I meant to write this not long after giving birth for all my pregnant friends, but alas, new borns are needy!
I WAY over packed but it turned out to be a great thing as we ended up stuck in the hospital for a week, but here is my MUST HAVE list. Some items you may not use, but things dont always work out like you assumed they would (prime example right here!), so I say overpack away! You can always leave stuff in the car and just grab it as you need it (which is also what we did).
Baby:
Necessities:
-just 1 or 2 outfits. Id bring 2 sizes if you arent sure how big baby will be. R and I knew with our genetics shed be on the smaller side but we didnt know HOW small (he was 5lbs I was 6.9). She came out at a healthy 6.12 so the premie outfit we had "just in case" rendered unnecessary. I donated it to the NICU for Premie Mommas.(if your hospital offers pictures after birth you might want to bring the cute stuff like tutus and such)
-A nuk style Paci and a Soothie (if you plan to give pacies). Some babies only take Nuks (Allie only takes Soothies) but the hospital pacies are vanilla flavored and you cant buy the flavored pacies, they are only for the hospitals. I switched Allies vanilla soothie out for the unflavored one as soon as I could so she wouldnt get hooked.
-One thicker blanket
-Baby wash products: unless your cool with J&J stuff (I hate it) bring whatever skincare stuff you plan to use. I didnt bring soap but I did bring our CA Baby Calendula cream and it was a LIFESAVER in that dry hospital!
-Nursing Cover. Trust me with all the visitors youll need it unless you kick people out to feed baby.
-Boppy. Again, maybe couldve been OK without this as Allie did well with nursing. But having been there the whole week and feeding her in the NICU it was 100% needed. Some moms need it to get their baby to latch at all and since you wont know what kind of feeder your kid is, keep it in the car.
- Breast Pump. My hospital had no intentions of letting me use theirs even though my baby went immediately into the NICU. I was SUPER glad we had decided to bring ours with us.
-Nipple Butter. (Earth Momma Angel Baby Nipple butter is 10000 times better than Lanoline (most hospitals will give you Lanoline). Trust me youll need the stuff. Even if you arent sore start putting it on after each feeding. Itll make a big difference.
- Baby mittens. DONT cut your newborns nails (and they will probably be born with some long ones). They are still attached to skin at first. THEY WILL BLEED! Just throw some mits over those paws if they are a scratcher.
Optional:
-1 cute carters receiving blanket. I wanted something cute to wrap her in bc I didnt like the hospital one after a week. Plus some hospitals wont let you take the hospital one home.
-Bows. Obviously for a girl. I had a bow on her as soon as the IV was out of her head!
-Diaper rash cream. The hospital I delivered at doesnt keep any on hand (they use vasoline which is fine for prevention but doesnt work as well if there is already a rash). This probably wouldnt have been an issue except that we were there for a week. I was glad I stuck a travel size in my bag!
- Baby book to do handprint/ foot prints in. (Advice: ask the baby nurse to do this for you. They are pros at it.)
-A baby book to read to your child for the first time. (We definitely wanted to read "On the Night You Were Born to Allie as soon as we could and write a little note for her. Cheesey and unnecessary but we wanted the memory).
- Other onsies/sleepers to put baby in if you dont want them to wear the hospital outfit.
MOM:
-1-2 comfy large jogging/ yoga pants. These are better than PJs cause you dont feel so dumb if you need to walk around the hospital in them
-2-3 nursing tanks w/built in bra
-BREAST PADS (apparently hospitals dont provide them. Youll need em unless you leave the day after or your milk comes in late)
-1 light weight robe
-1 zip up hoodie
-slippers
-fat lady panties (3 pair or so if you dont want to wear the hospital hose. But I like the things)
-gripper socks
-hair ties
-some make up (with all the pics youll be in youll most likely want SOMETHING on your face)
-hair dryer/straightner (I mightve been fine without mine if I couldve left after 2 days. But it felt nice to take that first shower the day after delivery and be able to feel human with my hair SOMEWHAT tame)
-LOTION!!! (one thing I didnt bring that I really wanted). With the harsh hospital hand soap and the dry air my hands were RAW for weeks after
-Your own pillow (bring it!)
-Phone/charger
-Laptop/charger
-Camera/charger/batteries/memory card
-Birth Plan (our nurse sucked and never read it, but whatev)
-Laboring tools: This is something I brought but never used because we were so progressed by the time we got there they werent necessary. But if you plan to be at the hospital sooner and want to know what I had planned to use(especially if it has been a long labor):
-tennis balls in hose as a massage tool (Hubs did try this, it didnt cut it for me. I needed HANDS!)
