Which mum are you?
In general there are 2 kinds of mums when it comes to hospital bags. Undoubtedly there are the mums at 39+ weeks with the ‘ah no rush’, I will just chuck a few nappies in a bag. On the other hand there are the mums, like me who have it packed for months. Some with everything but the kitchen sink. In contrast I have to admit , I wasn’t always the organised one.
First baby
Blissfully unaware
When I was pregnant with my son 10 years ago, I was living with two of my girlie pals while I was looking for our own place. This Saturday night in June, the girls had gone out for a few drinks. Not to be a bore, I had wandered along early on but soon left them to it and headed home. That particular day was tough, as a result of having worked a busy shift on the hospital ward, my bump felt like we just needed a sit down and a rest. Consequently something was a miss. To summarise I was 33 weeks pregnant I had been up all night with regular pains and tightening’s. Absolutely I phoned the Maternity who obviously suggested I attend ASAP.
Panic
On the other hand I wish I had packed a hospital bag in advance! Clearly, que 2 very hungover friends literally throwing random items into a bag, subsequently I just sat on the edge of the bed and cried. Without a doubt it turned out I was in early labour and required medication to help stop things progressing, Doctors kept me in hospital 5 nights in total. To sum up when I unpacked the hospital bag, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Comedy
It contained a Babygro in 9-12 months, a handful of nappies that when I looked were a size 3, found in a bag a friend from work had given me. Alternatively there was a hat that looking at it would probably have fit me. Nonetheless a little knitted cardigan, was the only useful thing. Despite the chaos they hadn’t just considered the baby, they had thoughtfully thrown me a few items in too. In this case the bag contained a vest top that covered literally my boobs and would not stretch over my bump, a pair of shorts pajama bottoms that I could barely get passed my knees and a magazine! Perfect combination!
Second baby
In short as a result of my first experience, I decided to be much more organised with my second pregnancy. With this in mind I packed my bag at 30 weeks. It should be noted, I packed 3 bags. Not only one for me, but one for baby and one for my hubby. Let me share with you what we packed.
Mum
Clothes
• 3 pairs of black super high waisted knickers
• 1 long black spaghetti strapped vest tops for easy access to the boobs
• Pair of clean PJ’s for after delivery and a thin material dressing gown
• Other half’s T-shirt to give birth in if birthing on dry land
• Bikini top to give birth in if birthing in pool
• Slippers I was happy to bin in case of any bodily fluid mishaps (they got binned)
• Pool type flip flops (I wore these once I was all nice and clean in my pjs)
Toiletries
• Hairbrush
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Shampoo/ conditioner minis
• Shower gel ph neutral
• Giant maternity pads, make a glamorous partner for you big knickers!
• Breast pads/nipple balm
• Cleanser/toner/moisturiser minis and a lip balm- Tropic skincare discovery set is perfect for this
Snacks
• Bottles of water/bottles of still vimto/straws/mini snickers/mini twirls and a bag of jelly babies
• Headphones to listen to affirmations and a spare phone charger
Baby
• 10 size one nappies
• Cotton wool
• A Packet of water wipes
• 2 sleep suits
• 2 vests
• Hat for in hospital
• Blanket
• Snowsuit (she was born in Dec)/woolly hat
• If you are planning on bottle feeding you will want to add bottles and formula to this list
First outfit
In a separate little draw string bag, I had exactly what I needed for baby once she was born, and had instructed my husband he just needed to lift this little bag out of the top and leave everything else where it was (do not mess up my neatly packed bag Mr B!)
• 1 nappy
• First sleep suit
• First vest
• (our hospital gives all new babies a hat)
Initially I added a few tiny baby items to the top just in case I experienced early labour, as I got nearer too my due date, I lifted these out.
Dad
• T-shirt and shorts (its super-hot on labour ward)
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Bottles of water
• Snacks ( I left this up to him, he packed a roast dinner, yup you read that right, he packed himself our left over roast dinner and a huge flask of proper coffee from our coffee machine at home!)
• Phone charger
• Book
Summary
In conclusion, we weren’t one of those couples that turned up with a suitcase, it fit neatly into 2 bags. Altogether my bag contained all my things, including snacks, with 2 cloth zippy bags, a larger one for all the babies things and a smaller one with the first outfit etc. Last but not least my husband had just a small bag with all he needed. Previously that week the car seat and car seat base were installed in the car. Finally the bags we just left in the boot from the week before my due date, except the roast dinner, he carefully packaged that up while I practiced my easy breathing leaning over the kitchen work top!
