Afterbirth. It's not a pretty thing. It's also not something that many first time moms expect it to be. I for one thought that once I pushed that baby out I was done! Nope. Not even close. My tummy was fluffy, there was a lot of blood coming out my body and I was sore! Like really really sore! Like, I need an inflatable donut to sit on sore. Thankfully there was a squishy, warm, beautiful baby for me to cuddle which made it a lot easier to endure the seemingly never ending exodus of blood coming from my body. 

Theres this thing called "the mesh panties" that many people absolutely rave about but I'm here to tell you a secret. They suck. I hate them. Never have I felt more uncomfortable in a pair of underwear. Sure they fit great (one size fits all!) and are meant to do great things like keeping your bed from becoming a murder scene, but I've found something better and you're not allowed to laugh.

Depends.
You read that correctly.

Depends.

Adult diapers!

Adult diapers meant for older people who have no bladder control. Yes those and yes they are a life saver! The mesh panties are meant to hold a forearm sized pad in place between your legs while you chase after a toddler four days postpartum or do a myriad of other things that you are supposed to do when you get back home and get back into life. But they totally don't. They slip around and are uncontrollable and seriously uncomfortable. The day I decided to try depends was a life changing day for me. It was the day I said "I don't care if I have a diaper butt in these jeans, at least they wont get stained with afterbirth." and threw away the mesh panties for good. 

I will never go back to my mesh panties days. This doula is a Depends wearer for life (postpartum that is!) So take a minute, gather your wits and potential emotional embarrassment and pick up some depends. Or send your husband! Its up to you!