What should I include in my hospital bag?

[Mopey]

Hi all :)

I am starting my hospital bag(s?) list (will eventually pack it! haha) and would love to hear some BTDT advice from all of you. I have a couple of forwarded lists but I would love to hear what you thought was fabulously helpful to you. I would love to be as prepared as possible.

Thanks so much! :)

[elliput]

Lip balm. Toothbrush & toothpaste. Shampoo and conditioner. Clothes to wear home.

Really, you don't need much, the hospital/birth center/whatever usually provides the essentials while you are there and it is a PITA to worry about packing everything back up when you are ready to head home.

[SnuggleBuggles]

A doula won't fit in there but a good thing to have. ;)
A birth plan(s) too. I researched so much because I feel just much better knowing what the risks, benefits and options exist. I had my ideal plan but I also thought through inductions and c-sections too. Feeling out of control and confused would have stressed me out.

Sports drink and snack for you and your partner. Labor is hard work and I think if you are low risk, you should eat and drink to keep your energy up. At the very least, it'll be nice to have snacks so your partner doesn't have to leave if they want a snack. And after the birth, depending on when you deliver, there could be a big wait for food.

Dark colored bath robe
flip flops (something you can wear in the shower would be nice). Nice to just have shoes you can easily deal with.
a handheld fan
toiletries
back up camera
page from the baby book for baby foot prints
a swimsuit top for you
change of clothes for dh and toiletries for him
music of all different genres. You may want some mellow music but you may also want some energetic music.

Pack more than 1 bag. Pack 1 bag that you need in labor and leave your postpartum and baby one in the car unless you know for sure you won't need to change rooms. My poor dh had to make multiple trips immediately after the birth, after 20 hours of labor. Many things could have waited.

[TxCat]

it is a PITA to worry about packing everything back up when you are ready to head home.

Totally agree with this.

Ok, this is going to sound shallow, but I included some basic make-up. You have a lot of visitors and tons of pictures, and honestly, I wanted to look nice for all of that - or at least to be able to cover up my under-eye circles.

Agree with flip-flops for the shower. And clothes that you are comfortable lounging in and also for receiving visitors.

[SnuggleBuggles]

If you plan to breastfeed, take a nursing cami. Throw a hoodie or something over it when you have guests.

Forgot to agree with others- just keep things to a minimum. You really don't need much. If you showed up without anything, you and baby would be fine. There are some nice to haves but don't go nutty (like I did) packing things in case I was there several days. :)

[kep]

Lip balm. Toothbrush & toothpaste. Shampoo and conditioner. Clothes to wear home.

Really, you don't need much, the hospital/birth center/whatever usually provides the essentials while you are there and it is a PITA to worry about packing everything back up when you are ready to head home.

:yeahthat: Totally agree with Erica here. I did add make-up and clothes/blankets for the baby. Sports bras, tanks, and yoga pants were super essential. I only wore the hosp gown for the first 12 hours or so after delivery. Felt so much better to be in my own (comfy) clothes. Even more so when I was making the hike down the halls to the NICU every three hours or so. The hosp gowns were just awkward, and hard to keep my rear covered, even with a robe. And trust me... no one wants to see that. :rotflmao:

ETA: I did bring my own two pillows. I HATE hosp pillows and slept so much better. I think with each consecutive child I have brought fewer and fewer things.

[twowhat?]

The only things I used of what I packed were: toothpaste/toothbrush/floss, nursing camis, nursing pillow, hairbrush, fuzzy slippers, and clothes to wear home. I was in the hospital 4 nights. I didn't wear any of the other sets of clothes that I packed! Nor the socks:)

I did have a c-section and had a very hard time getting up and walking around, so I would never have used a robe but that would be a nice thing to have for up and moving around.

[KLD313]

Something I didn't pack and wish I did was my razor. I asked the nurse for one and she looked at me like I had three heads and laughed. She did give me one and it was awful. Am I crazy because I wanted to shave my legs?

[mum-to-be]

Something I didn't pack and wish I did was my razor. I asked the nurse for one and she looked at me like I had three heads and laughed. She did give me one and it was awful. Am I crazy because I wanted to shave my legs?

Definitely a razor and shaving cream. And a nursing pillow. Ear plugs and an eye shade. Magazine (I actually look back on my hospital stay as if it was a spa break - nobody needed anything from me except my newborn who breastfed and slept. Oh take your iPhone too if you have one - I added the Total Baby app and it was wonderful for helping me work out which side I was up to with the feeds.

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

Nothing for yourself you don't want ruined. Seriously, wear the hospital stuff,including the super mesh underwear and buy some big ol' granny panties for the day you go home and superabsorbant pads.

