WHAT helped you recover from labour ?

What did you have on hand to sooth you , or help you after you gave birth?

last time I had my MIL staying and she helped when I ran out of anything or needed help as Dh was working alot...

DH will be home to help this time but needs directing, when it comes to being helpful :)

I am stocking up on maternity pads and breastpads...

What helped you after birth? to recover? What did you need in the first week or so?

I was thinking id get some bath salts? any recommendations? for helping to heal etc?

im going to freeze /organise a few meals ( Dh is a chef) but has no licence so I need to stock up incase I cant drive straight away... and family will be here but they will only be helpful for getting takeaway and visiting when it suits them , most likely ;)

Sleep was all i needed :lol: oh and a heat pack for my back. Oh the pain was awful afterwards. DP was really attentive he had 3 weeks after and it only took me about 2 weeks to recover enough to do things myself.

I recovered well too.. I was out the next day for melbourne cup day with DS but I didnt drive and here , where we are living now I need to drive to a shop ..... if we need anything :)

Im paranoid too I guess because it will be just us .... and Im usually the organiser/boss lol

I used a heat pack for my backpain and cs wound. I also got one of those nifty 'claw' type things you use to grab stuff thats out of reach. Not sure what its called but it was so handy since I was on my own at home and in a lot of pain. A really great pillow would also be nice, I wished I had one post-birth. Will add more if I think of it. Can't believe you're so close now! Time flies!

I also recommend the heat pack, and a boomerang pillow :)

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I used a heat pack for my backpain and cs wound. I also got one of those nifty 'claw' type things you use to grab stuff thats out of reach. Not sure what its called but it was so handy since I was on my own at home and in a lot of pain. A really great pillow would also be nice, I wished I had one post-birth. Will add more if I think of it. Can't believe you're so close now! Time flies!

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Or a basket to keep things like the TV remote, books etc... in without having to get up & down all the time.

Pre-cooking meals
Perhaps consider ordering your shopping online for delivery
Comfie clothes for around the house

I was very fortunate to have DH home for approx. 3 weeks, then my mum for another two. I was then alright on my own.

Really soft squishy pillow to sit on when you have sore lady bits :)

Otherwise, not much really, apparently I seem to deal quite well with this baby having shiznit. That stuff that makes your wee less acid is great if you have grazes/tears/stitches because the wee really really stings those.

Fortunately my recovery was pretty good too, just a bit of general soreness where bub made an entrance. I used an awesome healing spray directly and also sprayed it on my pads before wearing them - if you google post labour healing tincture the first result is the one.

Sleep is all I did too for three days after we got home. Actually that's all both DS and I did! I felt like a real twat as I was buggered yet not gone through the whole sleep deprivation ting yet :)

I didn't tear at all during labour but I did end up with one hell of a rhoid :redface: and my midwife friend suggested partially filling condoms with water then freezing them and wearing them in my knickers on inside my pad (cut a whole in the end of the pad and insert) to help with the pain and swelling. Worked a treat!

DH had 2 weeks off work and was amazing and my parents visited often (which we loved and encouraged) and bought meals for us or came and cooked for us.

Get a soft comfy little pillow for wherever you plan on sitting. I had an epi/forceps delivery and I froze a bit if water in some condoms and when I was feeling a bit extra tender in the stitched undercarriage I would tear open the top of a maternity pad and put the frozen condom in there same as Taurean (I've mentioned this in other threads) it made a world of difference. Get yourself a comfy relaxing place to feed too, if your not comfy then bub won't be!! I can't see how long you have to go from my phone but good luck!!

Flushable wipes to use instead of toilet paper. I was ready to marry my packet of flushable wipes when I was still in hospital, so much more gentle. (This was after a second degree tear).

Other than that if you are in pain take some pain relief, it is better for your recovery and healing to feel more comfortable and move about normally than to be uncomfortable and avoid moving about or doing it awkwardly.

I am definitely going to stock up on normacol (helps with constipation) or something like that this time because I had real trouble in that department and it was unpleasant to say the least. Need.to.keep.things.moving.

I used heat packs, Arnica tissue salts, specially prepared herbal dipped maternity pads that I froze, electrolyte drinks, stayed in my bed for days in nice pj's, an aromatherapy facial spray I prepared before labour with neroli and rose and lovely, healing mantra music that I gave birth to :)
Oh, and panadeine forte!

Ooh yes, flushable wipes!! And Kleenex Cottonelle for when you're ready to return to loo paper :lol:

Tucks, laxatives :), and this numbing spray for your va-jay-jay the hospital usually gives you or you can get at a pharmacy

Numbing spray... wonder if you can get that here :)

Thanks ladies for all the Great ideas

maybe some new cheap toys and stickers for your DS to help keep him distracted while you are trying to recover. This helped me with DD1

wish i knew about numbing spray? a few months ago lol

Here is a link to the numbing spray Im talking about

dermoplast

one of the best tips that i got and used with great success was a bottle of calendula to pop some drops on my pads. it was great for the grazing etc...and uber awesome when i prepared a few in advance and had them in the freezer for a wee while. ahhhh sweet relief!