Hi lovelies,
So I spent countless hours watching youtube videos on what to pack in my hospital bag while I was pregnant, and made several lists, and packed and re-packed my bag countless times!
The truth is, that youre never going to know exactly what to bring on your first baby. None the less, I took some photos to write a blog post of whats in my bag, and now that I have the experience, Im going to share with you what I did or did not need. Hopefully it'll help some of you with your own hospital bags.
I brought 2 bags with me for my hospital stay. One for during labour, and another for the hospital stay post-labour.
I'll start with the bag for labour.
Firstly, I brought fluffy socks, slippers, a dressing gown and 2 nightdresses. I brought one for labour (navy) and another for just after labour so id feel a bit clean. Your feet can get a bit cold during labour so I'd recommend the fluffy socks!
Next I brought a cellular blacket for wrapping baby in, babys first outfit packed in a sandwich bag to make it easier for the other half to find :) And also a cardigan, but I didnt end up using the cardigan as its plenty warm in the maternity ward for baby. Babys first outfit consisted of a vest, babygrow, hat, and nappy. But since we did skin to skin, all we needed was the hat and nappy, but the vest and babygrow came in useful once we got back to the maternity ward.
Snacks are always important! Labour can be a long process, especially when youre induced, like i was. Lucky Indie was born less than 20 hours after I arrived to the hospital, for some people it can be a full 2 days or so! So I brought some chocolate(of course), rice cakes, sucky sweets, breakfast bars and mixed nuts. And not to be too TMI, but the nuts did come in handy for keeping the post-labour bowel moving.
Lastly, I packed a toiletry bag with a few essentials. Underwear, a facecloth and the elastics for my belly-trace (I only have these because I had been in the hospital the week previous being checked out and they gave me these to bring along with me for next time). I really recommend bringing a facecloth with you, it is what came in most useful during labour. It is so damn warm in the maternity ward, and they really crank up the heat right before you begin pushing. It was great for keeping damp to cool me down, and mopping up sweat. Nice!
In the toiletry bag: Tissues, lens solution, deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste and brush, lady wipes, water spray, vaseline and hair bobbins and clips. The mouthwash was useful as your mouth can get so dry and when your huffing and blowing, its nice to know youre not knocking people out with your stinky breath. The water spray was also brilliant- I got mine in Dealz- because of the heat, it was really good for cooling me down.. and my hubby too. Also, the vaseline was handy due to dry lips from using the gas and air.
Also not pictured here are maternity pads.. needed for obvious reasons
Next onto the hospital stay bag:
2 dark coloured towels for post-labour showering, I got these ones in Penneys. Moses basket sheets for the cot during the hospital stay, theyre cosier than the pillow cases used to cover the matress in the hospital. And a hooded bath towel for baby- this one is from the Baby Elegance package I posted about earlier.>
Clothes/ outfits for the baby. I didnt even use the outfits, except for her going home outfit.. You change nappies, vests and babygrows so regularly that its best to just pack them all seperately instead of in 'outfit form'. My hubby ended up bringing in a bunch of separates for during the stay and i didnt use these packs at all.
Jammies for me during my stay. I picked up these all in Penneys. I got the button down kind thinking they'd be handy for breastfeeding, and were nice and light, but i never wore them. It was way too hot to wear long sleeves. The best thing I found to wear was jogger style bottoms and a string top or vest. String tops were handy to just pull down to feed without having to completely strip off.
I also brought some extra toiletries for my stay. In this toiletry bag i brought:
A shower puff, Arnica tablets, Hand sanitiser, tissues, face wipes, feminine soap free wash, moisturiser, lanolin nipple balm, shampoo and conditioner, hairbrush and a razor.
I didnt use the arnica tablets, while they were recommended in several blogs and youtube videos I just never thought of them, once baby arrives, you have more on your mind. I also didnt use the shampoo and conditioner, as my hair was quite dry during my pregnancy i could go a few days without washing it.
The lanolin nipple balm is from Boots brand, but i didnt like it. Its really too thick and baby didnt like the taste of it. I had a lot of nipple problems beginning to breastfeed, I can see how people give it up so soon. Luckily I had great midwives who gave me the multi-mam compresses and nipple balm, which were my saviour.. and funny enough, baby actually liked the taste of the balm. I think the boots one was just too thick and greasy. So if youre thinking of breastfeeding, I recommend getting the multi-mam products; they can be more expensive, but they are so worth it. I dont think I would still be breastfeeding almost 4 weeks later if it wasnt for them (and nipple shields, but ill talk about these again)
I also brought a small stand up mirror, and basic makeup products. I got a tester of bb cream from my local pharmacy and it worked fine for the few days when i was having visitors and wanted to feel a bit more like 'me'.
