I plan to post about my baby shower and my labor and delivery and all of those fun things, but I thought I'd start out with my advice for packing for the hospital. Thanks to Pinterest and Google, I spent my fair share of time researching what this person and that person thought that one should or should not take to the hospital. From all of those blogs and websites I compiled my own list of things that we should take with us. The end result was, as you can see below, just pack as much as you can fit in your car because it would be better to have it and not use it than to have to go buy something that you already own.
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| Although our trunk looks like we are embarking on a week long road trip, our hospital stay was only two days. |
Now I have some disclaimers before I get too far into my list. We stayed in the hospital for two nights instead of just one and I knew this weeks in advance. In my opinion, this gave me full rights to pack whatever I wanted and not be made fun of by Jay or anyone! Additionally, my labor and delivery was crazy easy, (I almost feel guilty talking about it, but that's another post) so some things that I will mention I didn't actually get the opportunity to use, but I would expect them to be handy and will be taking them to the hospital if there is ever another Wheeler baby in our future.
First of all is Jay's bag. This is short and sweet....... LET HIM TAKE CARE OF WHAT HE WANTS TO BRING! I say this for two reasons 1) If I had packed his bag, I would have undoubtedly left something out and 2) it is usually the mom's responsibility to pack everything else, so they can manage one bag. I did, however, make a basket of treats for him to take to the hospital and gave it to him as a Father's Day gift. Out of the whole labor and delivery process, he was most concerned with what he was going to eat, so I decided that I would just take care of that right off of the bat.
Next is Olivia's bag. I can laugh at myself now, but I packed at least four or five outfits for this child and when I say outfit I mean a complete ensemble. Each outfit had it's own matching hairbow, hat, burp cloth, receiving blanket, socks, and toy-good grief!!!!! IMO, all you really need is maybe one outfit for pictures right after the baby is born and one going home outfit. I would suggest bringing a couple different sizes. We were told that she was going to be about 8-9 lbs. and she turned out to be 6 lbs. 11 oz. The only thing that fit her was her going home outfit and we went ahead and put her in another onesie that we had to cinch in at the back to make it look like it was anywhere near her size. We really enjoyed the shirts and hats that the hospital provided for 3 reasons. 1) They actually fit, 2) if we got them dirty, clean ones were a button push away, and 3) they were really great for her umbilical cord stump because they didn't rub up against it like a onesie would have. I can only speak for our hospital, but they had everything that we could have possibly needed for her in the cart that her bed rested on. My epidural didn't wear off until the next day, so I didn't realize this until we were getting close to being discharged, but take advantage of everything that the hospital has to offer-and take it home!
Finally, my bag. This is where I went overboard the most. Contrary to intital impressions, I am pretty low key and easy to please. I forgot this, however, and packed everything I did and didn't need. Just a few notes:
1) I ordered really cute nursing pajamas from A Pea in the Pod, and I never wore them. I stayed in the hospital gowns the entire time because I was hooked up to so many things that there was no way I was going to try to get anything on otherwise. It was also nice that the shoulders unsnapped to nurse. I can work these nursing tanks like a champ now, but at that stage in the game I could barely get in a complete feeding; forget about doing it in style. If you must bring your own clothes, I suggest bringing some gowns and possibly a robe for if you decide to get out of the room or for visitors. After everything that one goes through in the labor and delivery process, I couldn't imagine pulling on a pair of pants and sitting in bed-enough said.
2) I brought every single thing that I needed to get ready, and believe it or not, I used it. I know that this is personal preference, but it made me feel much better to get up on that second day, shower, and get ready. I actually felt like myself again, well, sort of. The best picture I have of Olivia and I in the hospital was taken on the second day, so I'm glad that I looked half way decent when it was taken. One thing that I wish I would have brought was some really good moisturizing lotion and body wash that was fragrance free. I brought my Mary Kay body wash and lotion that I love, but I was afraid that the scent was too much for her. Chap stick also came in handy even though I never used it during pushing like I thought I would. I only pushed for about 20 minutes, so my lips never got dry (I know, I know, see why I feel guilty even talking about it?).
3) Everyone makes such a big deal about the going home outfit for the baby, but what about the going home outfit for the mom? I think that a considerable amount of thought should be put into this, because if you have an hour long drive home like we did, what you wear can be the difference between parental bliss and parental agony. I wore a pink tank and some black leggings with a matching black cardigan. If you saw me at all during my pregnancy you saw that cardigan. I guess I'm going to have to burn it or Jay is going to do it for me. Looking back, I wish I would have brought a cute maxi dress. The leggings were okay, but by the time we got home, all I wanted to do was put on something that was loose fitting. I wouldn't advise being too scrubby for the drive home, because the amount of pictures that were taken when we got home would have put Brad and Angelina to shame. Once again, glad that I had taken time on my appearance that day, too.
Other items that we brought:
1)Blankets and pillows. These came in handy for Jay since the hospital only provided what was on my bed and the chair that made out into a bed wasn't the most comfortable; or at least that's what I was told. I have heard that the moms can benefit from their own pillows, but I thought the hospital ones were okay, and they brought me as many as I wanted.
2) Boppy pillow. I have heard so many people say how happy they were that they brought it, but I never used mine. I had so many machines that I was hooked up to that it was just easier to grab one of my 5 pillows and prop up. Not to mention that there wasn't much storage in my room, so the pillow would have had to be dug out of the closet every time that we needed it. I reccomend bringing it because everyone is different and if there is a next time, I will probably bring it again although it might stay in the car.
3) Baby book page. This was really nice, because Jay took it to the nursery with him when she was having her initial tests done and they put her footprints on her baby book page, as well. There was a place for handprints, but my hospital didn't do those, so she's two weeks today and it's still blank. We should probably get on that. :/ The staff said that whenever we do get around to doing it, buying a washable ink pad for stamps seems to work best.
4) Chargers, cameras, yada, yada. Bring all of that stuff because you will use it. My brother came up from Little Rock and took beautiful pictures with his camera, so we were lucky, but one of the nurses still took pics while she was being delivered. I also brought a disposable camera in case all else failed.
5) Gift for the nurses. I had originally bought some chocolates for the nurses who were, by the way, awesome. If you are giving birth in January that's great, but when it's 105 degrees outside, pick something that is less likely to melt. They all wanted me to bring her back in a few weeks, so I thought I'd just drop something off from Causbies with a nice thank you note when we go visit.
My overall mantra for hospital packing is pack everything you think you might want because it's better to have it than to wish you did. It seemed that we brought most everything that we needed and many things that we didn't, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Hopefully, this will be a more regular thing for me with the blog posts and I will get on here again before 2013!
