Not the average hospital bag...

[ivanapoo]

Packing my bag at the moment with all the usual stuff: towel, nappies, clothes changes for me and baby, a few toiletries, giant maternity sanitary towels (erk), snacks that can't melt and so on.

Hot water bottle, lipbalm and hairbrush have already been recommended to me too, and something to play music on... But I guess these are still fairly standard.

What I'd like to know is the other slightly more unusual bits to pack or that you wish you'd packed.

Maybe stuff that helped make your room a "home from home" or that helped distract/focus you during labour?

To be honest I can't remember needing anything unusual, maybe a small bottle of squash to put in the manky warm hospital water jug. And it's not unusual, but my own paracetamol, in case the midwives weren't available for ages. You forget how sore you get after the birth, and those afterpains.

Well this time (second time) I'm being canny and packing two bags, a before and an after, as i realised taking a big bag is a PITA. Although this time im having an ELCS so dont need labour supplies as such.

From last time id say carton drinks like ribena are handy (hospital water is tepid and bleurgh!) I also got really hot after birth so a little fan was handy! A few maagzines were good but I also took my nintendo DS and a book - both of which didn't get used as I had zero concentration.

This time I'm planning on taking DPs old phone as i dont want my iphone nicked, and thats the type of thing i would worry about.

I took a pillow from home which was nice too.

Far more pairs of big cotton knickers (Primark etc) than you ever think you will need.

A disposable bed/changing mat thing to put on the car seat on the way home (and one ready for the way there in case your waters go).

Your own pillow. It was recommended to me last time and I really appreciated it.

Few things I had suggested, found useful...

Own pillow
Dressing gown
Flip flops
Throat sweets if planning to use a lot of gas and air
Vaseline
Straws... If struggling to drink
Squash as others say the water is disgusting!
More cotton wool than you're planning to take in!!! :)
Big pants in case you end up with a c section

HTH

Definitely your own pillow. There are never enough in hospital and they're all too thin/fat/hard/soft.

Put it in a bright coloured pillow case so it is obvious its not a hospital one. Then the nurses shouldn't nick it and you should remember to take it home :)

For dc2 birth I brought in framed pics of dh, dd and the dog. All in one frame so not a bother to set up. All the medical staff loved it. Also took a small pic of dd that we taped onto dc2s trolley thing so "he would know he had a big sister". Dd loved this touch - was almost 3 at birth.

Isotonic non fizzy energy drinks with sports caps

Running shoes, a sling and a mobile (didn't have one in1998).

Hospital kept me in trying to get DD1 to feed, really wish I'd had the courage to discharge myself, but DH would have been a bit

Had I just left and gone up the road to the nice warm Tesco he would have been fine.

I was ok when I told the antenatal ward I was leaving a couple of weeks earlier.

DD2 was born at home

He was ok.

I don't do being told what to do, I hate being watched and I like my own space.

I'm absolutely fine with hospitals when they are doing medical things.
Giving birth was personal hospital just felt wrong.

There's not much I would have noticed having in delivery. I did take a new journal and pen which I started on the antenatal ward and wrote UN that first night on postnatal after ds was asleep in his cot thing.

Lanoish if bfing.

Don't pack too much, there isn't that much space on the ward. And I only put 2 nappies/changes of clothes in my bag for each of us, the rest was in the changing bag and the car boot.

Pack your dh some clean underwear and socks to, dh didn't get to change his for 3 days as he felt he couldn't leave for long enough to get home.

There's not much I would have noticed having in delivery. I did take a new journal and pen which I started on the antenatal ward and wrote UN that first night on postnatal after ds was asleep in his cot thing.

Lanoish if bfing.

Don't pack too much, there isn't that much space on the ward. And I only put 2 nappies/changes of clothes in my bag for each of us, the rest was in the changing bag and the car boot.

Pack your dh some clean underwear and socks to, dh didn't get to change his for 3 days as he felt he couldn't leave for long enough to get home.

Vaseline. Put it on the baby's bum as soon as they are born and it makes it easy to clean them when they poo that black tar stuff. Its also great for sore nipples and does the same job as the expensive nipple creams.

Your own pillow
Lansinoh
Arnica tablets great for easing or totally stopping that bruised feeling.
Sports bottle, far easier to drink out of and can be propped up on the bed instead of struggling to reach a table.

Take bare minimum in the hospital bag, but have supplies set out in the nursery so your dh can pick them up easily and bring them on his next visit. I had spare pjs, spare nappies, vests and baby grows in newborn size in piles.
Also had the going home outfit and snow suit etc in the car seat ready so when he brought the car seat he brought the clothes at the same time. Worked very well for us, as everyone says, there isnt a lot of room in the cubicle at the hospital, especially when everyone has turned up with gifts.
Do take 3 sleep suits and 3 vests for the first day though, sounds like a lot but new babies bring up mucous quite a lot for the first couple of days and you don't like to think they have soggy clothes round their neck and chest.

YY to arnica tablets. Also dried apricots for that first tricky bowel movement (you, not baby) and a lightweight dressing gown - maternity wards and always boiling hot but I wanted to cover up when walking about. And a breast feeding pillow if you plan to BF, I found it really helped with positioning.

DC1 I took the mother of all hospital bags, snacks and magazines for DH, all kinds of stuff I never used, rescue remedy etc.

DC2 I took some baby wipes, a four pack of toffee crisps and a miniature Bombay sapphire and tonic.

Hair dryer

You have to shower a lot because you sweat hugely (hormones plus high hospital temperature) and there's never a hair dryer on the ward, so you have to sleep with wet hair

Phone charger, in case you get kept in longer than planned

Plan for at least four changes of baby clothes a day, they puke on everything.

Take some plastic bags to put yr dirty washing in, because it will be truly filthy and you won't want it touching anything else.

Flip flops for the showers, which don't get cleaned often enough, also for the ward because they are too hot for slippers IMHO.

Sloppy clothes. Leggings, tunics, giant shirts. Things that are comfortable to doze off in.

Some sort of plastic folder to store the cards in, or you'll lose them.

A vase, for flowers.

Of curse, you won't need most of my list, I was stuck twenty miles from home and had a dp who didn't drive.

flip flops are vital for shared showers on post natal ward where everyone is bleeding and loosing clots!

mine was unusual in that I didn't have A hospital bag, I had 3 small ones
1 - labour bag
2 - post natal & baby stuff bag
3 - birth partner bag (snacks, car park/vending machine change etc)

• much easier than rummaging through a big bag

Wipes. Cotton wool is useless for meconium. Huggies pure are as gentle as cotton wool and water.

YY to very lightweight dressing gown.

Clothes for you, if you're breastfeeding, have to be something you can access your boobs in! I recommend leggings, vest top and cardi.

I would have a packed bag at home with extra PJ's and under wear, just incase you need to stay in for a bit longer than planned.

This time around I am definitely going to do the 2bag thing! 1st time I was glad I'd taken: fan, phone charger, slippers with hard soles & some mini shower gels/shampoos-but really nice ones. I didn't have time to use most of my 'in labour' stuff but there are loads of great ideas here. Hope it all goes well :)

Chocolate, fizzy drinks. Sounds terrible but I hadn't held anything down for about 3 days so I needed a quick fix once dd was born

Notepad and pen - handy for lists of things for dh or others to buy/bring in. Also a couple of carrier bags so that dh can take cards/presents/ dirty washing home (much easier than trying to bring it all home when you leave hospital). Good luck