Hey OP.
I've served a prison sentence and I did an AMA on it a couple of years ago.
I really hope you get a suspended sentence, prisons are so overcrowded at the moment so fingers crossed you will get a suspended sentence.
I remember being in the dock and it felt like I was watching someone else's life fall apart, it didn't feel like it was actually happening to me. I was expecting a suspended sentence at worst so when the judge said that it was to be served immediately I was devastated, but there was also a strange sense of relief that even though it wasn't a good outcome, the whole waiting and uncertainty was over.
If you do get a prison sentence, remember that you will only serve half (although I think it has been reduced to 40%), and if it's still the same as it used to be, you can serve your last 4 months on tag if it's a non violent offence. So if you got one year) for example), you'd only actually serve around 2.5 months.
I would pack the following;
T-shirts / vests
Jumpers
Leggings / jeans (whatever you are comfortable in)
A winter coat
Underwear & socks
Pajamas
A big dressing gown, they have heating but it's controlled by the prison and it was always freezing. I had to get my mum to send mine in, I was sleeping fully clothed under my covers with a towel on top and o kept waking up because of the cold. I was so grateful when my big fluffy dressing gown arrived and I could sleep in that.
Shoes
Flip flops / sliders for the shower
If you Google it, it will tell you the maximum amount of each item that you are allowed, it used to be 12 tops, 5 pairs of leggings / jeans, 1 coat. You used to be able to take unlimited amounts of underwear and pajamas, but I'm not sure if it is still the same. I would say you are better to overpack, as they will keep anything you're not allowed in reception and you will get it back on your release, but it's a nightmare trying to get a clothes parcel through reception if you have underpacked.
Towels (you can use the prison ones but they're small and like cardboard)
Face cloths
Hair bobbles / clips / hairbrush
Toothbrushes (I took a big pack and they let me have them all - once again you can use the prison ones but you might prefer better ones, and it saves you buying them on your canteen)
Take a cheap watch!! There was nothing worse than not being able to see the time for hours on end.
If you're planning on writing, take paper, envelopes and stamps (my ex bf was in a prison where you couldn't take paper as they had a big spice problem (and you can spray paper with spice and then smoke it) but most prisons let it in.
You can't take any toiletries - they will give you shower gel and sachets of shampoo, and sanitary items are free. But you can order anything else on your canteen once you are there (you used to be able to order from Avon but I'm not sure if you still can).
Take photographs for your wall.
Take a couple of books if you read so that you can have something to read before you get to visit the library.
Take a little bag for it you are planning on visiting the gym / to take snacks and a drink to 'work'.
Take a reusable water bottle.
If I think of anything else I will let you know.
You will be ok, it's awful and there's no sugar coating it but female jails are not the same as male establishments. In the prison I went to there was a salon, gym classes, big houses where 18ish of you lived, with a living room, washing machine, dryer ect. You'll make friends (I still speak to a girl I met in prison, who was in for fraud actually, she received quite a short sentence for stealing from her employer). You will have to either attend education, or get a job. I'd avoid a job in the kitchens as you end up been there all the time, and I'd probably avoid a job in the gardens over winter unless you don't mind the cold. Jobs in education or the gym would be the best. If there's any 'orderly jobs' these are normally the best ones.
Take some cash with you so that when you get your first canteen sheet (where you can order snacks / toiletries ect), you will have money to spend on there. I presume you will go in on 'standard' which means you can spend £25.50 ish a week on your canteen, made up from your wages (about £15 a week, and the rest from private money. I was absolutely starving when I first got there as the portions are small and I didn't have any snacks, but I was ok once I received my first canteen. Stock up on a few cheap things that would fill you up, like noodles / biscuits.
Time will go fast. You'll be surprised at how 'ok' it is. I expected to spend my whole sentence upset or crying but I didn't. There will be times where you laugh with the others, read a good book ect. I used to go to work, go to spin class, have a bath, read a book, watch emmerdale with the others. It's not all bad. You will see some horrible sights though, like vulnerable people who shouldn't be there suffering mentally, or people self harming. I'll always remember a woman coming back from seeing social services and she had been told her baby twins were going to be adopted and she let out the most heartbreaking scream and I cried for her. I had no idea what to say to someone who had just been told she was loosing her babies.
I used to write a lot and I used to get a lot of letters which helped. Your loved ones can send emails too using emailaprisoner.co.uk which you will receive quicker than a letter, the prison print them off and post it through your door. I think it costs about 40p for them to send an email to you.
You can have 3 (I think) visits a month. If you have to have any legal (solicitor) visits then these don't count as your three visits.
If you have any particular questions let me know. Best of luck, and lots of love, it will be over before you know it, and I promise it won't be as bad as you expected x