Before having my son, I was paranoid I was going to go into labor in random places, so I had my labor & delivery bags packed for 2 months. I carried my poor cord blood registry box everywhere I went and every day to work (since it couldn't be left in the car due to temperature).
When my water broke in the last hour of work at 1:30pm (while sitting at my desk), I calmly texted my husband to come pick me up, because my water just broke. I told my boss and co-workers and waddled out to my car (where everything was all ready to go). I waited for my husband to get to my work (no more than 10 minutes), he hopped in my car and we drove to the hospital. Baby A was born at 7:14pm that day.
For those of you preparing for your baby, here are the basics that I packed in my Labor & Deliver Bag, and what I realized I might of needed when at the hospital:
- Bath robe (This was a lifesaver and I lived in it the first week after delivery)
- Prenatal vitamin
- Snacks (for self & hubs)- since the kitchen was closed by the time we got to our room, this helped hold us over till hubs could run and get mcd’s
- Chargers
- Ipad/iphone
- Sleepers for baby
- Going home outfit (plus socks, hat, gloves, etc.) for baby
- Breast pump & supplies (if you've never used one before, a nurse/lactation consultant can help you learn how to use it)
- Wallet
- Glasses
- Own pillow
- Blankets & pillow for hubs
- Change of comfortable clothes
- Flip flops for shower
- Antibacterial hand gel
- Nursing bra
- Nursing pads
- Comfy pjs
- Fuzzy warm socks
- Boppy or nursing pillow (if it works for you- my kiddo is too much of a wiggle worm and doesn’t ever latch properly when laying on one of these. It's a great neck pillow though. haha)
- Will
- Insurance info
- Birth plan
- Birth certificate registration for hospital (send in ahead of time if you can.)
- Cord blood registry box (make sure to fill out form inside BEFORE going into labor- I forgot about this and hubs was rushing to fill it out while I struggled through my early contractions)
- List of people to email/call/text once born
- Sleep Eye mask if you have trouble sleeping in hospitals (I was too paranoid/watching my child, that I basically had to be given some heavy-duty pain meds to get any sleep- which I was grateful for relieving the major pain downstairs, but it also knocked me out so I could actually sleep more than the 15 minute naps I was getting the first day.)
Your hospital might provide these, but it's great to bring your own if yours doesn't. If they do have them, make sure to take these home!:
- Tucks
- Disposable underwear
- Giant maxi pads (stock up at home too)
- Dermapast
- Motrin extra strength
- Stool softener
- Sitz bath (don’t forget to take this home)- for Vaginal births.
- Shake formula (even if bf, take these home from the hospital- you never know when you need it!)
- Diapers & wipes (take what the hospital has too!)
- Snacks/gift for nurses (this was a hit at the L&D)
Funny story about the treats- I came across this idea on Pinterest and decided to do a little "peanut-filled snack bucket" since "Peanut" was our nickname for our son before he was born. Well, when I was in the hospital and screaming bloody murder for my Epidural (the Anesthesiologist was backed up in the OR, so it took him 2 1/2 hrs to get to me), one of the things I actually screamed to the nurses right after screaming obscenities- "I'm so sorry I'm so horrible. I have candy for you, I swear!"
So when hubs got the candy, they laughed- I wasn't lying!
We actually had some of the nurses later in the night (baby A was born right at shift change) that were like "Are you the guys who brought the candy?"
haha. My only regret was not bringing 2 buckets- one for the Labor & Delivery nurses and one for the Recovery Room nurses (they were separate, so the recovery nurses didn't get any of the treats- poo).
I hope this helped you in packing your hospital bag. If you end up having a c-section, there might be a few things that you need that I didn't, but this is a great starter list for those who are going to have a vaginal birth.
Have a great day and happy packing!
-M