Anything else you need the pp's have a pretty good list going for you. But serioulsy-anything that goes from the waist down and that includes your socks-plan on them having a good chance of getting ruined.

Oh-and if you're planning on nursing take your nursing pillow from home with you.The pillows have some kind of protective layer on them that make them a little slippery.

[gatorsmom]

I haven't read all the replies but the things I found essential were some slippers for walking up and down the halls. Something easy to slip on straight out of bed would be easiest.

Some other moms recommended bringing my own pillows in non-white pillow cases so they don't mixed in with the hospital ones. I did this with all 3 c-sections. The hospital pillows are so flat.

I brought my own bottles of Gatorade. I got tired of plain ice water. Lip balm is also a good idea unless you don't mind using vaseline from the hospital.

I also brought a little make up. There were photos taken and I'm glad I had a bit of makeup on.

I wore the hospital gowns for pajamas because you can so easily get them messy with all the blood and breast leakage. I did bring my own robe, though, and at the advice of some here I got a robe with a pattern on it. I did stain it a bit and at least with a pattern, I could use it the entire time I was there. The stains didn't show.

I also brought a book to read. There just wasn't much on TV and some nights I needed a distraction. And of course, I also brought the Baby Bargains Book to continue my research with!

GL with everything!

[gatorsmom]

I did have a c-section and had a very hard time getting up and walking around, so I would never have used a robe ....

Didn't they force you up the next day? With all 3 of my c/sections they had me out of bed showering and pushing the babies down the hall in their baby bins. It was hard with the first 2 but with the twins I needed extra pain meds after I was done. I think they get you up moving around to help stimulate a bowel movement. Anyway, I saw your post and was just jealous they didn't make you walk more. I was begging the doctor to leave my urinary catheter in! :D

[twowhat?]

Didn't they force you up the next day? With all 3 of my c/sections they had me out of bed showering and pushing the babies down the hall in their baby bins. It was hard with the first 2 but with the twins I needed extra pain meds after I was done. I think they get you up moving around to help stimulate a bowel movement. Anyway, I saw your post and was just jealous they didn't make you walk more. I was begging the doctor to leave my urinary catheter in! :D

In hindsight, they totally should have. I was already in a lot of pain and maxing out my narcotics pump so I was pretty loopy and I think the nurses just felt bad making me get up. I had my C on Mon and my favorite nurse (who has twins) was the one who forced me to finally get up...on Wed! I was in SOOO much pain, dizzy, crying. It was AWFUL! I even had my DH cancel visitors who wanted to come see the babies on that day because I was in such rough shape. I also had to get my catheter re-inserted because I couldn't pee (that was almost even more awful) and was totally constipated despite meds. I couldn't walk without pain until my 6-week postpartum checkup. I'm sure a lot of that was related to not being up and moving the day after surgery. And some of it was due to the "partial abdominoplasty" that my OB did during my c-section. I never want to go through a c-section ever again!

OP - one idea (which we used) is to pack enough to make you comfortable and leave a bag of "nice to haves" in the car. And take in a small bag of essentials. Then if you decide you want the nice-to-haves, you can have SO or someone go get it for you. If not, it never clutters the hospital room.

[sweetsue98]

Toiletries
Nursing tank if you are BF
Slippers
FHA stick
Clothes to wear home
Clothes for the baby to go home

[lizzywednesday]

Something I didn't pack and wish I did was my razor. I asked the nurse for one and she looked at me like I had three heads and laughed. She did give me one and it was awful. Am I crazy because I wanted to shave my legs?

Nope, you're not crazy. My razor of choice for travel is the Intuition because I can't forget shaving cream - it's built in.

My sister got all flustered about shaving (her DS is 4 months older than my DD) so my hospital bag became a "pack what Catherine didn't" list.

I was induced on a Monday, DD was born on a Tuesday and I was discharged on Saturday, so I ended up staying about a week. I used everything I packed except a nightshirt and a couple pairs of underpants.

