Mom:
-
Coca butter (or cream for
breasts)
-
Deodorant, Toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, razor
-
swiss army knife
-
chapstick, hand cream, hair elastics (hair band?)
-
shampoo [and conditioner] (hair
gel)
-
Kleenex
-
Bathrobe, Slippers, Socks, Underwear
-
Flannel pants, Nursing nightgowns
-
Home clothing
-
Heavy pads, Nursing bras, Breast pads
-
Tennis ball, massage oil,
Birth ball
-
Book, magazine, cards
-
Health card,
Hospital card, Insurance card
-
Hospital forms
-
Present for DS
Husband/Significant Other:
-
Toothbrush, Clean shirt
-
Phone list
-
Small change
-
Gum and hard candy, snacks and drinks
-
CD player (blue), Tapes/CDs or MP3 player with charger (to distract me while in labour)
-
Charged digital camera
-
Charged video camera
-
Extra batteries, Extra tapes
-
Pen and paper
-
Bathing suit
-
Cell phone (can't be used
in hospital?) calling cards
-
Cell phone charger?
Baby:
-
Wipes, Diapers
-
Clothing, Socks
-
Receiving blankets
-
Warm blanket
-
Hat
-
Car seat
-
Car seat cover
-
Scratch mittens
-
Vaseline/butt cream
-
Snowsuit
-
Winter hat
-
Home outfit
A list
of very important items to take to the hospital: Just a few for now...I'll add more as I think of them.
1) robe - something
thin-ish, not too bulky
2) slippers - easy
to slide feet in and out of
3) water, juice, drink
boxes, sandwhiches and snacks for dad. The hospital will take care of you but dad has to fend for himself. And
you don't want him taking off to the cafeteria while you're in the middle of active labour!
4) lots of baby wipes
and diapers. Not all hospitals supply them.
5) an extra pillow
6) your nursing pillow
7) a soother for baby...even
if you swore you would never use one!
8) the usual toiletries
9) nursing pads and
a nursing bra without underwire
Make sure you
have lots of fluids on hand, especially if you’ve had a c-section. My DH
accidentally went home with all of my water and PowerAde and the Nurses were so busy that I didn’t get a chance to have
someone bring me water. I couldn’t get out of bed because of the incision
and the catheter…by morning I felt like a big dust bowl.
Know your medical
coverage/benefits BEFORE you go to the hospital. I had a C-section and was put
into a ward with three other Moms. One father used to fall asleep during non-visiting
hours and snore so loudly I thought I would burst into tears…I just couldn’t get any rest! Another Mom was constantly paging the staff to come tend to her baby every time it cried. I was just miserable. Then, three months later, we discovered
my husband’s work benefits covered a PRIVATE ROOM! We were kicking ourselves!
Send the hospital
staff a Thank You note. It really makes them feel great about what they do!
C-section recovery
was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Try not to stress too much if it
ends up being a c-section.
Make sure the
slippers you have for birth are slip on - you can't always bend over to get them on yourself.
[And] take flip flops for the shower at the hospital (didn't even think to do that, now have planter warts).
Bring snacks
to the hospital! Unless you’ve had a C-section and are being monitored
for the first 24 hours, sometimes the meals you are served just aren’t enough.
You’ve just completed quite a feat and will probably want to snack quite a bit to get your strength and reserves
up again.