-a massage thingy (again, I wanted HANDS!)
-Chapstick (eh, didnt need it for labor but it was nice for the hospital stay. Granted it was a short labor so who knows)
-mints (for bad mouth breather breath during labor)
- Jolly ranchers (in case the nurses fought me on eating and I needed some sugar to keep laboring. Ideal for a long labor but unnecessary for a short one)
- Snacks for me if I needed them (I didnt by the time we got to the hospital) and for hubs. We did break them out right after delivery since the Caf was closed. They were a lifesaver! Snacks included Kashi Granola bars, single serving fruit, single serving OJ, Juice, Chex Mix, etc. This was nice during the post partum stay too.
- Bathing suit: never made it to the tub in the room
- The Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding BEST.THING.I.BROUGHT!!! I pulled this out the second day PP. It definitely helped me be successful with breastfeeding even on inverted nipples.
- Baby 411 or What To Expect The First Year (or other "wth do I do with this thing that cries" book)
Other Advice:
TAKE WHATEVER THE HOSPITAL GIVES YOU AND THEN SOME!!! Take all the pads, adult diaper things, panty hose undies, Tucks, numbing cream, diapers, wipes, WHATEVER! Youll use it and what you dont you can throw away or give away later. Even bribe a nurse or two for some more before you leave.
Bring your nurses a treat. My L&D nurse was awful so she got nothing. But the PP and ESPECIALLY the NICU nurses were AWESOME and did a TON of stuff for us that they werent supposed to do. So we brought treats every day if we could. Thank you cards for the ones that really went above and beyond. (also be extra nice and gracious to the ones that take good care of you and are nice to you).
Youll get more sleep once you leave the hospital (unless you arent BFing and you leave the baby in the nursery). Not MUCH more but it eventually gets better
Have you carseat set up and inspected several weeks, maybe even a month before you deliver. We thought we had it perfectly installed and then went to have it inspected and it was ALL kinds of wrong!
If you can sign your admissions papers prior to delivery DO IT. We procrastinated and the day I went into labor tried to go early while I was still nice and comfy to do it (their system was down so it never happened). Things went so quickly once we actually got admitted that night that I was signing a butt load of stinking papers when I was in the middle of transition and a good 8-9 CM dilated.
If the nurses cant get a hep-lock or and IV in on the first two tries, ask for the lab to come do it. After being stuck 4 times in very active labor (having to be still and on my back during contractions for them to stick me) they FINALLY called the lab. Loved the lab lady. Got it in in 2 seconds. NEVER letting a nurse or tech do it again.
When its time to push, make them sit the bed up for you some! I was doing full stinking squats just to get from laying down to up far enough to push. dumbdumbdumb. Finally I yelled "HOLD ME UP!!!" and my poor mom and husband bore my full weight during breaks so I could rest and not do squats. In retrospect we couldve just brought the bed up.
Even if you are handling contractions REALLY well, play it up during admissions. Youll get back way sooner. I didnt do this (even though I was advised to prior to labor) and they were slow as Christmas.
TAKE A BATH AFTER DELIVERY ASAP! The nurses didnt really tell me this until DAYS later. I was afraid to get the area wet (I was stupid). But baths make that poor area feel 1000000 times better! Throw a towel down and sit in "as hot as you can stand" water and just soak. If youre engorged throw a warm towel over your bewbies too. Itll help. But keep breast pads near by because youll start squirting everywhere as soon as youre out of the tub.
Use a NB pampers split open at the back filled with ice chips as an ice pad for your lady bits. Skip the offered crotch ice pack. Mine busted all over me and BURNED! THe NICU nurse (bless her) finally told me the pampers trick. Worked much better.
TAKE THE MOTRIN. It stops inflammation which is what hurts your crotch so bad.
Id personally skip the codine tylonol. It just made me loopy. The motrine made me feel better though.
At home take 800mg of Ibuprofen if your out of hospital motrin.
The bigger the pad the better.
Skip Always pads for PP. They stick to your stiches and get itchy. Buy the cheapest, oldest lady looking pads you can find. (Poise worked for me). You want plain ol cotton pads with no netting or special chemicals. Depends diapers are great too.
The first week post delivery itll take you a while to get in and out of the bathroom. Plan for it if you can.
Let the lactation consultant touch your bewbs. She can help. And if youre having issues call her. Also have someone you can call about BFing once you get home to support you. Youll have questions.
In the end, even though it sucks, ENJOY it and take pictures! We only have a few shots of my in labor but I wish wed taken more AND a video of her birth (things went so quick we didnt even have time to think) but I treasure what I have of labor. It was such a once in a lifetime thing! Congrats and GL!
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