I did the following:

* Lip balm for you & DH/partner
* hand lotion for you & DH/partner
* shower gel
* shampoo/conditioner
* toothbrush
* toothpaste
* comb
* hairbrush
* contacts/case/solution + extra pair of contacts
* short kimono style robe (which I used as a cover-up while pumping and seeing visitors)
* hands-free pumping bra (my DD was NPO her first couple of days, so I needed to pump to get my milk in; the hospital LC recommended I get a hands-free bra to make pumping less of a hassle)
* PJs & slippers (bought on sale specifically for the bag)
* ponytail holders
* books
* laptop & power supply
* cell phone & charger
* camera & batteries
* tee shirts
* yoga pants
* underwear (the mesh disposable ones did NOT cut it for me)
* maxi pads (I absolutely hated the hospital pads, so this was a MUST for me; I used Always Infinity Overnights and was very happy with them)
* socks
* large reusable water bottle (20 oz; Camelbak brand, but whatever you like would be great) - hospital air is VERY dry, plus I was VERY thirsty as my milk came in, so this was a MUST

I wish I had thought more about MY going-home outfit and I also wish I had thought to ask about whether or not clothes for our baby were allowed - I could have brought any number of cute things for her and not had to see her in newborn sized hospital gowns when we visited if I'd realized clothes were OK ... but my situation was pretty different from what a "typical" hospital experience would be.

Since the unit where I delivered was pretty new, they had different/fewer amenities from a regular hospital. I didn't expect them to provide soap, shampoo or toothpaste, for example, though they did but it was not anything I wanted to use - I have very sensitive skin, so I usually bring my own stuff everywhere anyway. (If I ever hit the lottery, I'd love to donate nice towels to their unit because they just didn't seem to have enough of them and they were fairly scratchy. As a new mom to a baby with a known birth defect, any extra comfort touches were very appreciated by me. Even the pink robe.)

They provided a very nice terrycloth bathrobe, which I still wear from time to time (but don't like it much as it's pink), and a lovely stainless steel frame with "our special delivery" engraved on it ... this is on our mantle with a photo of DD from her first trip to the Phoenix Zoo in it.

Yes, it's fairly comprehensive, but my experience was probably different from what you'll experience, so please don't feel obligated to replicate my list!

[mommylamb]

a swimsuit top for you



Why a swimsuit top?

[ladysoapmaker]

Lip balm. Toothbrush & toothpaste. Shampoo and conditioner. Clothes to wear home.

Really, you don't need much, the hospital/birth center/whatever usually provides the essentials while you are there and it is a PITA to worry about packing everything back up when you are ready to head home.

:yeahthat:

I found I didn't even touch most of the stuff I packed the first time, or the second time. the third time I just packed the above. And I made sure I packed the baby's going home outfit and first picture outfit. (for the girls they were different). DH is known for just grabbing the first thing he can find to dress the kids in.

Jen

[nmosur]

Breast pads - hospitals don't carry them. Another thing that I was glad I took were my own pillows - the hospital ones are horrible. I washed them after I got back home though.

[mommylamb]

This is a really helpful thread. I'm taking notes.

The only other thing I can think of that I plan on bringing is the form I need to have the hospital fill in for Aflac, because we have the Aflac hospital policy.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Why a swimsuit top?

I wore one when I used the shower with ds1 and the tub with ds2. Better than getting other stuff wet.

[Mopey]

Thanks so much for all this! It's really getting a good plan in my head. We also live in the city (no car) so I will organize the "nice to have" bag and carseat, etc. for my Mom to bring at some point. I have literally been dreaming about the food I cannot eat so I know my sis and hubby will have no trouble bringing me a large deli sandwich ASAP hahahahaha

Good to know about things getting stained and hurt. I love my shearling LL Bean slippers but will not bring them now. And I will bring my huge, old blue hoodie. I have a big old Lanz flannel nightgown my mom just gave me for my birthday which I think will be great for nursing (patterned).

Frankly, I am starting to wonder about visitors. I only know two girls who were all about a million people and they are also the only two girls I know who were raring to have babies before they were even married and got pregnant straight away. I am a little overwhelmed by the amount of family alone (5 to 8 people within the first day). And it was interesting reading from Moms on BabyCenter who said they wished they had taken more time for intimate family bonding, as opposed to treating the baby "like a football to be passed around" as soon as they could.

Just my food for thought right now. I am open & feeling fluid about delivery, etc. but am starting to feel the time after may be even more important to visualize.

Any opinions/experience?

[lizzywednesday]

...

Any opinions/experience?

It's OK to tell people to stay home or that you're not feeling up to visitors. If your DH doesn't feel like he can be the "bad guy" to his enthusiastic family, you can recruit either a doula or one of the floor nurses to be your ally in keeping people out.

I'm pretty good about telling people off, so I had no qualms whatsoever about telling my family "no, this is not a good time" or "please wait for me to invite you to come to visit" ... and they were all good with that.

My DH and I were in the delivery room together with the nursing staff passing in and out during my induction and up 'til the decision to move me into surgery was made after failure to progress.

