Bag/Things question...

abs99

First off, thanks to everyone who welcomed me on my "Hello" post--- you are clearly a supportive group!

I have a question- if you had known ahead of time you were having a preemie, is there anything you would have done to prep for this situation? 

-Something special you would have wanted to have with you at the hospital from day 1?

-Things you would have loved to have pre-purchased?

 I am trying to be as ready for all this as I can be... I know, there is nothing MAJOR I can control, but if there are things I can do (or get DH to do) I will feel at least a little effective...... 

Thank you! 

urbanflowerpot

CR hooked you up, but if I read what she wrote I'll forget my suggestions so sorry if there are repeats. I didn't know anything about preemies, so educating myself especially on hospital terminology would have been good. This is good: https://www.preemiecare.org/Glossary.pdf or just Google. That's a safe Google

I would have purchased a couple outfits with hats/or just hats but people gave us those. Receiving blankets. Unscented hand lotion. Kindle. Books for Kindle. More yarn for crocheting.

I would have packed my hospital bag sooner.

It's hard for me to answer these because we had such wild circumstances leading up to having DS. We didn't have anything. Literally. But if we had...

Oh, and a real camera. socks. something to wear in hospital.

Just basic stuff. 

 

thishappyhouse

Like others have said, there really is nothing too specific. By the time your baby is home you will need most of the same things that other FTM need.  

A few specifics that I can think of:  

good hand sanitizer (I like purell and germ-x and babyganics and hate most others)

good hand lotion to help heal dry hands

a notebook for keeping track of nicu stuff or a phone app like this one: https://www.lifeslittletreasures.org.au/llt-app/

preemie hats (these are harder to find than preemie outfits)  I loved the personalized one and "i love my nurse" one that I ordered off of etsy

 

I entered the hospital at 22weeks straight from a doctors appointment with the clothes on my back and whatever was in my purse at the time.  People sent loads of food and entertainment and my husband brought the basics from home for me (toiletries, computer, charging cords, pillow!, etc) but I used the hospital issue gowns, towels, linens, etc as to not create more work & laundry for my husband who was already overwhelmed.  The NICU had everything we needed for our 25 weeker.  We did eventually bring in clothes, blankets, and things to make our part of the NICU feel like "home" but that was after we were all settled in.  

 

Good luck !!!

 

 

abs99

This is all great advice... thank you!

 When I went into the hospital on Wednesday I also had no idea it was coming (clothes on my back/stuff in my purse).  

Now that I am home (at least for tonight!), my husband suggested we get stuff ready to go because we've been told to expect it happening at some point and I am just feeling a need to do something productive.  (Sitting and worrying doesn't feel so great...)

Anyways- Thank you!!! Didn't think of some of these suggestions so I will definitely make the additions.

 

 

Sept30Madison

One of the best things I did was buy the Preemie book by Dana Linden (bought it on Amazon for $10). I had a hard copy of it. I read the first few chapters of it while on bedrest and then a lot of it while Julia was in the NICU under the bili lights.  I felt empowered by knowing what questions to ask, what to anticipate,etc and the knowledge base that I was able to build made all of the necessary interventions a lot less scary.

I also recommend checking the carters website here and there.  They tend to have some great sales on preemie clearance stuff.  I was able to get tons of sleepers and outfits for a total of about $40.

 A lot of the other stuff can wait.You will need everything a FTM needs,but you will have time to shop while the baby is in NICU.

Sept30Madison

I forgot toadd -- I also had a wheelchair tour of NICU while I was on hospital bedrest.  I got to see NICU about 4 days before Julia was born, so it was good to kind of know what to expect with logistics, etc. there.

JuliaJAG

The biggest, biggest thing for me, and my one regret that I did not have, would be my GOOD CAMERA. All we have from the birth were three iPhone snapshots and some shaky video my husband took. Don't get my wrong, I am super-grateful to have those, but I would have loved some truly wonderful photos of my son in those first minutes. Everything else, to me, was gravy. We didn't have anything pre-purchased... clothes, nursery furniture, nada... but none of that really mattered because there was plenty of time to buy all that afterward. 

Oh, and now that I'm thinking about it, I might have had a special receiving blanket and hat so that my baby's first photos didn't have to be in that awful hospital hat and blanket. 

Also, this isn't an item, but if I had known ahead of time (which I kind of did, but didn't think to do this), I would have tried to meet with one of the neonatologists to ask all my questions and also make some specific requests (e.g., I would request that any TPN be given with aluminum removed -- that's something I never in a million years would have known to ask; and things like NO formula, just breast milk, no x-rays or other non-emergency procedures without talking with me first, etc.).

thishappyhouse

Totally agree re: good camera too!  We didnt even have a camera with us for delivery.... not that there was an opportunity to take photos in the OR for us because she was taken right to the resuscitation room, but it would have been nice to have photos when we went into the nicu a few hours after delivery.  

jennbent

This wasn't exactly what you were asking but I'm gonna throw it out there now that you mentioned you are home. I am by no means suggesting you run out and start grocery shopping and cooking, but if I could do it over again, I would've had my freezer stocked full of easy to make meals. Premade frozen stuff or homemade frozen stuff Anything easy that you can whip up in a second or take to go.

Once your LO arrives and is in the NICU, you will barely have time to eat, let alone shop and cook. I had planned to make a bunch of freezer meals before the arrival of my fullterm, 8.5 lb baby boy, but things didn't exactly go the way I had envisioned!

We also didn't have any family within a 1,000 mile radius of us, so if you do, be sure to lean on them for support and help around the house with cooking and cleaning.

abs99

Camera--- check

I will start looking for hats and receiving blankets.

 And I think the food advice is great---- if I can get DH to help since I am not even supposed to be cooking these days...

Great advice ladies!