Hellobee

We forgot that we brought snack but we used everything else. We didn’t bring a lot, clothes, toiletries, just standard stuff. I sleep with a fan on next to me. I wish that I brought that so I would have slept better and to drown out the noises in the hospital.

My hospital gave me a huge tumbler for water, so I didn’t have to bring one. The nurses just refilled it whenever I asked.

I hardly used anything that I took with me. I did use my own shampoo and conditioner as well as body wash (and honestly I should have used theirs they had great stuff) and flip flops in the shower and toothbrush and paste. I used their huge pads because it was necessary for me, as well as the stupid johnny because I just didn’t want my own clothes to get messy. I only needed going home clothes, underwear, bra, pants and shirt.

I had a pitcher for water and a cup, and it was filled by someone on staff (either an aid or a nurse) or my husband. They also had a mini fridge on the maternity ward with snacks and room service pretty much anytime I needed it.

We used the camera naturally but I DID NOT use the following: book to read, journal to write, phone, snacks, crochet. I felt over packed and that was more bothersome to me.

I did use my chapstick but that is always with me in my purse so not like I packed it especially for the labor and delivery.

Most hospitals have those big water jugs for you.
Most maternity wards also have snacks for the mommies, so be sure to check before you pack that stuff. Same with pads and whatnot- they have all of that stuff there. You won’t need nursing pads either, unless you’re some superhuman woman whose milk comes in right away, which from what I’ve seen on the boards seems to happen around day 3-4.
Don’t forget a change of clothes for dad/partner! You might have to stay overnight or an extra day, and extra clothes are always good.
I made sure to have a little makeup- lots of pictures and visitors and I wasn’t jazzed about those moments being captured sans makeup.

@Smurfette: I think anything that would help you sleep in the hospital, which I found pretty tough as well, would be wonderful I remember wishing my dog was there to keep my toes warm ha ha!

@Mrs.Maven: ” I DID NOT use the following: book to read, journal to write, crochet.” Agreed! I did not use any of these things either and did not miss them! That mini fridge sounds fantastic! There was a fridge on our floor but you had to bring your own food.

@Pink Champagne:
“You won’t need nursing pads either, unless you’re some superhuman woman whose milk comes in right away” …Apparently I am superwomen! My milk was in before I left the hospital just over 24 hours after I had little Tea Cup. Also I found these helped relieve the discomfort from my very tender nipples rubbing on my bra even more then the leaking problem in those early days

I think the best bet for all mommas to be: Call the hospital and ask what they have and don’t have. I knew what our hospital had because the nurse that gave us our hospital tour told us tips on what to bring with us. She actually recommended the plastic tumbler, the snacks and the specific type of pad I mentioned and I am SO thankful she did!

Not pregnant or even ttc yet, but totally saving this for later! Thanks for sharing!

I definitely didn’t need nursing pads until a few days after I got home, but I LOVED having Lansinoh “soothies” gel pads while in the hospital. I also brought a headband and maternity cardigan that I could throw on over a nursing tank and yoga pants for the photographer who came around for newborn pics at our hospital.

I wish we’d brought a sleeping bag, pillow, and PJs for my husband … and an extra blanket for me!

I brought most of these. My experience:

– I didn’t bother with a nursing bra, I just brought nursing tanks and wore them with a cardigan if I got cold (but I was constantly burning up so I didn’t need it anyway)
– I didn’t bring nursing pads, my milk didn’t come in until day 4 anyway.
– I brought flip flops but the hospital provided non-skid socks that I lived in.
– I didn’t bring pads because I knew the hospital provided big honking pads that were more useful
– I brought shampoo and body wash but the hospital provided this so I didn’t end up using it.
– we brought an extra pillow and blanket for DH because the hospital where I delivered has private rooms with a fold-out for visitors. I also brought an extra pillow for myself which came in handy for breastfeeding.

I wish I had brought my laptop. It seemed unnecessary but there were times when I wanted to start typing out my birth story or update people on Facebook/Hellobee and typing on my iPhone was super annoying plus drained the battery. I ended up using DH’s laptop a couple of times when DS was sleeping.

I brought my Kindle and a journal and didn’t use either. I also brought a Glamour magazine? I don’t know WTF I was thinking there. That I would want to read about sex positions and lipstick while in labor?

Here’s a little tip, we ended up bringing everything in a duffel bag but also had an additional bag with some stuff in it that didn’t fit, and we ended up somehow losing an entire bag of things. In that bag were DH’s iPod, my journal where I had been logging most of my pregnancy, and my comfy slippers DH had bought me for Christmas.

So if you have multiple bags, or even just because stuff gets strewn around so easily, double and triple check the room before leaving, look under furniture, in drawers if they have them (even if you don’t remember putting anything in them), etc. We don’t know what ever happened to the bag and called the hospital a couple of times but it was never recovered, so we think we may have accidentally thrown it out in the checkout daze because the items were in a plastic bag, thinking it was trash

Did anyone else have boat loads of forms and stuff to fill out? In addition to the request for a social security number I had many many surveys that were “required” to be filled out. Which also took a up a lot of my time that I didn’t spend sleeping. I found all of them to be very intrusive but was too tired to fight it all so I pretty much gave non answers to everything.

And my hospital wanted you to watch a bazillion little videos which I felt was patronizing and very annoying. And apparently they kept track of if you were watching them and would ask you about it and why I only watched one. Umm I am tired and don’t want to spend time watching stupid videos with very poor video and audio quality when I could be spending them snuggling with my newborn. I finally to get them off my back played them all and put the tv on mute.

@Mrs. Tea: This is such an awesome list and so spot on! I lived in the GAP pants the first few days after delivery. They were snug enoughto hold everything together but loose enough to be comfy.

When I delivered the hospital gave me an awesome jumbo mug with a straw. 6 months later a friend gave birth at the same hospital and didn’t get one! When I asked the nursing staff about it they said they had just stopped giving them out. Complete bummer.

I also brought two $5 target pillows with pretty pillowcases. It was nice to have a little something pretty admist all the hospital gear. They came in handy during my induction while I was trying to get some rest and then post partum it was great to prop up LO when nursing.