DH's parents popped their heads in but stayed in the waiting area for families until we asked them to come in after I was out of surgery and DH was walking DD to the NICU. I am thankful for the company.

I would have liked to have been allowed to hold my DD while I was in recovery, but I was shaking from the pain meds, so I held her hand a little while before she was carted off to the ICU. (I also would have liked my DH to have remembered to take my eyeglasses out of his pocket before we went into surgery; I am very nearsighted and it was hard to see my DD clearly 'til I had access to my glasses the next morning.)

I had people call or e-mail me before they made the trip to the hospital to visit and I was VERY firm on calling first. Be sure your DH/partner is able to be as firm as you need to be; if not, recruit a floor nurse to help control traffic.

We had no visitors the first day after DD was born due to distance and surgery needs (her heart defect required immediate intervention) and this was the only day I wore the hospital gown.

I felt up to visitors on the 2nd and 3rd days after DD was born and invited people in timed blocks so I could eat, see DD myself, pump and shower.

My sister, on the other hand, was afraid to tell people "no, this isn't a good time" so she had what I dubbed the "endless parade" of visitors through her hospital stay and she was really frustrated about that. Our mom tried to help her by running interference, but she couldn't stay long enough to do enough.

Your friends are right - setting limits on visitors helps your overall birth/postpartum experience be more pleasant. I've been reading your posts about your DH's family and their, um, enthusiasm for the baby, and I think it'll save your relationship with them if you set limits.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We were pretty new to our city when ds1 was born and family didn't fly down till ds1 was 3 days old. We had no hospital visitors. We also left in less than than a day post birth. I was very happy that it was just dh, baby and I. I wouldn't want to feel like I had to entertain people, be social... After ds2 was born (birth center) we were home a few hours after he was born and family descended. That was fine though b/c we needed help with ds1 and dh and I needed naps. :)

eta- if we hadn't needed my mom to watch ds1, we wouldn't have even told anyone we were in labor with ds2. We didn't tell anyone with ds1.

[karstmama]

the only thing i haven't seen people say so far is - definitely bring pens and maybe a little notebook. the nurses will be really really reluctant to let you borrow theirs.

[lizzywednesday]

the only thing i haven't seen people say so far is - definitely bring pens and maybe a little notebook. the nurses will be really really reluctant to let you borrow theirs.

I didn't think about that, but I brought several pens (and my notecards) because I worked on baby gift "thank you" notes while I was pumping and bored with TV and the internet. It never occurred to me to ask the nursing staff for pens!

I ended up needing them for the pumping log that the hospital gave me, as well as for filling out milk labels for anything I'd ended up pumping, so it was good I'd brought them!

[twowhat?]

We had one day during the week of my c-section that we asked for people to come another time to visit - I was in a lot of pain, couldn't stop crying, etc. BUT - on all the other days, I actually really welcomed visitors and was happy to see friends and family and how excited and happy they were. It helped me put aside my pain and exhaustion and really actually see my babies the way I wanted to see them. Otherwise during that time (and actually for many months afterwards), the babies were simply little living things that I was struggling to grow and keep healthy:)

I think there's just no way of knowing how you will feel about visitors. I totally agree with PP who said that it's FINE to tell people when you're not up for visitors. I had my DH do that but asking the nurse, doula, etc to do it for you is a great idea too.

eta: I'm sure this will vary for people but I feel that (from talking to friends) the best day to visit is in the 24 hours following birth. You're still running on adrenaline and the exhaustion/hormone changes haven't totally hit yet. For c-sections, you're still hooked up to the good pain meds, catheter in, feeling good. After that is when the exhaustion, pain, mood swings set in.

[lizzywednesday]

...

I think there's just no way of knowing how you will feel about visitors. I totally agree with PP who said that it's FINE to tell people when you're not up for visitors. I had my DH do that but asking the nurse, doula, etc to do it for you is a great idea too.

My mom is/was a nurse and she actually suggested recruiting a nurse from the floor staff to help control/direct traffic if we couldn't do it. It's not always easy for patients to set limits with their relatives, but somehow it carries a bit of extra weight when it comes from someone wearing scrubs.


...eta: I'm sure this will vary for people but I feel that (from talking to friends) the best day to visit is in the 24 hours following birth. You're still running on adrenaline and the exhaustion/hormone changes haven't totally hit yet. For c-sections, you're still hooked up to the good pain meds, catheter in, feeling good. After that is when the exhaustion, pain, mood swings set in.

