What did the hospital send you home with?

leapgirl8

I'm not expecting anything except some diapers and maybe the hats/blankets they use, but I've heard that there are all kinds of fun things at some of them - a newspaper from your baby's date of birth, baby care books, one place sends new parents home with either a meat or veggie lasagna for the first night. Did you get anything fun or unexpected? 

butterflygrooves

Nothing fun to take home but the food there was exceptional, I ate as often as they would allow me!

Definitely grab as many packs of diapers as possible, I kept opening  packs and sending them home with people to save for me so I could get new packs.  So evil.  

When I picked Apple up from the hospital they gave me a few cases of the 2oz premade bottles, a couple shirts that snap in the front (to go over her broken arm), a couple blankets, about 5 cloth diaper/burp cloths (I still use them as diapers, they are great), and a couple packs of diapers.

2brides

We delivered at Holy Cross and didn't get anything fun.

We got: diapers leftover in the open packs, a few ready to feed bottles (which got thrown out), bulb suction (better than the ones you can get at the store), thermometers, basins (we still use these for puke buckets when the kids are sick), vaseline for the kids' circs, huge water mug (great for filling and putting it near me for nursing), and the kids.

We didn't take blankets/shirts. No fancy dinners, no free giveaways. It was very utilitarian.

tdmklm

The place where I delivered is the official hospital for the Red Sox, so we got a certificate to go on a tour of Fenway Park when J is 5. We also got a Red Sox baby hat, a pacifier, a thermometer, a couple of blankets, a couple of onesies, and one of those nose suction thingees.

**TMI alert**

I also got these FANTASTIC ice pads and meds for my, uh, you know. (I had a big kid. Enough said.) 

2brides

Oh, yea - forgot about the ladybit things. Even with a c-secton, the squirt bottle felt awesome post delivery (and the week after) and the mesh underwear was great - so unattractive, but so functional to maintain the enormous pads (oh, yea, take those monster big pads regardless of a vaginal or c-section delivery.) Having babies is sexy. LOL.

tdmklm

2brides:

Oh, yea - forgot about the ladybit things. Even with a c-secton, the squirt bottle felt awesome post delivery (and the week after) and the mesh underwear was great - so unattractive, but so functional to maintain the enormous pads (oh, yea, take those monster big pads regardless of a vaginal or c-section delivery.) Having babies is sexy. LOL.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG I can't believe I forgot about the mesh underwear! Mesh underwear is AWESOME! 

ssg73

I didn't bring a baby home from the hospital so I didn't bring any baby items home from the hospital when I was in but I was big on the lady care items.  I loved the mesh panties post c-section.  The bulb syringe from the hospital is the best we have several.  Along with the pink buckets.  I used them to wash my pumping supplies.  If you get set up with a pump bring that stuff home the bottles and stuff work for any of the medela pumps with some slight modifications. If your hospital has the symphony pumps in the rooms the stuff will work on your home grade pumps at home.  Oh and if your kid ends up in the nicu you get all sorts of freaking awesome loot.  I think to make up for the fact that you had to visit your baby in the hospital for almost three months.  Our nurses snuck us formula (we had to add it to E's milk to bump calories) and diapers under the breast milk containers for months.  We never bought a diaper until she was in size 1 which was when she was about 6 months old.  I also took all the awesome creams and wipes they had for us.  Including the sugar water packs they give the babies before procedures which make immunizations so much easier when they are babies.

ctbride08

We got a diaper bag stuffed with formula, diapers, wipes, an infant care guide, and a bib.  The nurses also gave us extra packs of diapers, a couple case of RTF formula, a bunch of binkies, the blanket and hat, a random spoon (like a keepsake type thing - I thought it was wierd), and a few outfits that they must keep on hand or have donated for foster babies.    

LolaBelle515

Let's see...

The "bonus" items: a board book, a hat knit by a hospital volunteers

For baby: side snap shirt, diapers, pacifier, thermometer.

For mom: breast pump accessories (awesome to have a second set! -but might only have been b/c of his night in the special care nursery),  big and small pads, squeeze bottle...DW refused the mesh underwear:) 

2mommiesinoh

We got whatever left over baby care items were in the cart: pacifiers (she somehow ended up with three and even though we hated the hospital ones and she refused to take them her cousin R was addicted so they went to good use), diapers, vaseline, alcohol wipes, and the nose sucker (which is an awesome nose sucker even if it is the old school bulb one). We also got a diaper bag with rtf formula.We were given a hand knitted baby hat that some of the older volunteers at the hospital make in addition to her newborn one the hospital supplied. We were also specifically told that all linens from the hospital (shirts and blankets) had to stay....DW snuck one of the shirts and blankets in the bag anyway. The shirt is in her memory box and the blanket was used for swaddling until we could not do that anymore because of her hips.

Since I left the hospital with supply issues (and a baby that lost WAY more than her 10% and was not wetting diapers) I also left with extra rtf formula, a bunch of 10 cc syringes, nipple shields galore, and extra pump parts. The idea was for Ky to latch onto the shield and me to syringe forumla into her cheek to supplement instead of bottle feeding. It was a disaster because I also had to pump 15 minutes for every 1 oz of formula she received and let her nurse first. It lasted only two or three weeks because even with how much I was pumping I would get not even 1/2 oz per day and I know she was not getting the bm because she was eating 2 oz of formula per feeding.

2mommiesinoh

2brides:

Oh, yea - forgot about the ladybit things. Even with a c-secton, the squirt bottle felt awesome post delivery (and the week after) and the mesh underwear was great - so unattractive, but so functional to maintain the enormous pads (oh, yea, take those monster big pads regardless of a vaginal or c-section delivery.) Having babies is sexy. LOL.

I rocked that mesh underwear

Ann packed our stuff and took it to the car while I showered for the last time and she packed my mesh pantie and mega pads. I had to call the nurse so I ended up with extras lol. Oh and I got this tummy binder thing? Not really sure but it was like a giant compression wrap that velcroed on....it felt amazing and I wore it for a good two weeks after delivery

mrsemily08

not much. a couple packs of diapers, some RTF formula, a hat, syringe, thermometer, basin thingy and a brush. We also got about a 6 ice packs, a couple of cooler bags, and 2 dozen tiny medela nursers from the NICU during our 2 weeks.

jeannkerricotober09

We got..

for N: 75 receiving blankets (ok.  Maybe 25 and ok, maybe we stole them.. they are amazing to have in the beginning.  It is all N wore, a diaper, a onsie, and a hospital swaddle), 10+ hats, a package of newborn diapers (he was way too small for this newborn cloth diapers), thermometer, nose bulb, a onsie with the hospital name on it, a brush, a plastic bin (I have no idea what that is for..), maybe nail clippers?  a syringe?  I am not sure.. we had already bought all this stuff, I don't think we took most of it.

for me: a gigantic plastic cup w/ hospital info on it, which I love and am using right now, a breast pump (they contacted my insurance company and found out it was covered and gave me a brand new Medela), and a backpack stuffed with all sorts of pads, ice packets, mesh underwear (seriously, awesome.), a peri bottle, stuff for my incision (I was an emergency c-section after 38 hours of labor and 2+ hours of pushing).  

I think we got a certificate and something else but we haven't found a baby book so those keepsakes are up in a drawer.