What to Pack for the Hospital

If you’re currently pregnant and thinking about what to pack in your bag to take with you to the hospital, I highly recommend these items:

• Birth plan. Take multiple copies so that one copy doesn’t have to be shared with the many people who might be attending you.
• Music. I had a music player prepped and ready, but I didn’t use it. I’ve heard of it being really useful for other people, though.
• Chapstick
• Hair brush and hair bands
• Pillow. If you aren’t really keen on the hospital pillows, take your own, and also take a pillowcase that is colorful so that your pillow doesn’t get mixed up with the hospitals’.
• Motherlove Nipple Cream

• . When your body is just getting used to the whole process, this was a lifesaver!
• A change of clothes for your partner. He might be there for quite some time or get stuff on the clothes he wears to the hospital. It’s good to have this backup if he needs it.
• An outfit for you to wear home.
• An outfit for your baby. The hospital will provide clothes while your baby is in the hospital, but you’ll something for him or her to wear when it’s time to leave.
• A car seat. Hospitals won’t let you leave without a car seat properly installed for your baby. If you’re unsure of how to do it yourself, take the car seat to your local fire department. They’re really good (and nice) about installing it for you.
• Large slip-on shoes. My feet got so incredibly swollen, I was so glad that I had brought a pair of large slip-on shoes, even though there was snow on the ground when I left the hospital. I couldn’t have fit my feet into any of my other shoes, so I would have had to wear the hospital socks out the door if these hadn’t been available.
• Toiletries. The hospital I used actually provided a toothbrush and toothpaste, but not all do. You also might want to have your own face wash or lotions.
• Makeup. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how nice it was to have makeup on hand so that when those first pictures were taken, they didn’t look so tired.
• Vitamins and medications. If you normally take a multivitamin or any daily medications, ask your doctor what you should be taking right after you’ve given birth, and take those items with you to the hospital. You might even need to start taking birth control again right away.
• Computer, phone, or other way to get on the internet. I was in the hospital for several days, and I was very glad to have my tablet with me so that I could hop online and do things like check email and look up information about my health insurance. You need to add your little one to your health insurance within a short window once he or she is born, and I found it easy to go ahead and do that the same day that I filled out the paperwork to start the process for my daughter’s social security information. Paperwork can be dreadful and not something you really want to think about at such a time, but it is necessary. Having internet in the hospital can help you with such necessities as well as provide a connection to the world so you can share the little one’s arrival through pictures or email. You might even want to do some work or read news if you need a mental distraction like I did since my daughter was in the NICU and I couldn’t do anything at that moment to help her.