Already given birth? ? about hospital packing...

[surfmamato3]

Now that you have had your baby and are back from the hospital, birth center, if you have time to post. Could you answer a few questions??

What did you pack that:

1. Was sooo helpful to you?

2. Never left your suitcase? :

3. Wished you would have brought?

Thanks in advance!!!

Kimberly
who thought it was *it* last night but intstead got a full nights rest and is now looking at my half packed bag hoping it is today or tomorrow...

[hairpin]

I would have brought a lot more stuff for postpartum:

-my breast pump
-an alarm clock
-prenatal vitamins (why didn't they give these to me in the hospital?)
-more pajamas that are gowns
-shampoo, conditioner, and blowdryer
-cell phone charger
-do not disturb sign (people walked in on me all the time while I was struggling to breastfeed)

We were pretty set for labor and delivery.

[sept04mama]

Helpful for me:
-Rice bag for the strong contractions at the end- I just had them keep sending it with the nurse to heat up for me in their lounge microwave
-Snacks- I got really hungry in earlier labor and for PP they were nice when you get hungry between meals or the food is so gross you can't eat it
-My own nightgown- I was happy to not wear the hospital one
-3 different sizes of nursing bras- my milk came in on day 2 and I was busting out of some of them
-Lotion!
-Fingernail clippers for baby- they were SO long and hospitals aren't allowed to cut their nails, so I did.
-Baby book- I had time to write in it, didn't when I got home!

Not so helpful:
-massager and tennis balls for DH to rub my back- I kept swatting him away- but you could like it so maybe still pack
-candy to suck on- it just sounded gross- but again, you may be different
-Swimsuit for DH- I wasn't going to give up tub space to him!

Wish I had brought:
-An alarm clock that glows in the dark
-A small nightlight or reading lamp
-A nursing nightgown for PP- I thought they would have those!
-Even more snacks
-A blowdryer

[Citykid]

Great suggestions ladies, and thanks for the idea, Kimberly! Good luck!

[kate.first.babe]

Wish I would have brought:

more clothes - more sweats and t shirts
more nursing bras - brougt only one size and it was off - needed different sizes
mascara - know this sounds silly, but too many ugly pics of me with no make up what so ever (am I vain??)
alarm clock!!
email addresses and phone numbers of people I needed to contact
breat feeding pillow

Never used:
my own underwear - they give you the ones at the hospital
my night gown - don't know why
all the reading material I brought
Food - I had a quick labor and they had lots of food coming all the time

can't think right now of anything else.

Best of luck!
Kate

[KKmama]

I suppose this is a little silly, but a cute newborn hat. You're going to be taking a lot of pictures, and it's so nice to have something cuter and more personal than the hospital issue hats.

Make sure you have your list of important phone numbers... yeah, some people you'll call when you get home, but there are those who need to hear the news immediately.

One thing we've found (and whether you can do this depends on the safety of parking at your hospital)... we have the "must have" stuff packed separately from the "might want" stuff. The "might want" stuff stays in the car, and dh runs out and gets it if we need it. Most of that stuff never comes into the hospital, so there's less crapola to schlepp back to the car when going home.

[mirandahope]

needed and had: labour aide, snacks, hot water bottle, rice bag, slippers, house coat (robe), pyjama bottoms, camera

not neede but had: crib game (cards)

might think of other things later

[LucyRev]

This is a funny question for me. I just had my baby on the 19th. I got to the hospital with just a lip of cervix left. I had the baby half an hour after we got to the hospital. We had packed a whole bag of stuff for during labor...lip balm, Recharge, rice bag, a bottle of water to mist my face with (which I actually wanted), massage oil, honey sticks, snacks, etc. We didn't use any of it. We didn't even have time to bring the bags in. So, we had to laugh about how much time we spent thinking about all of that stuff and gathering it all up.