Lastly, I brought water wipes, breast pads, and maternity pads (boots brand). Unfortunately, I ended up getting an infection around my stitches following the labour and I really think it had a lot to do with the maternity pads I was using. The Boots brand have plastic sticky backs on them, like most pads, to stick onto your underwear.. and this stops your down-there from getting some air, especially when you spend a lot of your time sitting and lying in bed in the days following labour. So I really recommend getting the ones which have no sticky back on them. The hospital gave me a packet of them to use for the remainder of my stay and after just one day, my infection had cleared up almost completley. They look like this: 
Sexy right? But trust me, these will feel amazing when youre so swollen down there.
So thats really it for my hospital bags, please feel free to comment or mail me on facebook if you have any questions at all.
From me and Indie, chilling on the couch having cuddles while writing this; Chat soon xoxo
Dont forget to follow me on Instagram HERE and of course Facebook HERE. You can also follow me on Snapchat at 'Connikav', if I get enough followers on snapchat, I'll begin to post more on there.
I'll start with the bag for labour. 
Firstly, I brought fluffy socks, slippers, a dressing gown and 2 nightdresses. I brought one for labour (navy) and another for just after labour so id feel a bit clean. Your feet can get a bit cold during labour so I'd recommend the fluffy socks! 
Next I brought a cellular blacket for wrapping baby in, babys first outfit packed in a sandwich bag to make it easier for the other half to find :) And also a cardigan, but I didnt end up using the cardigan as its plenty warm in the maternity ward for baby. Babys first outfit consisted of a vest, babygrow, hat, and nappy. But since we did skin to skin, all we needed was the hat and nappy, but the vest and babygrow came in useful once we got back to the maternity ward.
Snacks are always important! Labour can be a long process, especially when youre induced, like i was. Lucky Indie was born less than 20 hours after I arrived to the hospital, for some people it can be a full 2 days or so! So I brought some chocolate(of course), rice cakes, sucky sweets, breakfast bars and mixed nuts. And not to be too TMI, but the nuts did come in handy for keeping the post-labour bowel moving. 
Lastly, I packed a toiletry bag with a few essentials. Underwear, a facecloth and the elastics for my belly-trace (I only have these because I had been in the hospital the week previous being checked out and they gave me these to bring along with me for next time). I really recommend bringing a facecloth with you, it is what came in most useful during labour. It is so damn warm in the maternity ward, and they really crank up the heat right before you begin pushing. It was great for keeping damp to cool me down, and mopping up sweat. Nice! 
In the toiletry bag: Tissues, lens solution, deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste and brush, lady wipes, water spray, vaseline and hair bobbins and clips. The mouthwash was useful as your mouth can get so dry and when your huffing and blowing, its nice to know youre not knocking people out with your stinky breath. The water spray was also brilliant- I got mine in Dealz- because of the heat, it was really good for cooling me down.. and my hubby too. Also, the vaseline was handy due to dry lips from using the gas and air. 
2 dark coloured towels for post-labour showering, I got these ones in Penneys. Moses basket sheets for the cot during the hospital stay, theyre cosier than the pillow cases used to cover the matress in the hospital. And a hooded bath towel for baby- this one is from the Baby Elegance package I posted about earlier.>
Clothes/ outfits for the baby. I didnt even use the outfits, except for her going home outfit.. You change nappies, vests and babygrows so regularly that its best to just pack them all seperately instead of in 'outfit form'. My hubby ended up bringing in a bunch of separates for during the stay and i didnt use these packs at all. 
Jammies for me during my stay. I picked up these all in Penneys. I got the button down kind thinking they'd be handy for breastfeeding, and were nice and light, but i never wore them. It was way too hot to wear long sleeves. The best thing I found to wear was jogger style bottoms and a string top or vest. String tops were handy to just pull down to feed without having to completely strip off.
I also brought some extra toiletries for my stay. In this toiletry bag i brought: A shower puff, Arnica tablets, Hand sanitiser, tissues, face wipes, feminine soap free wash, moisturiser, lanolin nipple balm, shampoo and conditioner, hairbrush and a razor. I didnt use the arnica tablets, while they were recommended in several blogs and youtube videos I just never thought of them, once baby arrives, you have more on your mind. I also didnt use the shampoo and conditioner, as my hair was quite dry during my pregnancy i could go a few days without washing it. The lanolin nipple balm is from Boots brand, but i didnt like it. Its really too thick and baby didnt like the taste of it. I had a lot of nipple problems beginning to breastfeed, I can see how people give it up so soon. Luckily I had great midwives who gave me the multi-mam compresses and nipple balm, which were my saviour.. and funny enough, baby actually liked the taste of the balm. I think the boots one was just too thick and greasy. So if youre thinking of breastfeeding, I recommend getting the multi-mam products; they can be more expensive, but they are so worth it. I dont think I would still be breastfeeding almost 4 weeks later if it wasnt for them (and nipple shields, but ill talk about these again)
No comments:
Post a Comment