(Originally Published July 2014)
This post is about random products that I had not prepared for in advance. For example, night lights. Suddenly it's not a great idea to turn on overhead lighting and shock my infant into waking up. Huge lights suddenly blinding her make her flinch and then cry. Also, I can't be left fully in the dark for when she wakes and I need to find her in her cuddle cove attached to the pack 'n play at the foot of my bed. So after a week of leaving the closet light on with the door cracked open a few inches, I finally got smart and ordered night lights. These are great because they rotate to point in any direction you want, turn off in the light, turn on automatically in the dark, and are LED.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SVANCY/ref=pe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1
Other things that might not seem obvious were manicure scissors for her nails... She came out intent on clawing her own face with tiny but sharp little nails. The weird thing is that the nails could not be clipped as they are flexible but sharp. You can try with a clipper, but nothing happens. The best bet is to be really careful with tiny scissors when she is sleeping and trim them a little. (The hospital did not have any nail clippers or scissors, btw.)
Have you heard of the Boppy pillow? It's okay, but I was still having a really hard time with my back and the pillows slipping. While I think the name is pretty terrible, I now have a "My Brest Friend" pillow after trying one at the pediatrician's office. Yes, they are awesome. Less like a pillow and more like a padded shelf that buckles around you, it saves your back from stooping forward and all kinds of other craziness. Now I buckle that on, stick one pillow on my lap underneath it because she's so small, and am set to feed her fairly comfortably.
Get some pads before the hospital. It's been over nine months since my last period, and I moved a few times. I had no idea where my pads were. Since you will be bleeding similar to a period for six weeks, stock up. (This also might seem obvious, but tampons are not an option and you will not want to go there. I'm saying this because those tiny panty liners won't be enough and most of us probably don't use those jumbo pads anymore these days and have switched to tampons or luna cups, but for this, you need the big absorbent pads.) The hospital also gave me a jar of witch-hazel soaked swabs for the stitches area, and that was nice to have also.
Stool softeners - they are over-the-counter, so you might as well pick them up. Just ask the pharmacy which one for postpartum moms and then you won't have to make that stop on the way home. I've been taking one a day with my prenatal vitamin, and it has helped.
Personally, I decided to go all reusable with diapers. However, I did not anticipate Koral being so tiny! It will take several months before she fits into to the regular size of adjustable BumGenius diapers I had ready, so I went ahead and ordered the infant sized ones this week. They arrived today! I washed them and they are on the drying rack. Thank goodness. In 7 days of being home, we have gone through almost 4 packs of diapers with about 36 in each! Why so many? Sometimes I'm changing her and she pees on the next diaper. And the next. I'm getting better at it, like opening the soiled diaper and then waiting a little while for her to decide to pee before moving on, but then it's so sad to throw away a diaper that was only used for a whole two seconds, let alone four tossed out at once. It's such a huge waste. It will be handy to not have to worry about a depleted supply.
Oh - the hospital did not have a MIRROR. Like a make-up mirror or hand held mirror. I asked to see my stitches, and that was the reason I couldn't. I just wanted to know what was going on down there. Turns out it's not a very visible thing anyway, and since it never really hurt that much, especially since coming home, it's not a huge deal, but wow - how can a hospital not have nail clippers or a mirror??
Alright, that's the end of my thoughts for now.
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