I was shocked that they didn't have nursing gowns there. I wish I had brought more of my own pj's, and more options of clothes to wear home. We only stayed one day though. I agree with everybody else's suggestions.

[newbie_mary]

Great ideas, everyone!

I second the reading lamp, because my hospital room had only horrible overhead lighting. You either had to have all of the lights on, or all of them off. Not so pleasant in the middle of the night when trying to learn how to nurse. Also the cute hat idea. We had one and those pics are so much cuter than when he had the hospital one on! Finally, DEFINITELY the nursing gown idea, because those hospital ones were a huge PITA to "get into" every time I wanted to nurse.

Snacks would have been great -- I kept being starving in the middle of the night when no food was available. Also, for some reason I didn't put any of my own clothes on until the 3rd day, when it was time to leave, and was amazed at how much better I felt in my own clothes rather than the hospital gown. the hospital gown was nice for right after birth (first 12 hours or so) because of the bleeding factor...better to bleed on the hospital clothing if given the chance...yuk.

We schlepped everything in the world with us, but labor went so fast that we didn't use any of it -- cds, laptop to play dvds, massaging stuff, etc. the one thing my dh did for me in labor that was BRILLIANT was putting wet washcloths on my forehead during pushing. I was sweating like a pig, and it felt SO GOOD!

Mary

[JoyofBirth]

I was really glad I brought our own nightgowns for after the birth. I brought a nursing gown and one for Emma. It's in her keepsake box now. And we're on the lookout for the perfect one for Mattie. I brought tons of stuff I didn't need. The hospital gave me great shampoo, conditioner and soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste and deodorant. They gave me those mesh panties which were way more comfortable than mine, which surprised me. They even gave me socks with gripper bottoms. I would call the hospital and see what they provide. I'm not even bringing much for toiletries. I'll just use theirs. My doula will bring all I need for labor. I think this time I will pack a second gown for me. We ended up staying 48 hours instead of 24 and I would have liked to change. But I don't anticipate that this time. Oh, I also really wish I had my boppy. It would have been so helpful with nursing. That will definitely go this time. I think this time I will pack:
2 nursing gowns
1 baby gown
going home outfit for me, not including undies ( I wore mesh panties for 3 weeks after)
baby's going home outfit
dh's pjs, toothbrush
snacks for dh
video camera
digital camera and printer
And that's all I can think of for now.We might need to get Emma a gift for Mattie to give her.
I'm going to keep it very simple. Last time, my dh ended up making several trips to the car and the camera got taken down and it was a long walk back to the car. I'm really bummed not to have pictures of us leaving the hospital. and I don't want him to get bogged down with a bunch of stuff we didn't use again.

[txgal]

I had a home birth but something that worked really well for me was a pool noodle cut to about 2 ft. long to use for counter pressure during back labor. Worked better than the tennis balls and was easier for Dh and the doula to use.

[surfmamato3]

Thank you ladies!!

You have helped me pack my bag!

If anyone else has any input, I would be glad to hear it...:

MAHALO PLENTY!!
(hawaiian for thank you very much)

[eilonwy]

Maybe I'm odd this way, but I loathe nursing nightgowns... I always feel like my entire body is hanging out of them.

Most helpful-- cute, sock-like slippers. Hospital issue slipper socks are fine after the birth (when you may drip on them), but before hand it's nice to have something cute and comfortable on your feet.

Lip balm-- breathing always dries my lips out like crazy.

Teeny tiny clothing-- even if your baby is average-to-large, the chances are excellent that 0-3 will look gigantic in the first few days. Get at least one teeny outfit for taking pictures; newborn sized if you're expecting an average to large baby, preemie sized if you're expecting a smaller one.

Calling card-- most of the people we needed/wanted to call were long distance.

Shower shoes/flip-flops.

Not helpful-- well, we didn't pack any extras. This is our third baby.

We didn't have a camera (I was planning to buy one the next day ) but I wish I'd had one (or four).