events you will ever go through, you are learning so much all while meeting and bonding with your 1st child, it is so all consuming and can be a very overwhelming time. When you become a parent for the second, third, or fourth time, the learning curve is not so steep because you have done this before and you know a thing or two from your 1st go around.  

– With my 1st child, I definitely experienced prolonged sleep deprivation, pretty severe postpartum anxiety, developed thrush multiple times, and at one point dealt with intrusive thoughts (this is very common but does not get talked about enough!).

– The physical side of my postpartum recovery was also very different both times. With my 1st I had multiple stitches and my whole body was shifting into physically becoming a mother, especially figuring out how to nurse, etc. Whereas with my twin boys, I did not have stitches (I think because they were smaller than their sister) and it felt like my body just knew what to do during the postpartum recovery period, learning how to tandem nurse, etc. since it had done many of these things before.

Anyways! All of this is to say, everyone’s postpartum experience will be different but no matter what your journey is, it is always good to be prepared and to remember yourself (and not just the baby!) when preparing for after delivery, because you are just as important as your child!

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Postpartum Care

• Sitz Bath
  Having a sitz bath was a must for me the first couple of weeks postpartum. It was part of my daily shower routine. I would get the shower running, then I would put some epsom salts in my sitz bath, fill up my sitz bath with warm water from the sink, put my sitz bath on the toilet, sit in the sitz bath for about 5 minutes, then get into the shower. When I got out, I would use my Earth Mama perineal spray, put on a pair of fresh adult underwear with a cooling pad, put on my nursing bra with fresh nursing pads, a clean loose shirt and clean loose pants – and I would feel like a new woman!
• Witch Hazel Cooling Pads
  I absolutely loved the FridaMom witch hazel perineal cooling pads! I would put on my adult underwear or maxi pad and then put a cooling pad on top. Although it looks like FridaMom has now made a cooling pad and maxi pad combined together, FridaMom Instant Ice Maxi Pads, which is even better!  
• Earth Mama Perineal Spray
  I would use this spray pretty much anytime I went to the bathroom, I really liked that it has witch hazel in it because that promotes healing. I went through a couple bottles during my postpartum recovery with my daughter. 
• Adult Underwear
  I used Depends for probably about the first week or so, until my bleeding slowed down a bit.
• Maxi Pad
  Once my bleeding slowed down a bit, then I switched to Maxi Pads. Once my bleeding started to slow again then I switched to regular pads 

• Peri Bottle (squirt bottle)
  Each time you go to the bathroom, fill up your peri bottle with warm water from the sink and then as you are peeing, you spray warm water onto your vagina, this will help ease any discomfort you may have. You will get a peri bottle from the hospital that you can bring home with you. I also had the MomFrida Peri Bottle, I liked that the spout was curved so it was easier to angle correctly.
• Disposable Nursing Pads
  I highly highly recommend using disposable nursing pads. I know this is not environmentally friendly but I believe I got thrush with my 1st child because of using reusable nursing pads, the kind that you throw in the washing machine to use again. The reason I believe I got thrush from my reusable nursing pads is because when your milk comes in you will leak a lot and I believe my reusable nursing pads could not fully absorb as much liquid and would become damp very quickly, and a warm damp nursing pad is one of the ways thrush can begin, and trust me, you don’t want thrush!
• “Regular” nipple cream
  I liked the Lansinoh brand. 
• APNO (all purpose nipple ointment)
  Tip! Ask your postpartum doctor/nurse if you could have a prescription for APNO – this is really good to fill while at the hospital and have on hand for postpartum if your nipples get sore those 1st few weeks of figuring out nursing.

• Haakaa
  I loved using my Haakaa! I mainly used it when my breasts felt really full but my baby wasn’t needing to nurse at that moment. I would suction my Haakaa on and remove about 1 or 2 ozs just to help relieve the discomfort of engorgement. *** Be careful not to do this too much when your milk is coming in! For the first few weeks postpartum your body is trying to figure out how much milk it needs to produce for your baby so you don’t want to remove too much extra milk when in discomfort because then your body will think it needs to produce extra milk for your baby and this is what can cause clogged ducts and mastitis. Of course, if you are not producing enough milk then you may be encouraged to pump, and that is totally okay if you are underproducing and it has been doctor directed! 
• Stool Softeners
  I took Senokot-S for a couple weeks postpartum to help make sure I did not get constipated and to help keep me regular, highly recommend!
• Heating Pad
  My back always hurt a lot after delivering (from pushing etc) so personally, a heating pad was a must-have for me. If you are able to get 2 heating pads that would be ideal because then you can leave one on your bed and one on the couch, which are the 2 locations you will most likely be for most of your postpartum recovery.

Other Quick Postpartum Tips

• When your milk comes in a few days postpartum – I found standing in the shower with the warm water on me, a nice way to ease the pain a bit.
• Tips to avoid constipation:
  • Drink lots of water
  • Walk around when you can, to help keep your “systems” moving 
  • Eat lots of high fibre foods!
  • If needed, try out this drink – equal parts apple juice, orange juice, and prune juice mixed together and warmed up on the stove.
• One of my good friends passed on this tip before I had my 1st. Don’t force yourself to poop but when you finally feel the urge to go, get some toilet paper and hold your vagina while you poop, this will help you feel like all of your insides aren’t going to fall out during your first postpartum poop! – Super TMI I know, but welcome to child birth and postpartum!

Your postpartum recovery is such a special time. Please allow yourself the time to rest and recover, you just gave birth to a human who you are now learning how to care for and nourish! Soak in those newborn snuggles and take lots of pictures!