Little Love Letters

Self-Care Postpartum

First of all, congratulations on your brand new bundle of joy! You’re amazing – no matter how you did it, you overcame what was likely the biggest challenge of your life to this point and carried yourself with grace into motherhood. That should be celebrated first and foremost.

Now comes the healing and bonding with your new baby. There is nothing like it.

I’m not going to paint this as easy since you already know by now, it is not. But you can do it and you will. Let’s first go over essentials and logistics.

Postpartum care products including pads, nipple balm, bath soak, multivitamins, a cup labeled Mama, and a hydration bottle on a wooden table

The fourth trimester essentials

There are several essentials you’ll need for your fourth trimester for yourself. Essentials include:

Now we’re getting to the details. Prepare yourself.

Down there care process

There’s a process to preparing your underwear postpartum, whether you delivered vaginally or c-section.

You have the underwear where you stick the pad (or the postpartum diaper takes care of these steps – super convenient for the first couple of days), then you put the perineal ice pack on top of the pad, then you put the witch hazel tucks on top of the ice pack, then you spray it all with the dermoplast (I even sprayed it on the affected area for good measure).

The peri bottle should be filled with lukewarm water so when you go to urinate, you spray it on yourself as you’re peeing and after you’re finished. This will help with burning since your urine is acidic and you may have torn. The sitz bath can provide some relief for the soreness because that area has been through it all.

Raspberry leaf tea is to help with cramping. As your uterus shrinks back to its normal size, it will contract which feels like cramps or contractions. The tea may help alleviate some of the discomfort.

Breastfeeding essentials and tips

For breastfeeding mothers, you need nursing bras and potentially some clothes that will make nursing an easier process. Button down shirts, nursing shirts or night gowns, nursing robes.

Make sure it isn’t anything too warm. Postpartum night sweats are intense. Your body is going through a huge change and will sweat way more than you ever have, so keep the clothes light and loose.

You’ll also want nipple butter and coconut oil to prevent cracking and bleeding. There are silverettes (nursing cups) that act as small, reusable shields worn over the nipples between breastfeeding sessions to soothe, protect and heal sore, cracked or irritated skin.

Nursing pads go inside the bra between feeds. As your body learns to make milk, it doesn’t always stop when the baby is done feeding, so you’ll want either reusable or disposable nursing pads to soak up any excess milk. There are also milk collection cups you can use if you want to capture all of the excess milk to use later, which I highly recommend.

Make sure you utilize the lactation consultants at your hospital or network. They take the guesswork out of everything. A couple of things they will tell you include putting the entire areola in the baby’s mouth, not just the nipple. A shallow latch is not as effective, and it will be painful for you. You want a deep latch, with the whole areola in the baby’s mouth, and you need to squeeze the breast to point the nipple toward the roof of the baby’s mouth. This will help secure the latch.

Most moms recommend a boppy pillow to support the baby so you can focus on getting them latched. You can nurse using a football hold or regular straight across your abdomen.

For pumping

If you’re pumping, always put coconut oil on your nipple and areola as well as inside the pump flanges. Take it from someone who knows the consequences of not using anything to lubricate.

Remember to measure yourself to ensure you have the right size flange. If you have the wrong size, your breast will fill the space to compensate. For reference, the sizes pump companies send are 24mm, which is the size of a cow’s teat. That is likely not your size. It will hurt if the size is incorrect and less milk will be produced. So, order this nipple sizer to use right after birth. If you ever think the size has changed, just remeasure.

Make sure you utilize the lactation consultants at your hospital or network for pumping as well.

In addition, your health insurance might cover the breast pump so you don’t have to buy it. Look into it to see if your plan covers one – it could save some money. I do not recommend wearable pumps for your daily sessions – hopefully you only need wearables when you’re back to work and want something less cumbersome than a standard pump.

For midnight bottle feeds

I do recommend getting a cooler and ice packs to store the milk you pump wherever you go, or even get the portable cooler and milk warmer by Momcozy (this is especially good for travel). I use the cooler and icepack at home in our room so we don’t have to go to the kitchen in the middle of the night to get milk I pumped during the day. That way we can pack the cooler with the milk we’ll need for mid-night feeds and the bottles and then we use a milk warmer.

For pumpers or milk collectors, I recommend glass bottles (microplastics are a thing now), boppy, sterilizer and bottle washer.

When feeding your baby with a bottle, hold it at a 45 degree angle minimum, preferably as close to horizontal as possible. This will help prevent reflux and spit up.

You may be able to get a pump and a free delivery of milk bags (sometimes delivery of free bags every few months) – so ask about those things.

I recommend setting up a station for where your pumped milk will go. I have a drawer that always has milk bags, a permanent marker and a scissors, so when I’m done pumping I just go that area of the counter and get out as many bags as I need, write the date and the total oz. If you want to get really detailed, include a time or AM/PM stamp.

The newborn weight drop

Remember, newborns typically lose weight in the first couple of days but then they even out and start gaining the weight back. This was a huge stressor for me as a breast feeder. You have the baby and you’re navigating learning how to feed the baby and suddenly realize you’re the only source of this tiny human’s food, nutrition, and antibodies. Expect the weight loss and be compassionate with yourself if you have negative feelings surrounding this issue. It’s normal. It will be ok.

Self-care recommendations for daily comfort

Take baths. They still can’t be piping hot, but they may help ease some of the discomfort.

Make sure you rest. I know sleep may be hard to come by in the first weeks or months, but rest and sleep are essential for your healing and milk supply. Have your support person take the first half of the night with the baby if you can. Maybe that means pumping during the day or combo feeding with formula so your partner can take over for 4-6 hours so you can get some much needed, uninterrupted sleep. Go to bed early, wake up early and snuggle your new little one.

Skin to skin is king for bonding and breastfeeding.

Ask for help. Most of us are not good at that. But if you need something, ask someone. Keep your ass on the couch and send someone a text. You made a whole human and ejected it from your own body. You can ask for help or assistance while you heal.

Monitor your symptoms daily as much as possible

Monitor your mental health. Baby blues are common, but postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety do happen. Keep a journal of your physical and mental symptoms – when they start, when they end, what they are (e.g. feeling hopelessness and panic starting on xx/xx/xxxx – ended on xx/xx/xxxx or ongoing; or, started limping on xx/xx/xxxx). Check out my symptom tracker here (also available on my resources page).

Bring your journal or symptom tracker to your 6 week appointment with your OB. The symptom tracker includes a section where you can write your questions to ask so you won’t forget at the appointment.

You can’t pour from an empty cup – and your new baby needs you more than anything else in the world. So take care of yourself.

Do you have any more products or tips that helped you in your fourth trimester? Let us know in the comments!

This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Every postpartum journey is different. Consult your healthcare provider or a qualified professional with questions about your individual health, recovery, or treatment.

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