Postpartum for the first two weeks was quite rough for me. Once I hit the two week mark, I felt completely better and would go on to say I was ready to get back to my normal routine and was itching to start working out again. There were a few products and things I prepared ahead of time that really helped me out during those first two rough weeks that I would say are absolute essentials. My sister told me to prepare most of these items and today I’m going to share them as my postpartum essentials list.

As mentioned in Partaap Singh’s birth story, I had a third degree tear that was really quite painful. I’m not sure what an episiotomy, second degree, or any other degree tear for that matter feels like, but the third degree tear really restricted my movement and my sleep. These items in my postpartum essentials list really helped me ease the pain and possibly even allowed me to recover faster.

Postpartum Essentials List

Padsicles

The number one item on my postpartum essentials list has got to be padsicles. I made a bunch of these when I was 38 weeks pregnant and they proved to be super useful postpartum. They are easy to make and provide instant relief when you use them. My only suggestion would be to use smaller pads. I thought I would bleed a lot, but you bleed the most at the hospital for a day or two and they provide you with huge pads and padsicles that you can take advantage of there.

When I came home and started using my homemade padsicles, I found that they were a bit too big and bulky. Regardless, the pain relief was amazing. You can make them by opening up a pad, adding two tablespoons of Witch Hazel and 1 tablespoon of Aloe Vera Gel and applying it all over the pad. Close it up again, and keep the padsicles in a ziploc bag in the freezer for when you get home from the hospital.

Mesh Underwear

I absolutely loved the mesh underwear that the hospital gives you that I wanted to purchase more from them. However, with the postpartum kit that the hospital sells, they only provide one of the mesh underwear. I had to get my hands on them, so my sister found them online on Amazon and bought some fore me. They are amazing and you must purchase a few for your postpartum as well.

Sitz Bath

I had purchased a Sitz Bath along with some Sitz bath salts from Amazon as recommended by my sister. However, I didn’t realize that the hospital gives you a Sitz bath as well to take home with you. So, I returned my Amazon one and used the one the hospital provided. I tried the Sitz bath with Epsom salts as well as with these Earth Mama salts I found online, however, my favorite way to use the Sitz bath was just with some regular warm/hot water. It felt amazing just sitting in the Sitz bath and it provided so much relief to my stitches that I tried doing it twice a day until I hit the 2 week postpartum mark.

Peri Bottle/Bidet Attachment

The hospital also provides you with a couple of peri bottles, or you can purchase this highly recommended one by FridaBaby. I personally just stuck with the peri bottles but also decided to purchase a bidet attachment for our toilet. I thought it made a great tool for postpartum but also for future use.

Tylenol and Advil

For the first two weeks postpartum, I took 2 Advils and 2 Tylenols every two hours to help with my pain. By the second week postpartum, I was at 2 of each daily and by the end of the second week, I didn’t need them at all. They were great at easing my pain and I highly recommend you keep a bottle of each handy for when you get home from the hospital.

Stool Softener

I’m not going to lie, but you will need to have a bowel movement and when it comes, you will be in pain, maybe even a lot of pain. I remember the first few bowel movements for me were incredibly painful, but I got through them. A stool softener will help, but it will still be painful. I can’t imagine the pain if I didn’t use the stool softeners.

Well there you have it, if you want to have the most comfortable postpartum recovery period, I would suggest using this postpartum essentials list and getting all these items ready ahead of time. The first two weeks after you have your baby are a blur and you won’t have any time to go to the store or make padsicles. So, stock up and use these items to take care of yourself so you can focus on taking care of your new bundle of joy 🙂