Post birth survival tips...

[thelollipoplady]

Organising hosp bag / childcare / planning the weeks after the birth - and would like some tips - what made your life bearable in those fuzzy first few weeks?

Arnica

Expensive / Favourite Smellies

My main thing though was that people would sometimes offer to stay with baby while i went out - this was completely pointless I used to drive round aimlessly, what I really needed was for them to take the baby out of the house so I could tidy / bath / sleep or just BE in the house on my own. I'll be a bit more assertive next time.

Go to Doctor at first suspicion of mastitis.

It was a really tough time for me but don't forget that others feel the same and you WILL come out the other side if things are getting tough.

Here is a literal survival tip: look up the symptoms of childbed fever/puerperal fever and get informed medical advice at the slightest sign. It is not a disease of the past - women still get it and still die of it, but no one tells you about it until you are already very ill

To realise that if the baby cries in their cot for the 5 minutes it takes for you to have a shower or grab some food they are not going to be scarred for the rest of their life. Babies need happy mummies. I think this was what helped me the most with DC2.

thanks everyone - what great suggestions.

think these should be made into a post-natal pamphlet to be sent home with you - far more useful than the mini-packs of non-bio washing powder that I got in my bounty pack!!

keep 'em coming.

Another food related one - when we came home from the hospital my OH went to the supermarket and stocked up on salad-y food - pasta salad, coleslaw, crusty bread type stuff. I survived on this kind of food for the first couple of days as my appetite hadn't really come back, and it was easy to throw on a plate, and didn't matter if I got interrupted for half an hour, I could just come back to pick at it. (Appetite came back with a vengeance shortly afterwards!)

And keep a pen & pad handy at your side, you'll think of things (ie something you need to buy when you next go out) and then almost immediately that thought flies out of your head.

If your visitors call in advance and ask if you need anything brought - consult the above pad and say YES!