I like to think of mine as the ultimate hospital bag list 
it looks like a shitload of stuff written down, but actually I fit it quite nicely into a weekend bag for baby and a dinky little suitcase for me.
One trick is to get some packs of food storage bags from Ikea- you put individual things in those and squash all the air out before sealing them, and then label what’s in them at the top so your DH doesn’t have to make a mess trying to find what you need. I colour coded mine, so turquoise/white was mine, yellow was baby. Post it notes for stuff you still need to add. I also made a checklist of everything going into each bag and ticked it off when I put it in, so when we were getting to ready to leave for the hospital we could look at it and just throw the last few bits in.
This is a message I sent to my friend about my packing list in the month between me having my baby and her having hers-
HOSPITAL BAG - WHAT I ACTUALLY USED
For Me
Main Bag
•Nightshirt x 2 - yep but only wore 1 as I was only in 1 night. Def take one which buttons all the way so you don’t have to take it off to feed
•Pyjamas - nope for above reason.
•Dressing gown - yep- they recommend lots of skin to skin so was nice to wrap around both of us when he was on me
•Clothes for travel - yep, big comfy joggers and sweater all the way.
•Knickers - would recommend Primark “invisible” - soft, seamless and stretchy
•Nursing bras x 2 - nope, was braless most of the time and wore a crop top type bra to go home
•Socks - yep big fluffy snuggly socks, my feet were freezing
•Flip flops - yep, hospital showers are grim, even if you do have your own bathroom
•Slippers - yep, hospital floors are also grim and bloody cold
•Head band - yep, you deffo don’t want hair in your face
•Towels - yep, I got big black towels from Primark, did the job. The bleeding doesn’t stop so you want something dark for after showering
•Flannel - nope
•Breast pads - nope took a few days for breast milk to come in so leakage wasn’t an issue (at the time. It certainly is now...)
•Maternity pads - Yep, take the pads, take alllllllll the pads. Don’t bother with the slim ones either, you want to bring out the big guns. Post partum bleeding is no f**king joke- it is red, runny, and there’s lots of it! There’s a time for ultra-slim pads. This isn’t it.
•Maternity mats x 3 - Nope, I took them in case my water broke in the car. It didn’t.
•Laundry bag - yep. Some of my clothes got fairly disgusting.
•Power bank & cable - yep to charge phone and speaker
•iPad & charger - nope.
•Bluetooth speaker - yep, was really nice to be able to listen to my own music during labour. Had my classical piano playlist on repeat for about 6 hours!
•Bubbles - didn’t open them til we got home in the end.
Handbag
•Maternity Notes - obvs
•Glasses - yep
•Glasses cloth - yep
•Make up - nope, didn’t have any visitors in hosp and tbh even if we had I don’t think I’d have given a damn about my appearance.
•Make up brushes/spray - nope as above
•Earphones - yep, listened to music and my hypnobirthing labour app in the car and in hosp. Really helped me to block everything else out and stay focussed. Wireless earphones so you don’t have to take them off when getting changed.
•Sleep mask - yep, except I had to keep lifting it up when I needed to use my phone to time contractions which was a bit of a pain
•Lip Balm - yep, G&A made my lips really dry
•Face mist - yep but with my skincare stuff as it’s also a toner
•Essential oils - nope, wanted to use them but never got round to it
•Blood test kit (for GD) - nope haven’t bothered testing since either, which I should definitely have done by now 😕
•Hairbrush - yep
•Comb - yep
•Kirby Grips - yep
•Anker & cable - yep as before
•Snacks - yep!! Had drumstick lollies and gummy sweets, you’d be amazed how much the sugar hit helps with the pain as well as an energy boost. Also had lucozade.
•Water bottle - yep, take the kind with a built in straw, between the G&A/noise I was making my mouth and throat got really dry.
•WISH I’D TAKEN - some throat sweets or lozenges, same reason as above
Toiletries
•Contact Lenses - yep
•Solution - yep
•Deodorant - yep, using Mitchum unscented, apparently scented stuff makes it harder for babies to smell breast milk
•Earplugs - yep!! Essential when I needed a snooze.
