Not to have packed my hospital bag yet?

[TheABC]

37 weeks and DH is nagging me. The problem is that after a hideous birth with DS (overdue, induction, failure to progress, EMCS), I have zero faith in my body to start labouring. So having a bag packed with another 4 weeks to go, it feels pointless.

AIBU?

[summerdreams]

Yes sods law you will go in to labour tonight

[CakeNinja]

Yanbu really, you don't need much in a hospital bag!
I packed mine 3 times while in labour.
I mean, if you've got the time it would be useful to stick some nappies and clothes in there, but some people turn up with a carful of stuff which I doubt ever gets used! Whale music?!

[ForTheSakeOfFuck]

Does the idea of packing the bag make you feel anxious?

(IMO, YANBU but I think it's worth figuring out if packing is problematic for more reasons than it just being another chore or the bag getting underfoot for a month.)

[crayfish]

DH packed mine while I was in labour! I felt superstitious or like I was tempting fate so kept putting it off, but went into labour at 38 weeks so had to get DH to do it. I'm not organised at the best of time but this was bad even for me...

[danadas]

No YANBU.

I never bother packing until I am in labour. Contractions really focus your mind and stop you packing shit you don't need. Plus I would eat all the snacks if I packed too early You've got ages yet.

[SummerHouse]

Sure it only takes 10 mins. It will be something to entertain yourself with when you go into labour.

[MadisonAvenue]

With my first son I was leaving mine until the last minute and he came a week early so my husband had to bring everything in when he visited the following morning. With my second son I learnt from that mistake and had it packed in good time - only for him to be two weeks overdue.

[Whitedoor]

YANBU if you don't want to.
But it would make me twitchy. Could you have a hospital "pile" or "drawer" on the go for easy access if necessary?

[SummerHouse]

whale music

I only had some [snigger] aromatherapy oils in mine. The bag never even made it out the car during my 17 hour labour.

[BoboBunnyH0p]

I was packing mine while on the phone to the maternity unit, my DD was 3weeks early. So YANBU, like other posters have said packing while in labour keeps your mind focused.

[diddl]

I never got around to packing a bag much in advance with either of mine.

PFB was born very prem at home & we were blue lighted in with me in a bloody tshirt & knickerless.

PSB waters went & I gathered a few bits whilst waiting for husband to get home to take me to hospital.

(After phoning ILs to come & look after PFB & asking a neighbour if they would look after PFB if I needed to go in before ILs arrived)

[snorepatrol]

Nar yanbu as long as you kinda know where stuff and your house is ready for a newborn it doesn't matter really.
You're not going to go into labour and give birth within 10 mins you can pack while you're on the phone to the labour ward if needs be.

Worst case scenario you have the baby and no bag then DH can just whip to the nearest 24 hour supermarket and get you stuff.

When I had dd2 I might as well have not bothered, she was so small nothing fitted her so DH had to nip to ASDA for clothes and hats. I was also so adamant I was going to breast feed I didn't buy a steriliser or any bottles so we called and bought them on way home after I could bf.

[Madcats]

DD chose to arrive 5 weeks early by emergency C + general anaesthetic (what turned out to be/become an abrupted placenta rather speeded things up).

I didn't have a birth plan. let alone a hospital bag!

I arrived at the hospital about an hour after my baby shower with a mobile phone at 10% and not much cash.

As long as you have the right car seat and a couple of nappies I am sure you'll cope.

DH was probably a tad more stressed (but not massively).

Assuming you live in mainland England you are probably able to order most stuff online (be it supermarket/Click n Collect/Amazon Prime) if you have forgotten something.

Could you just stuff a few random bits into a bag to stop DH stressing?

[HackerFucker22]

Hard a long, arduous, drawn out labour first time and could have packed (or instructed DP to pack) in the early stages.

With second I barely made it to the hospital.

Pack your bag woman

[NeedACleverNN]

I packed my back at 27 weeks with dd....and then went into prem labour

Luckily it was all halted by the medical team

Dh wouldn't let me pack Ds's bag until 35 weeks. He came at 37

[TheABC]

No whale music, cakeninja. Have got stress balls and a blindfold ready for after the birth, when every noise on the ward is designed to stop me sleeping! I like the idea of a birth drawer (and it will stop the toddler from adding random dinosaurs to the bag). I think DH is just worried he will have to do it on the way out to the car.

[pearlylum]

I agree you don't need much. I had my bag packed with a few things before my second birth, which was quite quick , OH grabbed the bag - into the delivery suite when I asked for something.
In his haste he had picked up the wrong bag, it was one that we had used for a holiday a few months earlier.
As I was labouring he pulled out a snorkel, mask and a pair of flippers.
A funny moment, but midwives were great and rallied around - I had everything I needed for the birth.

[JustMeAndHim]

YANBU

36+4 here with DC1 and haven't packed my hospital bag. It is making DH twitchy but I'm not too worried. My gut tells me it won't be yet

[FearOfFlying]

I packed my bag for ds1 during labour at 38wks procrastinator Not a pleasant experience. For next 2 dc, bag was packed practically at a positive pregnancy test.

[giraffesCantReachTheirToes]

Unless you want you Dh to pack it and end up wearing a daft thong and white cotton trousers then do it yourself - in the panic he might pack all sorts of crap if you are unable to

[FearOfFlying]

You never think it's going to happen, do you giraffes? - until it does. I couldn't bleddy believe it, going into labour 2wks early, I was convinced it wasn't going to happen.

Pack your bags, people.

[curren]

I can't say you should pack your bag.

However I had a very long labour with my first. My second, I was taken in hospital because of various reasons. Went into the labour the next day and it was fairly quick. Dh only arrived as ds was being born.

I was glad I packed the bag early.

Dh is generally great. Except when it comes to guessing wether clothes will fit me. Baby stuff he would have remembered everything. He would have brought me some pre pregnancy jeans thinking they would fit.