Packing list (for hospital or birth center) - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[SlimP]

Spughy, comfortable clothes is something best not left to DH's to choose or we'd all end up with skinny jeans and heels. I heard of someone whose DH brought her a g-string panties for going home!!! Still nice they think of us in sexy clothes though

[Melany]

Originally Posted by SlimP 

Spughy, comfortable clothes is something best not left to DH's to choose or we'd all end up with skinny jeans and heels. I heard of someone whose DH brought her a g-string panties for going home!!! Still nice they think of us in sexy clothes though

You might consider tossing in a pair of pants that fit fine last month, but are a little uncomfy on your belly right now. Something that fit well when you were 6 months pregnant will be perfect for the ride home. Then, you don't miss the clothes this month as your wardrobe becomes more limited. 

[spughy]

I was actually very surprised at how thin I was immediately after giving birth to DD.  All my friends who'd had babies still had significant fluff around their midsections and I'd expected to be the same (and was horrified at the pants DH brought!) but I really didn't have any excess there - within a week I was back to pre-preg clothes for the most part.  This time I'm sticking out a lot further though so maybe it was just the way I was carrying.  I dunno... I figure yoga pants that I had pre-preg and am still wearing are probably a good bet!

[akind1]

I wear a jersey dress or skirt on the way home - it's easiest and least constrictive. I'm back in pre pregnancy sizes almost immediately, but I am plus size to begin with and don't gain much . . .

[beautifulnm]

I second akindl's jersey dress. Afterwards I don't want anything tight around my tummy :\

[Chapsie]

Originally Posted by Bena 

Oh no!!!  Do plan food!!

I have a friend who pushed for 3 hours focusing only on the cashew nuts she would eat after.  If cashews can motivate someone like that, can you just imagine what eggs benedicts will do!

haha!  There was a Tim Horton's (coffee shop) in the lobby of the hospital where I VBAC'd.  My DD was born in June and an iced caramel cappuccino was my after baby treat!

[Chapsie]

Originally Posted by Bena 

Btw...how long is a typical stay there? You sound like you're planning on staying a while. Our hospital mw birth stay is typically 4-12 houra after birth. If that is the case then you don't need much, really. If things change maybe you can keeo a bag at home that someone could pick up and bring you if you end up staying longer.

Typically in hospital (in US) a vaginal delivery is a 2 day stay (day of delivery doesn't count... then the next day is Day One and the day after that is the day you go home) and a c/s is be 3-4 days depending on how mom is doing.  This is standard unless the OB and the Pediatrician both agree to discharge you and baby sooner than that based on the mom's request.  At our hospital, I've never seen a couplet discharged before 24 hours.  

[Chapsie]

Originally Posted by beautifulnm 

I had a "surprise" induction. The crazy medwife called me in for a BPP I wasn't scheduled for and I didn't leave the hospital again until after I'd had my son :P DS' Godfather and DH brought whatever we needed to the hospital.

This happened to me, too, with my first.  I was so annoyed.  Went in to fetal testing (in my pajamas!) for a BPP and because of low fluid levels (in the absence of any other risk factors this is not a good reason to induce, i know now!  UGH) they escorted me to L&D for immediate induction.  I begged to go home just to shower and grab my hospital bag but they refused.  So frustrating... 

[beautifulnm]

Originally Posted by Chapsie 

This happened to me, too, with my first.  I was so annoyed.  Went in to fetal testing (in my pajamas!) for a BPP and because of low fluid levels (in the absence of any other risk factors this is not a good reason to induce, i know now!  UGH) they escorted me to L&D for immediate induction.  I begged to go home just to shower and grab my hospital bag but they refused.  So frustrating... 

Aww. It always feels poopy when you have a plan or you've taken the time to be all packed up and get derailed :(

[SlimP]

Originally Posted by Chapsie 

This happened to me, too, with my first.  I was so annoyed.  Went in to fetal testing (in my pajamas!) for a BPP and because of low fluid levels (in the absence of any other risk factors this is not a good reason to induce, i know now!  UGH) they escorted me to L&D for immediate induction.  I begged to go home just to shower and grab my hospital bag but they refused.  So frustrating... 

Same reason given for mine. I feel DS was fine as there were no other factors indicating otherwise. Basically scaremongered me into an immediate induction...the nurse on duty said she would lose her job if I left!!
It's hard to argue, especially when it's your first. I really hope to avoid any coercion into any unnecessary interventions this time. Why do some maternity centres take such a hard-line attitude and not trust the mothers body and intuition?

[Chapsie]

Originally Posted by SlimP 


Same reason given for mine. I feel DS was fine as there were no other factors indicating otherwise. Basically scaremongered me into an immediate induction...the nurse on duty said she would lose her job if I left!!
It's hard to argue, especially when it's your first. I really hope to avoid any coercion into any unnecessary interventions this time. Why do some maternity centres take such a hard-line attitude and not trust the mothers body and intuition?

Oh, it makes me so mad to think back on it... it was in 2008, before I had an iPhone to google stuff with in my pocket at all times!  I just wanted to go home and research low amniotic fluid index and decide for myself what to do.   I asked if I could go home and they said: "You'd have to sign out AMA (against medical advice) and if you do that, your insurance won't pay for the birth... besides, if anything happened to the baby, you'd have to carry that guilt for the rest of your life."   CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??!!!  First off, I wasn't even admitted to the hospital yet, so I wouldn't have to sign out AMA.  Second, the whole "insurance won't pay" thing is not true.  Third... UGH!  Way to pull the heart strings!  So not fair.  Yeah... a lot of scaremongering!  Feeling that loss of control over my body and decision making is a big part of why I ended up with PPD after that induction/cesarean.  I just felt helpless!