I agree that it will vary from person to person - I didn't want anybody in the 1st 24-hours after DD was born other than my DH, mostly due to being separated from my DD due to the need for immediate interventions. It was hard enough to keep it together while talking to DD's surgeon and anaesthesiologist - I doubt I'd have been able to keep it together for any well-meaning family who visited then! Additionally, the best medication I'd had at that point was Benadryl overnight to keep me from scratching my sutures out. (And that had to be requested, re-requested and approved before they'd give it to me.)

I hadn't showered in almost 2 days and wanted to get out of bed and wash my hair, which I did the evening following my C-section. (A shower for which I am intensely grateful and thankful that I brought my own shower things!) After my shower, I put on my own pajamas, with my own maxi pads and my own underwear, and went to sleep, only waking every couple hours to pump.

After I had my own clothes and supplies to use, I felt a great deal more human and receptive to visitors.

[mikala]

This was my list:

For labor:
Something to cover the carseat in case your water breaks before you go to the hospital
Ipod if you want to listen to music
Camera/cellphones/chargers
Slip-on shoes like flip-flops or rubber soled slippers you don't care too much about
A light robe in case the hospital gowns reveal a little too much while you're pacing the halls in labor

For you afterwards:
Water bottle
A nursing tank or two, breast pads
A hoodie or cardigan to wear over the nursing tank
Dark colored underwear if you want to wear your own
Overnight maxi pads if you have a preference on that kind of thing
Yoga pants or something else nice and stretchy for going home
A travel sized bottle of your own shampoo/soaps for that first glorious shower afterwards/Hairbrush/Deodorant/Toothbrush/toothpaste
Magazine or two

For baby:
Carseat
A going home outfit
Cotton hat/mittens
Muslin blanket or two
maybe a nursing pillow

[Mopey]

Your friends are right - setting limits on visitors helps your overall birth/postpartum experience be more pleasant. I've been reading your posts about your DH's family and their, um, enthusiasm for the baby, and I think it'll save your relationship with them if you set limits.

Suprisingly enough, my ILs were very mellow & good about not rushing to the hospital when my SIL was in labor with their first. They visited later in the afternoon after he was born when we all went. I do agree though, that there will be no calling and alerting anyone to my labor (except my mom who I hope will help us through it and be with me).

I think what has me a little on edge are some friends. I have heard comments that they can't believe how private I am about all this and not discussing things. But I am the only one pregnant of this group, let alone married. I do feel like they don't get it (how could they?), even though they are trying so hard to be supportive and sweet. I feel like a couple close friends will be hurt not to be asked to the hospital. Aside from the immediate family all my other friends will not mind waiting - and will expect to.

And then my mom made an interesting point - when people come to the hospital they only stay for a little while, whereas if we invite them once we are home they may stay for hours.....

More food for thought!

[mjs64]

I did not want visitors in the hospital at all. My mom came and my DH was obviously there and that was plenty. I felt gross and just wanted to go home. You really aren't there that long anyways. The recovery room was tiny and shared and the woman I shared it with had tons of people. Anyhow, I let people know in advance that we weren't doing visitors in the hospital. Instead, we had Skype conversations on DH's laptop, which was a great alternative.

And I agree with PPs to being less, not more. The stay is shorter than you think, and hospitals are icky. So is birth. You really only need your toiletries and some comfy clothes. I would pack a nursing tank or 2 (i do wish i'd had those) some yoga pants, a newborn outfit for baby, maybe the baby book.

Eta: a camera too

[gatorsmom]

Oh, I just thought of something that was really important. Get a notebook and draw a chart on it. You will want to keep track of your medications and at what times you need to take them. Writing itdown is good because you might not remember when you last took somethin due to the haze the sleeplessness and pain medications can put you in. You also want to keep track of how often baby wets his diaper, how often he nurses, etc. I found that some nurses wouldn't write the times for this stuff and some nurses were good about marking it down. I found it just easier to keep my own chart going because no one was as concerned about my pain management as I was! And it's no fun trying to bf when you are in pain all over and trying to latch a baby on.

You might as well start the chart in the hospital because you will really need to keep track of it once you get home.

[catsnkid]

I'm sure I over packed. This is what I remember being helpful.
Books (if I had a kindle would have taken that) cell phone charger, my own bathrobe, toiletries, crocs- i lived in these the last few days of pregnancy and were the only thing I could get on my feet for about a week anyway. I had a c-section and on my last full day I changed my clothes and wore my own ratty t-shirt. I remember starting to feel human. Stretchy pants that were semi-decent looking. I wore a drapy polyester top and remember regretting that it was a little hot.

Wish I had packed- my own pads, my nursing pillow- sent Dh to get it, my own diet cola,antacids. the antacids the hospital gave me were terrible.