I know it's a little early, but I would like to start to gather this together. Any stm's have what to or what to not bring? I know a few of us here have alreay had a hospital tour (myself not included), did they give you a lists on what to bring or not?
Re: Hospital bag
In rest, I have this blog post bookmarked just because I somehow stumbled across it a few days back when looking at suggestions on how to prepare my son for becoming a big brother, but her list is definitely too long: https://lifesswell.com/childbirth-hospital-bag-checklist/ Our hospital had everything: water bottle with straw, mesh undies and witch hazel pads, squirt bottle, lanolin for the nipples, baby shirt, diapers, wipes, blankets, towels, body wash for both of us etc. I'll definitely bring baby nail scissors, I remember I used them last time. And some cotton pads to wipe his eyes, they often have blocked tear ducts and the goo accumulates in the corner of the eyes. The nurses gave me some after I asked, but I'll bring them just in case.
Another thing I thought of. I know I will be doing antepartum testing and during any test, they could decide to admit me, so it’s not too early to pack that bag and just leave it in my car...
[spoiler=TW in signature]
Me: 36, DH 37.
August 2014- 6w MMC
July 2015- CP
PCOS, plus some medical issues that make me high risk.
Our rainbow babies are due 3/21!!!!!
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Other than a few things to make labor more comfortable, iPad, chargers, maybe a little speaker, I don’t plan to bring much besides a change of clothes for LO and I. I lived in a nursing camisole, mesh undies and a hospital gown while I was there last time. I will probably bring the boppy again, but even then some extra pillows are needed when the babies are that small so they are at the right level. Everything else will be provided by the hospital.
We were in the hospital for nearly a week with my first, (waaaaaaaaaay too long!), and we used very little of what we brought. The hospital had pretty much everything, and they even sent us home with tons of pads, diapers, etc.
Things we brought and used:
For labor: portable speaker, labor playlist, backballs. For after labor: slippers, nursing pajamas, belly binder, nipple cream, clothes for going home, nursing pillow.
Things I will bring this time that I didn’t bring last time: snacks for labor, swaddle blankets (the hospital ones were too small for my giant baby), favorite water bottle with straw, my own pillow.
Also I will probably bring an empty bag for all the hospital loot (diapers/mesh undies/baby t shirts).
Married: 2012
BFP #1 Sept 2014, MMC Dec 2014 | BFP #2 May 2015, DD Jan 2016 | BFP #3 May 2017, MC July 2017 | BFP #4 Jan 2018, MC Feb 2018 | BFP #5 July 2018, fingers crossed
They had an ipod dock, so I just brought my iPod. Also brought phone cords (which we didn't use). A few toiletries. Sleepers for the baby. For me, I brought extra underwear, but other than that, I just wore the clothes home that I wore there. I brought makeup and put some on before we started taking picture. So glad I did! I have a lot of acne, and I did not want to be embarrassed to put those first photos with my daughter in a baby book.
This time I plan to add more snacks, potentially a robe, and some things for our older son to do when he comes to visit.
I’m prone to hemorrhoids even if I’m not pregnant so I use preparation H wipes and took some with me. Some hospitals provide them but I didn’t risk it. They weren’t offered but I did use them and was glad I took them.I feel like so much of what you decide to take is personal to your lifestyle, I just took what would help me feel more like myself during and after delivery.
- Snacks - my labor was loooong. 42 hours. My water broke before I was in labor so I was induced and it was a slog. Once they started me on pitocin they didn't want me eating but my doula was supportive of snacking to help keep energy up so I snuck bites of things in. Kind bars, peanut butter crackers, etc - things with protein that can give sustained energy. The nurse caught me once but didn't really say anything. The snack stash was good for after delivery too, the hospital food was terrible and they actually forgot to give me dinner once, so I'm glad we had provisions in the room.
- Coconut water and/or gatorade. I needed something more than water and it was nice to have it in the room so someone wasn't constantly having to go get it for me.I just wish ice would have been more accessible, since I like my drinks very cold.
