What have you prepared for your new arrival?

aoibheann101

I am due 06th December. I have car carry cot, stroller & baby bags ready for the hospital. Aswell as baby next to me cot and bottles. I got an electric bottle warmer and mini fridge for the bedroom to save me going down stairs for night feeds. What have ye prepared? 

pharmtechbaby

I'm due dec 8th. We have a changing table and some small items. Our main focus has been getting the house fixed up before baby arrives. I'm hoping to get alot of things from my mom and baby shower and after that i can get other essentials.  

alp63

I also got many things from hand-me-down. Super helpful!
What I thought was helpful from day one: doc-a-tot,Halo swaddle, bibs, and baby bathtub.
Depending on if you are having vaginal birth - a vaginal birth postpartum kit.

harpseal135

@alp63 what is a vaginal postpartum kit?  I had a 4th degree tear - almost needed to go to the OR - the hospital/birthing center gives you what you need: ice, cream, water squirter to wash after restroom mesh panties that if I bled through which did multiple times - bless housekeeping- and anything you needed.  Anything that was in the room you pack up and bring with you.  

Sorry, if you want to buy your own stuff (underwear, gown, etc) just to get it ruined - guess thats your choice.  If you want your own pads, thats your choice. 
Just know anything you need they have, for recovery. 

rac2718

@harpseal135, my hospital had items for recovery and a few things to take home but not nearly enough. Postpartum kits are increasingly available and great to have to take care of you. 

fertile-turtle

@harpseal135 I mean, I know I get those things at the hospital for while I’m there, but I’m also preparing for home. I’ve been recommended to have padsicles/ice packs for my perineum, Dermaplast for local pain relief, adult diapers rather than dealing with pads that can leak, especially when I’m at home and don’t have housekeeping to handle the mess, a peribottle for every bathroom, Tucks pads for hemorrhoids… just because you’re covered at the hospital doesn’t mean you’re fully prepared for home, and I definitely prefer not to scramble to find everything I need postpartum when I could prepare it now. It’s not so much that I want to “buy my own things just for them to get ruined” as it is that I want to be comfortable for the parts of my recovery that happen at home.

pharmtechbaby

Harpseal being a ray of sunshine, per usual. 😂

dobiemom11

@fertile-turtle.  I love that you are thinking about what YOU will need after the baby arrives.  You are making sure that your recovery is a priority in the middle of this big exciting change. 

A word of caution- I bought some supplies for at home but definitely overbought!! I hardly touched anything I bought after I went through the stuff the hospital sent me home with.  So I would say buy the smallest size of items and then you can always order more if you need it.  You could even put the items on your registry (in the private setting if you would prefer it wasn't available for everyone to see) and then you can easily add reorder anything you liked.  I passed my stuff along to someone else in the neighborhood who had a baby.  I think she even had enough to pass along to another neighbor.  So I literally bought enough for three recoveries (although I wasn't sure what my recovery would be or what the hospital would provide). 

bookmaiden17_

I second the not over buying for home. The few things I needed more of were extra large pads and then smaller ones as time goes on, the ice pack pads (amazing) bought a box of 25 and used all of them, and mesh underwear (wore those for the first couple weeks at home and going out with pads in them), tucks pads (stick them in the freezer for extra cold) Yes you can get extra of that stuff from the hospital (make sure your issuance will cover or it is included with the cost of your stay) but I found for somethings it wasn’t enough. The dermablast spray I took home what is used in the hospital and an extra but never even used the extra. I think it all depends on your birth experience and recovery on what you will end up using. 

I’d also add having extra strength Tylenol and Metamucil on hand as well. 

knottiec1bd6c5399b4642a

When I came home with my first, in addition to what I got from the hospital, I remember needing more heavy duty pads, witch hazel, cotton pads for applying the witch hazel, dermoplast, colase, Tylenol, and Advil. 

harpseal135

@pharmtechbaby you really do have an issue, don't you.

I never heard of a "vaginal postpartum kit" and honestly sounds like another gimmick for mothers to buy. 

Sorry that the hospital sent plenty of items home w/ me that was all used.  I had Tylenol and ibuprofen in house and used frozen washcloths for the stitching.  I utilized the overnight pads I had at home.  

So yeah, I didn't need to make a special kit or buy one for that matter.  

So yeah.  Also, as you can read most people here barely used what they overbought! 🤣😍

pharmtechbaby

Why does it bother you so that there's things you haven't heard of other people might find useful. You just want to be right versus helping other mothers not feel alone.  
If someone wants to " waste" money on premade kits so be it. 

coldlife2

I’m in third Tri now and literally nothing. I won’t do that until much closer. I’ve had low risk OOH births, so I’m at my birth center much shorter than if it was a hospital birth. I take very little with me. Clothes for the baby, maybe a change for me, a little bit of makeup, an extra nightgown I might wear after I’m cleaned up, and that’s about it. 

I’ve never had or needed a changing table, baby tub, various seats (we had one reclining bouncy seat.) I have the bed set up before birth and clothes washed and diapers on hand, and that’s about it.

I, too, think a premade kit is a waste of money. There are some things you might want, but I think that’s best done separately. I hate wearing diapers, so I only wear what my birth center gives me, 1 to wear home and two more days worth, before switching to underwear. No need to buy peri bottles, they’ll give you that. I used some of the Angel Baby, Earth Mama products, which I liked. Didn’t need dermablast, pain mends, laxatives. If you’re careful and just take it easy and don’t push, you’re not going to hurt yourself, even if you think you will. (And fwiw, Google and your providers will tell you it doesn’t go through breast milk. I don’t buy that. I know someone who will swear on a Bible that it does because she started taking it after leaving the hospital, her baby was cranky and didn’t like to nurse, and as soon as she stopped taking it, all that went away). You don’t need many huge pads. My birth center, so it seems from what I hear on here, doesn’t give out near so much as a hospital does. I still barely needed any of my own heavy pads. What I needed and didn’t have enough of was regular period pads. I was down to regular pads within a week and a half or so and then in them for four or five weeks after that. 

karbaud

I’m new to this, so maybe this question is crazy. Has anyone used period underwear instead of pads after birth? Before going off birth control, I only had a period 3-4 times per year, and it lasted 1-2 days at most. This was for 10 years. I cringe at the idea of having to wear a pad. But, I also don’t know how much bleeding there will be.

harpseal135

@karbaud, I don't see why you couldn't its the same thing as a pad.  If you are comfortable using them, then use them.  Its the same concept. 

swizzlemalarkey

@karbaud you can totally wear whatever you are comfortable with. But there will be blood 😳 I know it depends on everyone, but I bled a lot and had lots of clotting. You’d probably just have to change your underwear frequently so make sure you have a lot. I would say wear pads in the hospital because your nurse will most likely change them for you. And it was quick and easy; better than having to take underwear off, but I also had a 3rd degree tear and could barely move my bottom. I will note that the ice pack pads are very useful the first week, especially if you have stitches. I honestly didn’t even care that I was wearing a huge pad, I was so uncomfortable and in pain I barely noticed the pad. But I would say after the first week or so period underwear would be fine. You’ll just have to see how much you’re bleeding. I used the gigantic hospital pads until I was out, then switched to the thin but absorbent always pads.