What to Have on Hand for Yourself After Baby is Born

I realize I haven't posted in a bit but really I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. A combination of staying at my parents while waiting for Baby Girl to arrive, a family emergency involving my father in law being hospitalized overseas while on vacation, and the baby finally coming kept me away from my computer longer than I expected.

Our newest wee one arrived on May 16th after a brief induced labor. It was the first time I've made it this far- 39 weeks. She was 7 lbs, 3 oz and it is strange to see her wearing outfits that didn't fit her older sister until she was 6 weeks old! She's eating well and I'm happy to say I had my 3rd natural childbirth.

There are lists upon lists out there of what to buy for baby and getting ready to bring baby home. But what about mom? In preparation for my 3rd child I knew what to have on hand so for the uninitiated here is a list of basics that are good to have waiting for you at home. (I apologize in advance if some of this contains TMI.)

- Tylenol
- Motrin (this helps with inflammation and can also help with breast tenderness and inflammation if you become engorged)
- Stool softener (ahh- yes the not so pleasant fun of post natal life that no one likes to talk about. You may have to get stitches. And if you do you'll be happy you had these on hand.)
- Pads. (There will be bleeding. Have them on hand.)
- Instant heat packs or a hot water bottle. Helpful for both bottom pain and breast pain.
- Ice packs. Same deal- bottom and breast engorgement.
- A bucket. (There is something about hormone readjustment after birth that can make some women relive their first trimester nausea. Sadly, I am one of them. So I keep a bucket nearby.)
- A hand pump. (Many breastfeeding mothers will rent a hospital grade pump. These are great. However, in the first few weeks as your nipples adjust to their new job they may be too tender for the pump. I found that a hand pump allowed me to relieve some pressure without feeling like I needed to bite down on a leather strap. I particularly like the Avent handpump. )
- Tank tops. (I was never one to spend a lot on nursing shirts/bras. I have two bras but let's be realistic. If I'm at home I probably am just going to have my shirt pulled down. Tank tops work great, pick up a few cheap and you won't care when you're covered in spitup and leaking milk. )
- Food. Breastfeeding makes me ravenous so I stocked the cupboards ahead of time with one handed snacks like granola bars (I made mine using this recipe), presliced and frozen homemade loaves of bread that I could microwave one at a time, popsicles (they make me happy and are easier to eat than ice cream) and loads of cut up fruit. I also made some mason jar salads for quick lunches.

Hope this helps soon to be moms out there. It will all even out in the first few weeks. (If it counts for anything I am typing this with a Mombo pillow around me and am currently breastfeeding.) What did you like to have on hand for after birth?

Battery Organization

A short and sweet post, but I found a "scrapbooking organizer" at Big Lots for $3. It was just the right size for my batteries. I've been meaning to do this for awhile so one more thing crossed off my to do list. 

Tackling the Bathroom: A Lesson in Patience & Organization

I'm not Martha. There I said it. I aspire to be. I just don't really like to clean. And my organizing? I start things in a major way and get distracted, by kids, by a job that used to keep me on the road, by pregnancy exhaustion. When that happens I am left with piles of crap everywhere and no motivation to fix it. So when I saw the 21 Day Challenge on A Bowl Full of Lemons I thought to myself, "Hmmm, maybe if I get to put up before & after pictures I'll gain some motivation." Besides my poor husband is very patient with my "unique" methods of organization so I thought I'd reward him with a neat space since he is a bit more of a neatnik than I am. (Days 4, 13, 14, & 15)
I am ashamed to post the before pictures but here they are: (Feel free to gasp out loud- they aren't even all the way before as I had started sorting items into categories a week ago.)

With post & beam construction we end up with some weird and limited shelving.

We also lack a laundry closet, hence the stack of towels on a chair.  We also had a cabinet thing over the toilet that I was getting worried about. It seemed very "tippable".

The sink is just a huge catch all.

My husband took the 17 month old and amused her for awhile and I set to work on organizing everything.

My goal was to fit most of our items under the sink because the shelving area was open and the toddler had started to rummage through it.

Travel size items including our ready to go travel bag. 

Medicines & Thermometers 

My Stuff

My husband's stuff

My son's stuff & our dental items

Then I tackled a little obstacle. Our first aid supply was out of control. So I sorted the band aids by size. Half of them I set aside to go into our 72 hour kit which I am working on.

Sorting band-aids by size

The other half went into my handy band-aid file. I categorized them into round, tiny, small, medium, large, extra large, and latex free. I also put our alcohol wipes in there and the first aid tape and antibacterial ointment in the front. Now when I hear screams of "Mommy" from outside this summer I can just grab this and run out :).

Band-Aid File

First Aid Supplies

All the baby stuff

Ahhh- I'm in love with my label maker.

My father-in-law understands that I have a deep obsession with office supplies. Some of my gifts this Christmas included a 12 pack of Sharpies in every color of the rainbow, a container of multi-colored binder clips, and this sweet label maker which has multiple fonts, styles, and lime green tape!

Under the sink After

I can't even describe how ridiculously proud I was as I sat in front of the cabinet to take this darn picture. My husband's bin and my bin are on the top on each side since they are used the most. The others are only used occasionally. Behind the babies basket are our sunscreens which are not in use right now since it is February in Vermont!

Medicine Cabinet After

More pride- My husband and I each have a section for items we use daily and I was able to fit all our dental care items into the cabinet so that the counter is clear.

Woah- where'd all that crap go? :)

I took out the over toilet cabinet. With the slanted ceiling it had always felt a little large for the space but we had needed the storage! I replaced the towel chair with a small white bookcase that has at some point in time lived in every room in our house. I added a book holder to the side of the toilet- we received it as a gag Christmas gift but it came in handy. And the container on top of the toilet holds a backup roll of toilet paper and formula for late night bottles. I had a huge assortment of containers floating around so I actually didn't have to purchase anything for this project. I had gone through in the last week though and consolidated all of my empty containers and baskets into one corner upstairs which made life easier.

The all-important potty training throne.

My favorite part!

With all of the items now neatly stored under the sink I was able to remove the bottom shelf and create a small bathroom "busy" area for my toddler. She is getting too big to sit quietly in the seat while you shower so this is my solution. The items on the top shelf are pushed way back and up really high so she can't get to them. I laid down a yoga mat for her to sit on. This way I can occasionally hose it off to clean it. We picked a few hard plastic toys and books to store here and I'll rotate them frequently to keep her interested. When she's not in the space the laundry basket will live there and we can just pull it out when we're showering.

Laundry basket storage & my bird matching game. I'll have to touch up the walls, when I pulled the shelves out the walls were still white where they had been.

I had a bunch of these IKEA bird placemats from an earlier project. I took 2 of them and cut all the birds out of one. Then using sticky-back velcro I attached them over the matching bird on the whole placemat. 

See, I'm holding the bluebird before I put him on his twin.

The toddler is big into matching right now and has a velcro obsession so this should keep her busy.

Here she is checking out the play area before bed. 

Ok, so I feel like my Sunday had a purpose. So, so glad to get this project accomplished! My husband's reaction, "I don't care why you did this but if that lemon blog motivates you to take pictures and clean things then keep doing it."