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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be 35 weeks pregnant with no packed bags?

94 replies

stormytherabbit · 23/08/2017 14:37

I am 35 weeks pregnant and booked for a csection at around 39 weeks.

I haven't packed my own nor baby's bag yet. AIBU? I am getting a hard time from DH and my Dfriends.

I just don't know what to pack!!

OP posts:
MrTrebus · 23/08/2017 14:41

YANBU but I would get round to it. Google lists there are loads of good ones. The main thing is nappies and baby sleepsuit and hats and blankets and loads and loads and loads of massive pads for you as you bleed loads. Loads. Several sets of dark on a for you and something comfy to go home in. And toiletries. That's it really. For context I had an emergency c section and my 4month old DD is currently sat on my lap Smile

MrTrebus · 23/08/2017 14:41
  • Dark pyjamas
RainbowPastel · 23/08/2017 14:43

Mine were packed from early on both times. Mine were born at 35 and 37 weeks.

Original poster
stormytherabbit · 23/08/2017 14:43

Thanks @mrtrebus!
Can you reccomend any Pjs that are suitable for after a section?

OP posts:
Original poster
stormytherabbit · 23/08/2017 14:44

I don't understand, I'm a bit.. strange maybe. I don't understand the excitement of packing the bags that my friends and family seem to show. Is it seen as a right of passage?

OP posts:
Cupcakegirl13 · 23/08/2017 14:46

39 weeks and just packed mine - what's the worst that can happen 😂

MollyWantsACracker · 23/08/2017 14:47

Pack them.

I didn't get home from my 38week check up. Obstetrician didn't like the look of how the baby was lying and I was sent off to the hospital straight away. Dc was born the next afternon (elective section).

I had no bags packed. It was a pain.

There are loads of lists online, or ask on here!

MrTrebus · 23/08/2017 14:47

Yes just get baggy ones. I got sets from Tesco and Sainsbury's stretchy trousers with long sleeved tops. Just go for maybe 1 or two sizes bigger than usual. You won't feel much of your wound for a few days so just be careful moving around and when they take the big waterproof dressing off your wound later on AIR YOUR WOUND ALL THE TIME to avoid infection. Sorry if that's unwanted advice but I wish someone had told me that Flowers

Original poster
stormytherabbit · 23/08/2017 14:49

@mrTrebus not unwanted advice at all! Very welcomed in fact!

Thanks everyone. I'll have a think and get packing this weekend. Can anyone reccomend a bag to take? Will I need a separate one for baby?

OP posts:
PinkHeart5911 · 23/08/2017 14:50

Why not pack now? It's better to be prepared for these things, last thing you want is to go in to labour and it be a mad panic as you will forget something you really want to take.

Your 35 weeks I packed before then with both mine lucky really as they were both born at 36 & 37 weeks and would definitely of had the babies stuff all ready to go by now

Lots of lists online of what to pack.

PinkHeart5911 · 23/08/2017 14:51

Have you got an overnight/weekend bag or a small suitcase? If so just use that

Yours & baby stuff can all go in together

littlemisssweetness · 23/08/2017 14:53

I'd pack- I didn't have anything packed as like you was booked in for cs, but I went to routine appointment at 36+4 and got admitted so had to rely on my husband to pack my bag

BonApp · 23/08/2017 14:57

I never packed a bag for either time.

I knew I wanted a homebirth so it felt pointless. If I'd ended up in hosp, DH could've easily gathered up the very little that would've been required (babygrow, nappy, pants for me, nightie).

I never really got all the pressure to Pack A Bag Confused

BonApp · 23/08/2017 14:58

And lots of labours start slow so you could even do it then.

Original poster
stormytherabbit · 23/08/2017 14:58

Truth is, maybe I'm putting it off a bit.
I feel a bit out of my depth.

