Maternity pads

[Mrschunk]

I used the stayfree maternity pads for the first few days, which i found good. I took 2 packs to hospital but had to get DH to bring another pack in.

When the flow settled down a bit i used the libra goodnights / maternity. I just fund that the stayfree a bit thicker and absorbed more when the flow was huge.

[joralyd]

How many packs of pads are needed? Like to take to the hospital and have on standby for when you get home? I've heard some horror stories - why do people tell first-time-mums this stuff?!

LOL ducky, I have no idea why they tend to tell you the worst maybe some people feel you need to know, who knows!
I took 2 pks with my first but in hindsight I would recomend preparing for a 5day stay even if it's not the plan. So I would recomend 3 pkts of maternity pads and keep a supply of normal af time pads at home. The first few days are the worst but it tappers off, and like someone said tell the nurse if you think it's too much. I found it tended to "gush" during feeding obviously cause the uterus contracts so just be prepared for the oopsies with some extra undies etc even double up for the first night if it's too much.

[*ducky*]

Tks joralyd!

I think the 'girl scout' approach on this one is best, and to just be prepared! After not having to deal with AF for 9 months, it's going to be a shock - amongst all of the others

I'll get another couple of packs.....

[Keira]

Sorry to hijack your thread ducky, but does anyone know if the lochia flow is different if you have a c-section?

[joralyd]

Keira I've only had c's but have heard from other mum's who have had both natural and C and they've said it seams to be lighter but still alot heavier than a normal af, they do suck alot out in surgery though. Still it's not the same for everyone and some mum's have a heavier time than others so like Ducky says the girl scout way is the best

[Keira]

Thanks Tiff

[Evie76]

OK.............. here goes............ how embarrasing......... I boughtt six packets and had to buy another six packets afterwards........... it was insane.

I used the Libra ones BUT I had two on at once. How? So they were really, really long.

Dumb, eh? I was shocked. But, to be honest I went in to the whole pg with an air of "whatever". 7 weeks later the tap finally switched off.......... heh, heh. I nearly forgot about that part. Here I was thinking about going back and doing that again......... only joshin'.

PS. Using two worked REALLY well. Just weren't long enough.

[~Raven~]

I prefered the kotex ones as the extra padding was nice and soft on my tender stitched up bits.
I don't like the libra ones as they smell like wet newspaper!

[kungfubecca]

I used the kotex, and will use them again. Yep they are nice and soft on the stitched bits. If you have stitched bits, switching to ultra thins isn't a very good idea, they are not soft enough.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that after a normal VB my flow was no where near what I had expected. It did last for 5 weeks though.

My midwife got me a cloth nappy to fold and put under the pads for the first night as this catches any leakage. It meas there is a lot of stuff in your undies but it meant I didn't have to worry.

FYI, I was also told that if you have to change your pad more than once every 1-2 hours, you are bleeding too much. And if the midwife tells you not to worry and you know there is something wrong, demand to speak to someone else.

[Liviam]

I'm different. I used the depend pad knickers that you can get at the supermarket. They were absolutely brilliant. I didn't overflow a single drop and they were really comfortable. After a few days I used the Libra maternity ultra slim pads.

[Evie76]

Depend!!!! What A Great Idea!!

[joralyd]

owww great idea!!!

[BekZ]

My friend recommends Depends nickers if your waters break at home too!! I am definately getting some, considering that I went through 5 mat pads before I made it to my front door on the way to hosiptal. Ended up going to hospital with a towel between my legs.

[joralyd]

do they come in different types or anything? and how many in a pack? I've never actually taken much notice of them before but what a great idea, It's as good as dissposible undies

[Carrie]

I've never heard of them! Are they pads or knickers??

[joralyd]

They're incontinence pads/undies but I've never actually bought or opened a packet so I really don't know much more than that

[Liviam]

The ones that I bought were the knickers type ones. They are like the baby pull up training pants. They have a built in pad the goes from front to back a far way and then around the top and sides it is stretchy mesh which you can tear down the sides and take them off. I would have been lost without them both in labour and afterwards with my bleeding. They were great at keeping my waters contained while I was labouring so I always felt clean as it wasn't running everywhere (sorry for the TMI visual) and then my DH and midwife just tore the sides and they were off when they needed them off.
Afterwards they were great because I didn't leak at all not even a drop and they are suprising comfortable and absolutely no-one even noticed I was wearing them and they saved on so much washing. Another good thing is they held in the jelly belly a little bit too . A girlfriend also used these after her c/s and she found that they didn't rub at all on her incision and didn't hurt it at all and actually gave it a bit of protection from the pants as they didn't rub directly on it.
When buying them be careful to look at the pack closely because there are two similiar. One is the full knickers (get these ones) and the other ones have the long pad but they are held on with a string on the sides and you still have to wear knickers. From memory they come in about 10 - 14 a packet depending on which size you buy and they are around $14 a pack from the supermarket. I took two packs with me to the hospital and then switched to pads as my lochia had really settled down.
I tell everyone about them and will definitely use them again with #2.

[Mum0809]

Just wondering do the depend pad knickers come in different sizes? Can the get ones for bigger women?