Labour bag, on the ward bag and DH survival bag tips please!

[Mamab33]

Have been putting off packing a bag. DH must be getting nervous as he has left empty bags out. What do we need? What did you really appreciate after birth?

Snacks and drinks.

Something easy to read (it is hard to sleep on a ward and sometimes your baby will sleep )
Phone
Warm socks

For DH - a clean top.

Moist toilet paper for post birth toilet trips!

Here is what I had in mine :) Add lots of snacks/ sandwiches and drinks for you and hubby. And an Ipad for movies if you have to wait.
Good luck, exciting times !xx

Newborn nappies,

I packed baby wipes too although the official standing on this is cotton wool and water! Just get fragrance free ones and baby will be fine, we did cotton wool and water for 10 days and OMG the waist of time!

Two or three baby grows, vests and a hat.

A couple of muslin squares

A blanket,

And if you fancy an outfit for them to wear home.

Car seat

Socks as your feet can get cold during labour.

T shirt to wear in labour. (go for a dark colour).

Lip balm you get so dehydrated

Hair band

Camera

Breast pads

Shampoo/ conditioner/ shower gel

Baggy trousers and tops front opening if possible makes it easier to breast feed. And your tummy doesnt go down straight away after
A dark Towel

Hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Maternity pads and black primark underwear

Nursing bras.

I had a drinking straw to assist in drinking in awkward positions.

Unsexy as they are I LOVED my tens lady horrid paper nappy pants things! Designed for incontinence but work well as a pad and a are cushioning iyswim. V comfy!
Also snacks, drinks and a phone charger. Finally a silly thing but extra phone data... I was in for a week and sent millions of photos of baby and mumsnetted like mad to keep me sane, reaching my data limit when DP had gone home would have been horrid!

Amazing...thank you! Cold feet in labour. I had no idea. Snacks sounds like a plan. Have started watching the bakeoff final instead of packing again! Oops...he'll be having kittens!

Make sure your DH is involved/at least watches the packing. He needs to know what is in each bag as he will be doing most of the getting items out. My friend went so far as putting baby outfits into labelled ziplock bags (putting a vest, sleepsuit, hat all together so he only had to grab the bag).

Pack more baby clothes than you think you'll need as they are very leaky at the start. Pack more maternity pads as you think you'll need as you will use a lot.

Flip flops for the shower. Slippers.

Don't forget that you can leave stuff in the car. So just take your labour bag in and DH can switch bags if you stay in.

Good luck!

FWIW I went into labour so quickly with both of mine that neither time the labour bag was used My point is that it's all nice to have but not necessary. The TENS machine was my one must have item.

Thanks Jimmy. Still need to buy some wee vests. Baby est 6.5 lbs at 36 weeks. At that rate I'll need a bigger size!

Nursing pillow if you plan on breastfeeding. I got so stressed with the build up of cushions the nurse did. And once home I used my nursing pillow and it was way easier.

The rest pp covered already! I packed extra hats this time for baby as last time it was so cold in the room. Didn't want my son to catch a cold.

Normal list stuff plus I downloaded BBC iplayer and downloaded a load of radio dramas, comedy's and other bits. Great as you just need to listen whilst you close your eyes and try and ignore the pain (whilst on meptid)

I recommend some cream for your nipples if breast feeding! I didn't pack any and my nipples got so sore so quickly I really regretted it!

I gave birth in the middle of the heatwave so this clip on fan was a dream 6" 2 In 1 Stand or Clip On Portable Fan Table Desk www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00D7DT0I0/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_DLHnub1AB7X6B Every single midwife asked where we got it!

I had my v shaped pillow in the car and when we had to stay in it was a life saver for feeding, sitting up in bed etc. ii also used it as a Normal pillow as all the hospital ones are waterproof and therefore sweaty!

Yes yes yes to Lansinoh (and use it after every feed, right from the start) and lip balm (essential if you use gas and air).

Right that confirms it. I will look for a nursing pillow too. DH couldn't believe the price of them.

I found a cheapy v pillow from argos better than the boppy I also had (99p from ebay!).

Oh good tip. Thanks!

I just took a massive IKEA cushion and that was very nice to have (mainly for poor OH who had to sleep across 3 plastic chairs in the postnatal ward )

I don't get the snacks / drink thing - there's usually a shop in the hospital.

Robinson's do a good (expensive!) tiny bottle of super concentrated squash which is really handy for a hospital bag!

Don't forget food and drink for him , there normally extremely overpriced and far away shops some where in the hospital. But you won't want to leave you, dh was given tea and 2 slices of toast I suspect only because he is a doctor after 24 hours, and offered nothing for the remaining 12 hrs, he just munched his way through loads granola bars and jelly sweets. Also even if you don't take it have another 5 days (or so) worth of stuff, sorted ready. Just in case you don't escape when you think you will...

I found the drinks and snacks handy for after when I ended up on a ward as DP obviously had to go home at some point and I couldn't leave the baby or take the baby off the ward to go to the shop or a vending machine myself

Also this one is gona make me sound pretty stupid I no but I don't normally wear big underware so I just bought a few packs in my normal size n threw them in my hospital bag without checking and then when getting sorted post birth it turned out that my usual size didn't accommodate the massive maternity pads which resulted in an incredibly tight and uncomfortable fit in hospital which I did not appreciate with stitches! So yeah if you buy big underware for post birth specifically make sure it fits