my best advice for right after babies are born...

clberry6492

so, this is totally random...

the best thing i did when in the hospital after my c-section was to wear depends instead of the hospital pads. the first few hours i didnt have them, and i was a MESS and it was so awful! i sent my mom out to get me some- and am so glad i did! they were so much less messy and i didnt have to worry about leaking everywhere! a friend had told me to get them, and i am so glad she did! 

also, i suggest having several pairs of brief underwear. ugh-i hate these, but after my c-section, its all i can wear for a while!!! i had to get them 2 sizes larger than i wore in the low-rise thongs i am used to because of them actually going over my belly! (which is actually getting very small quickly!!!)

after about a day of chaos, my husband started basically having people make "appointments" to visit. since we could only take so many people in the special care nursery (NICU), it became necessary for us to have organization throughout the day. in addition, this allowed us to schedule with my pumping in mind, etc.

as far as animals adjusting, we brought home a blanket from each of our girls for our dog to smell. he could have cared less. when the girls graduated to wearing clothes in their isolettes, i brought home their poopy/barfed/peed on outfits--- that got his attention. he smelled them a whole lot more. i think this was a better example of their smells for our dog to get used to. 

thats my advice from my experiences so far!!! 

RVAYogini

Thanks and congrats! Especially about the dogs - I'm worried about our furbaby adjusting cause she's a jumper! Doggie training here we come!

dec13th

Thanks for posting!  I am really curious as to how our dogs are going to react.  Congratulations to you!

blossom

Thanks for the doggie tips. I'm already wondering how mine will adjust.

Temp159135562506975

I hardly had blood after my c/s- so for me the depends would have been total overkill. Only the first day or so did I have much blood- after that it barely even went onto the pad (was only there when i wiped) and is still that way - just spotting..... from what my nurse said they can scrape out everything much better with a c/s compared to a vag birth -which is why you generally bleed a lot more with a vag birth. (i know I did).

Defenitely steal a to of the mesh undies!! I wish I got more - they are great- so much better than wearing the huge grannie panties I bought (which look ridiculous and are baggy b/c i had to get them big to go high enough on my belly).  It's also nice that you can just throw them out istead of having to pull off the pad, wash, etc.

Use a big pad from the hospital on your c/s incision - don't pull off the tape- just stick it into the mesh undies. It will help absorb moisture (you want to keep things dry) and also give some extra padding in case you bump your belly. Again- i wish i took more of them home with me - the hospital pads are nice and thick.

Defenitley tell people they need to call first and schedule visits - we did that from day 1 with both pregnancies - I'm not a huge fan of visitors in the hospital to begin with (you look/feel like sh!t and need your rest!).... but for immediate family - we told them to call and we'd let them know when to come. Everyone else we asked to wait to visit until we were home. So much better that way IMO.

 

kelliwill

Thank you so much for the suggestions!!!  I like the one about having people call first!!

clberry6492

wow- goldie, you are so lucky you did not have much bleeding! i pushed a little bit, so i think thats why i bled a lot. its been 10 days and im still bleeding. its tapering off though. it was MAJOR at first though. that is why depends were such a must for me! i held off and did not buy them in advance because i had heard that c-sections dont bleed much. however, i was an exception! i dont know how frequent that is?

about the mesh panties- i hated those!!! they had nicer ones that i wore and took a few home. i think part of the problem is that i cant fit smaller pads in them and put the wings from the pads in the place i want to and feel comfortable. the hospital ones sort of had a boy short leg, which made me feel uncomfortable with a pad. i never thought i would feel comfy in ugly granny panties! i cant wait until i can wear my regular undies again though! i will feel hotter! lol! i think my hubby will like that better too! 

DenverGrl

I think I'm the only one who hated those mesh panties.  I had my DH go out and by some granny panties that were 2 sizes bigger than my maternity size.  He bought the Hanes package in cute colors so they weren't too hideous.  I LOL every time I think of DH going to Target to buy me big old granny panties.  They were soooo comfortable.  

DenverGrl

I guess I'm NOT the only one who hated those mess panties.