For my second one, though, I learned how to really advocate for myself.  I learned that it's ok to say no to people and still be respected (that's a hypnobabies affirmation that really struck a chord with me, haha).  I don't have to be a "good patient."  

And now... here I am... almost 5 years later and I finally have a care provider who gives individualized care and listens to what I want.  It's a much nicer and more peaceful experience.  :)

[EverLovely]

Oh the towel idea for the car ride home is a great one! Adding it to my list...
 

[LightForest]

I imagine the towel would also be useful for the car ride to the hospital, in case your water has already broken or is leaking (or even if you're just worried this might happen in transit).

Earlier in this thread there was a question about using the hospital's breast pumps - on that topic I just wanted to mention my experience of needing nipple flanges in a larger size than what was provided in the standard kit (of tubing, etc - parts that are not shared between moms). We had transferred DD to an area NICU after an otherwise uneventful homebirth, and I found the NICU staff to be useless at helping me to troubleshoot the pumping problem. It was so sad - my nipples were bleeding from the too-small flanges, resulting in some blood in my pumped colostrum. One super-meanie-of-a-NICU-nurse actually threw a nursette of my colostrum away on me before I could intervene (by insisting on a call down to the LCs to get a more informed person's help with the situation)! DD wasn't given ANY food until day 3 of life because of her other medical issues, so the only colostrum she ever got was the stuff I'd pumped. Gah!

I know my experience with the hospital pump was kind of random, but I thought I'd mention it just in case it ends up being useful for anyone else.

[mariee]

What a great idea- food as a motivator!!  Love, love, love!

We really enjoyed the hospital food with our first baby, and it is a good thing because we were there for 2 weeks.  :-)  It was kind of a shock to go home and have to cook for ourselves again.  But not sure what to expect with this hospital.... will definitely need to look into some Thai, especially since Im going to be rejoicing in no more heartburn!!

[spughy]

LightForest - our hospital DOES have different-sized flanges but they are really, really stingy with them and typically tell women they don't need them.   Fortunately I'm fine with regular-sized - but I have friends who would have benefited from larger or smaller ones and they weren't offered.

Mariee - what magical land do you live in that has GOOD hospital food?????  Ours is vile.  And comes in entirely insufficient quantities for someone who just completed the equivalent of a marathon and has a normal-sized stomach for the first time in 4 months.  Fortunately, the hospital here is near a good pub or two...

[LightForest]

Originally Posted by spughy 

LightForest - our hospital DOES have different-sized flanges but they are really, really stingy with them and typically tell women they don't need them.   Fortunately I'm fine with regular-sized - but I have friends who would have benefited from larger or smaller ones and they weren't offered.

Yeah, you know, in retrospect I'm pretty sure that I would have gotten more support for my issue if I'd been a patient at the hospital. As it was, I was in this weird position where I was 6 hours postpartum and my newborn was in the NICU, but I was not a patient myself because I'd had a homebirth. They just weren't set up to give me the support I needed in the NICU. (I'm not blaming them - their job was to support my baby, which they did very well!)

[mariee]

Ha, ha, ha, Spughy, I'm not saying it was HEALTHY, just good!  Two things I especially remember were the Nestle hot chocolate and this create-your-own pasta bowls for dinner.  The pasta bowls were total salt overload, but delicious and really plentiful!  I guess we got lucky.  We had a very unexpected turn of events with our son, but had a great hospital experience.

[spughy]

Well that's good to hear.  Great hospital experience, I mean.  Our hospital food is neither healthy nor good, and the portions are woefully inadequate for a post-partum mama!  But aside from that, our hospital is fine.  And I just visited a friend yesterday, who is a nurse and just had a baby six weeks ago, and she gave me a good run-down of stuff available for stealing and how to do it. (ie, tell every nurse that comes in your room that you haven't been given your vitamin D drops yet.  (They're good ones.)  Stock up and save!!! Also tubes of lanolin - hard to find in the drug stores here and lanolin works really well on DH's cracked hands.  I never needed it on my nipples but it's good stuff to have around.)

[scruffy too]

I think I finished packing my just-in-case hospital bag.  Here's what I included based on everyone's comments:

• a bottle of water (got a free one from my last massage, tossed it in)
• 2 days supply of vitamins
• tooth brush and tooth paste (travel size from some previous trip)
• shampoo (travel size from some previous trip - I figure if I'm sweaty I'll want to wash my dreads if I shower)
• chap-stick (thank you to whomever mentioned that - I would not be impressed to have dry lips and no chap-stick!)
• clothes for me (socks, comfy pants, comfy shirt with buttons, tank top/undershirt)
• extra t-shirt for DP
• towel for ride home
• clothes for baby (hat, socks, sleeper, shirt, fleece outer suit, baby blanket)
• $5 in change (for vending machine, most likely for DP - lol!)
• extra large zip-lock bag for placenta
• paper and pen
• emergency contact phone numbers list

I still have to add a nursing bra, but I haven't bought any yet (since I really don't know what size...) 

I may have thrown a couple other odds and ends in, but that's it.  I don't want too much stuff because I plan to use whatever the hospital will provide, and really, I hope not to need any of it, yet I still want to be prepared.

I put it all in a bag and jammed that bag into the car seat.

[buko]

I put it all in a bag and jammed that bag into the car seat.

Great idea!