OP posts:
Montsti · 23/08/2017 15:02

I'm almost 34 weeks with no.4 and haven't packed yet either...I'm waiting for the finishing touches to baby's bedroom but that could take another 3 weeks so I'm hoping I don't go into labour early (c section booked for almost 39 weeks)...

It doesn't take long to pack and I've got everything just need to put it in a case...

MumsOnCrack · 23/08/2017 15:04

I'd definitely have a bag for you and a bag for baby. Makes it much easier to find stuff. I also packed a load of still locozade as it's awful having to wait for a drink when you want one only to be handed a teeny tiny cup of water.

Take baby clothes in a variety of sizes. DD was small and I didn't have any tiny baby clothes. A wooly hat too as they feel the cold. Extra socks.

With a section have a pillow you can press over the wound when you cough/sneeze/laugh as it makes you feel more secure. Take ibuprofen and paracetamol instead of waiting for them to be prescribed. Big baggy pjs and also massive knickers you can putt up over the section as all of mine rubbed exactly where they'd cut.

Oh, and congratulations in advance!

Crumbelina · 23/08/2017 15:04

Snap! 35 weeks yesterday and have a planned CS at 39 weeks. Nothing is prepared or packed, no cot has been ordered, although I did include some size 1 nappies in the online shop yesterday.

I think I've been lulled into a false sense of security as DD1 was forced out at 42 weeks so I'm assuming this baby would also be a late one if I let things progress naturally.

BonApp · 23/08/2017 15:13

That was me too OP. And I felt like packing a bag was going to jinx my chances of a homebirth. So I just didn't.

It's ok to feel overwhelmed, it's a huge thing. All my nct friends and other friends seemed to be so ready. I just felt WTF! i can't believe I'll have child at the end of this. Me! Forever! but really it's all fine.

MrTrebus · 23/08/2017 15:16

I had 2 bags one for me and one for baby
Small sorts holdalls that's all you need. Don't over think it xx

NetflixandBill · 23/08/2017 15:18

I had only started to chuck a few things in the bag before my son came at 37 weeks. I was so sure i'd be overdue as he was my first. I got loads of black leggings and longline vests from primark. Makes you feel a bit more dressed than pyjamas and i lived in them for the first couple of weeks at home too.

iknowimcoming · 23/08/2017 15:21

Take slippers and/or flip flops (you can keep flip flops on in the shower Wink) and a notepad and pen (so you can write lists of things for your dp to do and/or bring in/buy for you), phone charger, book/magazine etc - it can be surprisingly boring in hospital

sillyquestion477 · 23/08/2017 15:24

Pack them ! I was due for a planned induction at 36 weeks. I had planned to pack it the weekend before I went in....except I went to an appointment at the hospital to get my steriod injections for the baby a few days before and I didnt get home again ! I had to rely on someone else packing it and it wasn't done quite the way I would have done it ! lol
I should have learned my lesson though after many stays during the pregnancy and many times being admitted for preterm labour scares i promised myself each time if I got home I would pack it so the next time I wasn't stressing but i just never got round to it !

TomFun · 23/08/2017 15:25

Get packed sooner rather than later. I had to rush off to the hospital after my 38 week check with pre-eclampsia and didn't come home for over a week.

I had an EMCS. You'll want stretchy clothes and big knickers. The hospital might put a pair of mesh knickers on you after surgery to help your wound breathe. Lots of maternity pads. Some toiletries for yourself, including moisturiser as it is so hot and drying in hospital. Slippers to shuffle around the ward in. Pack some nice chocolate as well!

For baby, you'll need a hat or two, sleepsuits, bodysuits, socks, blankets, nappies, cotton wool.

Good luck!

thekillers · 23/08/2017 15:25

I don't get the packed bags thing for a birth. Had 3 and never had a packed bag. . What do you actually need? Sanitary towels, 1 baby grow and 3 nappies, 1 adult sleepwear .

Anything else can be brought in later or best of all go straight home (appreciate may not be possible with c section)