- Socks with grippies on the bottom. The ones they give you in the hospital are really scratchy and, if you have to have fluids administered, they may be tight - my ankles were really swollen as a result of being on a fluid drip for so many hours.
- Music. I will probably skip the speaker this time and just use my headphones. I couldn't really hear the music on the speaker over all the other stuff in the room and I probably would have done better if I had headphones in, to tune everything out.
- Pillows, for the reasons mentioned above.
- A couple of nightgowns or something to change into after labor, plus something to wear going home.
- Going home outfit for baby (I brought two sizes - they told me he'd be about 8 pounds at my last appointment but he was 6.5, glad I brought a smaller footie with me or else he would have been swimming in it)
- Chapstick
- Nursing pillow
- Towels for the car if your water has already broken.
Things I didn't end up using much - birthing ball (it just wasn't that helpful for me in the moment but I will probably bring it this time since every birth is different), my nice camera (just took a few pics with my phone), an essential oil mister (doula recommended it so the room didn't smell so much like disinfectant, but honestly it didn't make a difference). I can't think of what else, and unfortunately I deleted my packing list file because I thought we were done having kids! I'll come back and add if I think of other things that were or weren't helpful.My water did break prior to going to the birth center, but unlike @gowenc, I didn't bring towels or anything. I found that using one of the huge pads I had for postpartum (I think they were the biggest thing Always or Depends or whatever makes, size 5 or something) worked just fine. More than fine actually - it wasn't very wet when we arrived.
I brought pads to the center, but I didn't need them. They gave me two pairs of depends-type underwear in addition to the pair I wore home and four or five extra large pads. I actually ended up needing very few super big pads. This is probably better suited for whenever we have our postpartum care product spotlight thread, but I only needed huuuuge pads for a few days. I had bought size 5 and size 3 Depends/Always/whatever pads. I only used a couple size 5s and a few size 3s. After that, I was just at a regular period maxi pad-level of bleeding for weeks. And of course, I'd bought very few of those! Lol. So yes, you'll want some big pads, but don't buy tons and tons of those. You'll (probably) need regular pads much longer than you will huge ones.
I would say: comfy jammies, phone cord, a nursing cover and other accessories (cream, gel pads) and then pads in case you manage to escape needing the giant (but so comfy) undies sooner than normal. I always got a binder from the hospital, and it was my favorite one of all the ones I bought.
Since I've only had c-sections my list may be different from others, but I'll bring all my own toiletries, my own pillow(s), my laptop or tablet, my DSLR camera, and comfy jammies (that have a comfortable waste-band for post-c-section). And a change of clothes for LO and I to go home in!
....Also, a "poncho liner" is actually a military poncho liner, but in our family we use them as blankets because they are SUPER warm and very compact. I am always cold in hospitals and they never have good blankets. I figured I'd explain because not everyone is military.
Let me know if you have other suggestions!
*disclaimer, may not be free, depending on your insurance.
We has a Thursday AM appointment and I was discharged Saturday morning. No complications, healthy baby boy, so if that is the case again, you can bet I will work hard at getting out of there quick again!
On discharge day, we bought the nurses good coffee, fruit and donuts. That helped get us out quick, lol. Treating good nurses well goes a long way!
Edit: theres tons with buttons - but I'm hoping for snaps if possible.
What I’ll bring this time:
Belly binder
Nipple Cream
Chapstick
Small makeup bag (there was a newborn photographer via hospital, so nice to freshen up)
Hairties
Pillow
Ipad/cellphone (and charger)
Extra baby outfit (DS spit up on going home outfit,extra fluid from not having vaginal birth)
Swaddle blankets
Nursing Top
2 Comfortable loose outfits (you may be swollen from fluids, sore from c section, and your tummy doesn’t magically disappear after baby is born😜)
Flipflops (again I was super swollen from the fluids)