They say that you forget about the pains from labor when you hold your baby.  I wouldn’t exactly agree with that.  I distinctly remember the back labor pains from my daughter.  However, after having two kids, I didn’t remember the pain from healing.  This third time I think will stick in my head forever!  I just hurt.  Everywhere seemed to hurt, and Henry spent the first week awake until 4:30 in the morning.  I hurt.  A lot.  There were a few things I found that made me a little more comfortable.

The first thing was to find a comfortable spot.  To live.  Seriously.  We had just bought a new couch and I am so glad that we did.  I didn’t want to wake the older kids, so I spent the first week on the couch downstairs with Henry.  It was a lifesaver.  It hurt to move, so I could get comfortable on the couch.  I kept a stash of diapers, a bag for the ones that needed to be washed or thrown away, my water, hand sanitizer, and a snack in a basket that was handy.

The second thing was taking warm or hot baths.  Ahh, they felt so good.  I very seldom could get in the bath without the kids trying to climb in, so mostly I took hot showers, but it felt so good.

The third thing that helped me to stay comfortable is to use cloth postpartum pads.  That feeling of having a diaper when you just had your baby is bad enough, but using a pad filled with who knows what that crinkles or scratches or whatever else just makes it worse. Cloth menstrual pads are a fantastic option because you they are available in a variety of materials.  I received some postpartum pads with a minky fabric on top and a water resistant wind pro fleece on the bottom.  The core of the pad is made of bamboo fleece.  They are extra absorbent without being super uncomfortable or thick.  The postpartum pads are 13″ long and 3″ across in the center, while being flared out on the ends for maximum protection.  To fasten them in place, use the tab style wings and the poly resin snap.  The snaps are also fabulous because if you are on the go {or even if you aren’t}, you can wrap the pad up and snap it closed.

If minky isn’t for you, there are other fabrics to choose from.  There is also organic bamboo velour, organic bamboo fleece, organic bamboo jersey, cotton velour, cotton wovens, or raw silk.  The bottom fabrics that make up the waterproof layer, protecting your clothes, are made up of either wind pro fleece or felted wool interlock.

With a wide variety of prints to choose from, cloth pads from Pink Lemonade Shop will provide a bright spot in what is otherwise not the funnest part of recovery.  You can check out the gorgeous prints on the Pink Lemonade Pinterest page.

Have you made the switch to a more eco-friendly period?  Are you glad you made the switch?  If you haven’t, what is holding you back?