Breast Pads Review

Since having the baby, I have tried practically every breast pad that I've seen out there on the market. I guess I should be thankful that I produce tons of breast milk for Jory, but it also leads to much concern for me with regard to engorgement and leakage.

Above is a picture of all the breast pads that I have tried. The top left is a picture of a Johnson & Johnson breast pad; top right is a Medela breast pad, bottom left is a Lansinoh breast pad; and the bottom right is a fabric breast pad from Thyme Maternity.

To start off, the fabric breast pads definitely did not work for me. While I loved the idea of throwing it in the wash, they leaked right through for me so it basically defeated the purpose of me even using the breast pads. I think this would only work for women who have minimal leakage. The cost was $8 or $9 for a pack of 2 sets.

The Lansinoh breast pad is probably my favourite if I had to pick. It covers probably the most area out of the three disposable pads. I found that they never leaked on me and they are quite thin and breathable.

The Johnson & Johnson breast pad would be my second pick. I also found that they would never leak, however, I don't like that it is a smaller and thicker pad which you have to center on the nipple. I did however like that they seemed more sturdy though.

Finally, there is the Medela breast pad, which is my least favourite. Particularly, I hated the fact that they would make a crinkling noise and seemed to wrinkle very easily compared to the other two disposable pads. They also never leaked though, and they are also thin like the Lansinoh breast pad.

All of the disposable breast pads cost about $10 for a box of 60. One major flaw with all of the disposable breast pads is that they only have one sticker patch on each pad to attach to your bra. Inevitably, if you move your bra (such as when you pump), then they can easily fall off.

Postpartum Depression

I want to discuss a serious subject today...postpartum depression. To start off with, I'd like to say that I definitely did not enjoy pregnancy. It was nothing like I had imagined. I guess I had envisioned the romanticized version of it, and I was just unprepared for all of the emotional and physical effects of pregnancy. It's funny because many women have told me that I would miss the pregnant belly postpartum. I can honestly say I don't miss anything about pregnancy otherwise than the fact that I cannot protect my child completely like when he was in the womb.

The reason I would like to discuss postpartum depression is because I feel like I could have easily fallen into a cloud of depression following delivery. In fact, I believe I was quite close to it. This was actually a big concern for me during my pregnancy. A couple of days following delivery, I found out that the "friend" I had previously discussed in earlier blog entries had gone and done something extremely important in her life and had left me out. I was utterly devastated. I was lucky that when I found out, hubby was nearby and I simply fell in his arms crying inconsolably. I cried for basically two days straight. I could not fathom how she could be so cold hearted when I thought of her as a sister and could never even think to hurt her in such a way. I think the only reason why I was able to come out from the cloud of depression was because I basically had no choice. There was family and friends all around me during this time, and many festivities that were taking place to welcome baby. I had no choice...I had to put up a strong front. I guess I should be grateful for this, although I simply wanted to retreat at the time.

To this day, I can't say that I am truly over the devastation of having been shut out of this person's life...all because I wanted her to be there for me during a time when I was going through something new, scary and foreign. I guess it will be something that I will never understand. I still can't really talk about it without crying.

I guess my reason for rehashing this experience is because I think this subject is something that people don't usually want to talk about. We would all like to believe that everything to do with having a baby is so happy and blissful that we don't want to mention the serious issues. I am blessed that I do have the support from family and friends. I am especially thankful for the support from a few other new mommies. I just hope that if you are a new mom, and you feel as if you are spiralling down into depression, that you force yourself to find the support before you miss out on any part of your beautiful new baby's life.

Stretch Marks

Stretch marks have essentially been the vain of my existence since the latter part of my pregnancy and continues today. I am just praying for the day when all of them have faded and are not the horrible very visible red marks that they are right now.

When I first got pregnant, I was just hoping to be one of the lucky women that would not get stretch marks, or at least would only get them minimally. It was not long before I realized that I would actually be one of the unlucky ones that would not only get them, but get lots of them. They are essentially down my inner thighs, on the bottom portion of my belly and on the love handles area. If I were more brave, I would take and post a picture for the sake of being informative, but they are truly too hideous for me to be so brave. I have settled by posting a picture from my maternity shoot, which was most definitely touched up dramatically.

I could honestly say that I have tried basically every oil, cream and butter (including Palmers Cocoa Butter, L'Occitane's Almond Oil, Mother's Special Blend, and Bio-Oil) that are supposed to prevent/reduce stretch marks and I can't say that any of them actually work. The only cream which I could truly not live without is Vitamin E cream since it reduces the itchiness, but as for the actual prevention/reduction of stretch marks, I don't think any of them were very effective. Unfortunately, I think I was just genetically inclined to get them. For those women that swear by a certain oil, cream or butter, I think they probably were not going to get them anyways, or just get them minimally.