•Shampoo - yep
•Shower gel - yep, using unscented shower gel, same reason as deodorant
•Shower puff - yep
•Toothbrush - yep
•Toothpaste - yep
•Epaderm - nope
•Toilet wipes - yep!! See again about post partum bleeding, life gets messy and loo roll just falls apart too easily and doesn’t really clean you properly, plus I had stitches after the episiotomy which meant more blood...
•Hand sanitiser - nope just used the stuff in the hospital. We keep it in the changing bag though.
•Hand cream - nope but I use it now, hands are really sore from washing them so much, especially where I have rings on
•Femfresh Wipes - nope just used the Andrex wipes
•Multi Gyn compresses (for foof)- not at the time but have used since
•Multi Mam compresses (for nips) - as above
•Nipple cream - yep, bf-ing can be rough at the start while you’re both figuring out what to do! Lansinoh is good stuff, I only bought the small tube and still haven’t used it all
•Stretch mark cream - nope, didn’t have stretch marks
•Nail file - yep
Skincare - yep to all, so glad I took this!! After getting God knows how much blood, sweat, tears, birthing pool water and newborn baby gunk on my face it felt so good to take 10 minutes to have a proper wash and look after myself. Really helped me feel human again.
•Make up Remover
•Cleanser
•Day Serum
•Day Cream
•Night Serum
•Night Cream
Medicines - yep to all (except antihistamines) but especially paracetamol and deflatine- they don’t always bring you pain relief straight away so it’s good to have your own, and nobody warned me about the gas and trapped wind after I’d given birth, holy lord...
•Thyroxine
•Ranitidine
•Vitamins
•Liquid Iron Sachets
•Paracetamol
•Ibuprofen
•Lactulose
•Antihistamines
•Deflatine
Other
•Tens Machine - yep, thank god for my tens machine! Have a practice with it beforehand so you know how to use it, the last thing you need is to have to read the instruction manual when you’re in labour...
•Spare batteries - nope didn’t need them
•Pillow - didn’t take one in the end but would have been handy, they only gave me one in the hospital which was flat as a pancake and DH had to use a rolled up jumper, poor bugger!
•Frozen colostrum - we forgot this would you believe, but still got it all in the freezer here, we add it to expressed milk for bottle feeds
•Car seat - yep, they won’t let you leave without it...
•Pram chassis - nope just carried him in the car seat
•Carrycot - nope as above
For DH
•Camping mat - yep, otherwise he’d have slept upright in the chair, not at all comfy
•Sleeping bag - yep took two, put one over the camping mat
•Pillow - forgot to take as before
•Clothes - obvs
•Snuggly zip hoody - yep he wore it during skin to skin cuddles when DS was on his chest.
•Deodorant - yep and to everything else below
•Toothbrush
•Mouthwash
•Shower gel
•Contact Lenses
•Earplugs
•Glasses
•Earphones & cable
For Baby
Main Bag
•Sleepsuit/Vest x 3 for day - didn’t use all these as we were only in one night but got through several of them even then!
•Sleepsuit/Vest x 3 for night - as above
•Going Home outfit - yep but LOL everything was huge... can’t believe I ever thought newborn stuff might be too small for him!
•Hats - yep
•Bibs - nope only really need them for bottle feeds
•Puffles - not worth taking, he is oblivious to soft toys
•Ewan - yep, where would we be without Ewan...
•Muslins - yep. You can never have too many
•Blanket - yep, we’d slept with it for a little while beforehand so it would smell like us
•Nappies - yep you have to have your own
•Sudocrem - nope
•Cotton wool - yep to wash all the gunge off his scalp, they don’t bathe him in the hospital and all the blood had dried in his hair...
•Aptamil bottles - nope but have used since
Changing Bag - didn’t use any of this in hosp but I do keep all that stuff in there...
•Changing Mat
•Nappies
•Water Wipes
•Nappy bags
•Clean Sleepsuit/vest
•Nappy Rash ointment
As well as...
•Anti-bacterial wipes
•Hand wipes
•Hand sanitizer
•Packet of tissues
•Clean muslins
•Bottle of Infacol (basically liquid deflatine for babies)
•Mum pouch, which has a clean strappy vest and long sleeve top (in case I leak on whatever I’m wearing), maternity pads, breast pads, paracetamol, deflatine, senocalm