1 Magical Post Partum Pads (Warning: Girly Stuff!)

If you are a male, you may want to look away - girly stuff ahead!

These "Magical Post Partum Pads" aka "Padsicles" help reduce swelling and ease discomfort after you have your baby.  

You'll need the following:

• Overnight maxi pad of your choice with wings (with wrapper attached and sticky tab closure, I like Always brand:http://amzn.to/SRoJmm and REALLY like BellaFlor, though they are rather hard to come by: http://amzn.to/1wnQa99 )
• Witch hazel (pharmacy dept) AND lavender essential oil (not perfume, health food store)
• OR buy Thayer's brand witch hazel which offers a variety of natural scents like Lavender, Rose, Peach, etc. (Whole Foods, health food store or Amazon: http://amzn.to/T91bsK )
• Aloe vera gelly (health food store or Amazon: http://amzn.to/Xc9qnO )
• Scissors 

Directions: 

1. Set out supplies. If using plain witch hazel and essential oil, add about 20 drops of oil to the bottle of witch hazel
2. Unwrap pad, but do not detach from adhesive paper (do not discard wrapper) 
3. If the wings are held together with one piece of paper, cut straight up the middle with scissors so they are separated, but still covered with the paper (don't cut through the wings)
4. On each pad, squirt about 1 tablespoon of witch hazel from end to end
5.  Squirt a 3" line of aloe vera gelly in the middle of each pad
6. Fold each end of the pad over, leaving the cut wings OUT so that they don't touch the gelly
7. Secure each pad back in it's original wrapper with sticky tab and store in freezer IN A SEALED PLASTIC BAG until ready to use. Make these as close to your delivery date as possible to reduce evaporation.   

Notes: One 12oz bottle of Thayers witch hazel was enough for me to make 60 pads exactly. One 12 oz bottle of aloe vera gelly is enough for all, with at least 1/4 bottle left over.

Even though I had a C/S the first time, I found these especially soothing in the first few days home from the hospital and I was very swollen.  The cold feels amazing! I have since used them twice again after VBACs and it's even BETTER!  Though I didn't come up with the original idea, I made a several tweaks to it, as seen here. I've made these for my friends for years. Hope you ladies try them!

Directions in pictures: