The Hospital Bags of a Chronic Over-packer.

Last week I had a bit if a shock, One of the ladies in one of my Due in April groups has had her baby, at 24 weeks that makes her a whole 16 weeks early, I've been watching and waiting with bated breath and both she and baby are doing well, but it gave me a bit of a wake up call with regards to getting my self organised, as these things can happen to anyone.

My biggest concern is my hospital bag at the moment, I have a multitude of lists sitting around with the things we have, the things things that need replacing, the things that need buying (and on and on) so I trust that these things will all be sorted out should I not be in the position to do so as there's very little left to actually buy (that isn't going into the hospital bags) and I've supplied exact web addresses for everything that I want bought, but as experience has proved the hospital bag is less of a done deal, a scribbled list on the back of a Starbucks receipt does not a exhaustive, practical hospital bag make!

There is a possibility that I will be induced early with Bel, because we had IUGR issues with Boo, so I need to have a bag that I can take onto the ward with me for 48-72 hours before I am induced (in this time I'd be given steroid injections) This bag will mostly consist of clothing, I don't have it made up ready to go, I'll collect everything together the day before the 36 week scan and put it in a holdall to be slung in the boot. My plan for it is as follows:

Pre-Labour Bag

• comfy undies x 3 -granny panties, no pretty frilly things here!

• PJ’s I plan on spending as little time in nighties as possible, it feels like I've got my bum on show!

• Maternity tops x 2 - Because I might feel awkward about living in my PJ's on the ward

• Leggings - I normally despise them but they have their place in pregnancy as pretty much nothing else fits or stays up and most of my maternity tops are quite long anyway.

and then dragged out of the labour bag:

• pump slippers - because hospital floors are cold and hospitally but I don't want anything that takes up too much space in the bag. I was able to grab a pair of totes pumps (with kitten ears no less) in the boots post Christmas sale so they only cost me £5, no need to worry is they get a bit eurgh

• Squeezy squash pod - they gave me a never ending supply of water on the ward last time but no squash, so someone brought me in a big squash bottle which isn't particularly practical. This is obviously not a necessity, but it takes up very little space.

• Make up - only the very 'basics' so that I can feel human: Foundation, BB 5in1 eyeshadow, Colour Boost Pallet (all Bare Minerals as every other brand breaks my face, and that really is the basics...)

• Wet bag filled with Toiletries: hairbrush and bands, toothbrush x2 and toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, deodorant, Moisturiser, Cleanser, hand cream to deal with sanitiser dryness, lip balm, face wipes, flannel.

• My iPad full of books and solo games (it has a pretty good battery life so I shouldn't need to worry about charging it whilst I'm waiting for something to happen but it saves me taking an actual library) again, it's not a necessity, and there's nowhere to keep it safe, so it's perhaps not an advised decision to take it with me.

• Change (for the vending machines, hospital food seems to be rationed... or perhaps I just eat too much?)

Next is the bag for the main event! With all of my general labour panic my plan for labour is to stay active and to use lots of non medical aids to help me stay focused and distracted from pain, especially if I don't dilate properly like last time...

Bag Hack: Once you have everything together get your birth partner to pack it all in the bag, they are invariably the person who will need to be able to find things in the bag and the inevitable "I can't find it, you must have not packed it" can be avoided if they packed it!

Labour Bag

• Hand Held Maternity Notes no matter what you need these, don't forget them!

• Toiletries: pretty much as above, plus plenty of stretch mark cream as last time it was post birth that the stretch marks came marching in

• Dark towels x 1 or 2 - Dark because things can get a bit 'horror film' and darker towels won't stain, I used a burgundy colour last time, and we have some blacks ones about.

• Nighty x 2: both nice dark nursing nighties, one to labour in another in case I need a catheter and can't wear pj's. I bought a set of two from Mothercare last time with the intention of chucking them out afterwards if they were a bit grim, my Father in Law is however a magic worker in the laundry department so they came out spotless, and I'll be using them again this time round, they also button really far down which is great for breastfeeding.

• Slippers: as above, small pump style slippers for economy of space

• Disposable knickers x 3 - I was a heavy bleeder last time, my poor undies fell victim and there's something infinitely and instantly freshening about being able to chuck the whole lot away!

• Disposable maternity pads x 10 - I recall the hospital supplies them so I don't want to take 100's but also don't want to be caught out if I've remembered wrong!

• Nursing bras x2 I skipped maternity bras this time round, using what I already had from last time and bulking it out with nursing bras as there isn't anything a maternity bra does that a nursing bra does't, I expect I'll need to get refitted when my milk comes in but things have been pretty stable thus far...

• Disposable breast pads - I don't remember needing many last time round as proper milk takes a while to come in but I have a few disposable pads packed, they don't take up much space so can be useful for filling any gaps in the bag.

• Lansinoh or similar: this stuff was fabulous last time but it's a bit pricey, so I keep an eye on the offers. I've also heard fab things about the unscented CJ's bottom BUTTer for sore boobs and stretch marks so I have a little sample pot of that in the baby bag, the advantage of that is I can smother it on baby's bum before the awful tarry, sticky first poos start!

• Going home clothes - These will need to be maternity still only celebrities bounce back to their pre pregnancy size 8's! Tops with feeding ability if breast feeding and loose fitting or low cut trousers if there is a risk of a c-section, but either way assume you're going to need to keep those maternity clothes on the go for a little while longer!

Food and Drink, in my experience sometimes the labour ward gets skipped, and even when it doesn't the options are limited, I could have yoghurt for breakfast on the antenatal and postnatal wards, but not on the labour ward for example.

• Snacks - I've gone for crisps and little bags of popcorn.

• Glucose Tablets - For energy

• Drinks cartons with bendy straws - some of the ladies I've spoken to have said the bendy straws are lifesavers, and cartons are harder to spill than glasses!

Mints - several lists have suggested them, I'm gonna roll with it and report back!

If you haven't already looked at pain relief options I strongly advise you do, I'm going to try and avoid relying on anything more potent than Gas and Air because I'm not sure how effective most of the stronger stuff will be with me. I have a number of tricks up my sleeve for hopefully keeping calm and in control, and thus less scared and thus hopefully reducing the pain of the whole experience, I'll update you all after the birth on how useful it all proved to be!

• Tens Machine I use one occasionally for my Hypermobility Syndrome, and find that it can be useful up to a point, This will be my go to for the very early stages of labour to take the edge off but it will only be in the bag if I'm induced, it won't come with us if I go into labour at home.

• Natal Hypnotherapy Book : We'll be preparing from 28 weeks, this will be indexed for the useful pages in case DH has a mind blank, tracks from my Natal Hypnotherapy CD's will be loaded onto my phone as it's been indicated there won't be a cd player available but I will bring the CD's too. I'll be using the breathing exericises and triggers throughout the first stage of labour.

• Homeopathic remedies box By Helios: you have to go through customer services to order it which is a bit of a faff, but it comes in a cute little yellow box, there are 18 remedies each in a little glass tube with about 30 tablets in, I've got an extra tube of arnica ready at home as I expect to get through tonnes of it after the birth whilst everything's bruised and swollen (yes ladies, this birth malarky is truly glamorous!) The booklet that comes with it gives you the option to flick through by symptom and by remedy depending on which you find easiest, It's been handed over to my husband to do some reading and familiarise himself with what everything does as I'm hoping he will take charge of the remedies.

• Nelson's Rescue Remedy: this will go into the water jug for all to enjoy, a bit of calm never hurt

• Massage oil: lavender, chamomile and frankincense is the plan but I'll experiment with how well the frankincense mixes with the other two. Massage is a great distraction and can help ease pain during contractions, though some women in truth find the whole bing touched this more of an annoying pain in the arse during labour, so play it by ear as to whether it's something that'll be of much use to you in labour.

Baby's Bag (packed into my new Pink Lining Bramley Tote changing bag)

• vests x 3 prem, x2 newborn

• body suits x 3 prem, x2 newborn

• pink hat - small babies lose body heat through their heads, we didn't take hats for Boo and the hospital provided us with our own body weight in little knitted hats. (round about now is where poor Bel will start suffering the humiliation of girly colours if she turns out to be a boy...)

• Blanket - for layering. we've bought a new one specially for Bel despite the over abundance of blankets that we already have!

• Muslins x 3 (I prefer the extra large ones, but for economy of space, have gone for 2 standard size and 1 giant that I can use for nursing desecration.)

• Newborn nappies - I've packed 1st size with someone on standby to grab size 0 if they're needed.

• mouse comforter toy (almost definitely unnecessary but there's space for it) This will be a cute way of getting an idea of how much Bel is growing if we remember to periodically put it in pictures!

• Water Wipes. I heard that some NICU wards were experimenting with using these instead of cotton wool and water, it strikes me as being much more convenient, especially when out and about, so I've got a single pack. The standard cotton wool balls (and a bowl) are in the post labour stay bag though.

I also figured whilst I was at it I would give hubby a 'guide' for my husbands bag:

• A change of clothes for him in case labour is long (or at least top and underwear)

• Laminated birth plan (this will be burned into his memory come D-Day)

• Loose change - you can never have enough change!

• Phone & charger - the hospital were fairly unfazed about us using phones in the delivery suite so I'm not anticipating him having to make a track for a payphone...

• Snacks and drinks that don't fit in my bag!

• Painkillers and energy drinks for him - there will be no complaining about his aches and pains!

• something to read (or books on iPad….) labour for normal folk takes a while, expect to be sitting round!

• something to play i.e. a card game (or the iPad) and then sitting round some more!

• notepad to keep his own notes and time contractions. (though could also be the iPad…)

• on second thoughts we'll just pack the iPad if I don't already have it at the hospital

You will be in hospital for at least 6 hours after the birth, babies pee and poo and vomit, and it's all a bit messy, so if you're out of practice with nappies and not planning on bringing muslin cloths it might be worth packing a bit more in the way of baby clothes if you anticipate being in the hospital for longer than 6 hours. I've only packed a few because there will be more in a bag waiting to come in if it's not already in the car.

Most if not all hospitals are not in the habit of letting you leave the hospital without the baby in a car seat, obviously if you're going home on foot or by bus the rules might be different, so it's worth checking that out with your midwife who will have a good idea of the guidelines for your hospital, I've not included the carseat in the bag though as realistically no one physically puts it in the bag (It would never fit!) I'd advise fitting it into the car that you're most likely to be going home in if you don't need the space in the back seat, this also means you get to grips with the car seat before you leave the hospital, potentially in the dark depending on when you get discharged!

Last but not least is the bag that will be (mostly) ready for if baby and I have to stay on the ward after delivery, I see little point in loading one bag up with everything for labour and a ward stay afterwards, for starters the bag would need to be huge, and secondly it means dragging even more stuff round that you might not end up using. I don't yet know if my active third stage of labour will mean that they keep me in to make sure everything is behaving and sometimes complications happen, so having a bag ready just in case makes the whole situation that little bit easier. I'm also apparently one of the few people who'd rather be on the ward surrounded by medical staff in the first few days of my baby's life than at home crowded by visitors trying to get a hold of the baby, so it's no big thing for me if they do want to keep me in, and given the choice I'll stay in rather than rush home (not least because the electric beds are a godsend). The bag will be full of everything I will need that isn't in the Labour Bag with a few options set aside for Bel dependant on the size she turns out.

Post Labour Stay bag

• Maternity pads x 10 (or possibly 100?) I don't know how long they'll be passing these out like candy so it seems like a good idea to have some on hand!

• Disposable knickers x 3 As mentioned earlier, new fresh (if papery) panties are great... but these could also be replaced with granny pants, as they don't tend to be that expensive.

• Breast feeding tops x 2 : I had visitors last time and feel pretty awkward about sitting round in PJ's

• Prune juice - to ease the first poo situation, I'm letting you know now ladies, it's not an experience you will enjoy!

• trousers - not the pre-pregnancy slim fit size 12's these won't fit again for a while!

• pj’s I've got a couple of pairs of nursing PJ's, so the all black pair is now in the bag.

• Blissful Tincture - from the natural birthing company, For easing post birth wounds!

• Arnica 30c

• Nursing and nettle teas

• Snacks

• Nursing Cushion

Baby (have stacks ready and labeled in size order to go in above bag )

• 6 x vests 6 might be wishful thinking, but so long as there's someone willing to bring in clean stuff and take the dirty stuff away when they come to visit I'm anticipating it being enough.

• 6 x sleepsuits

• 3 x giant muslins (as I said, I love the giant ones and they can be used for so many things)

• more nappies!

These lists are all colour coded traffic light style in my documents based on whether they're in the bag already (green) in the house but not in the bag (orange) or something we still need to buy (red) but I've saved you all from my obsessive colour coding!

So my lovely readers, what will you be packing in your bag(s)? What do you think I've forgotten? What does everyone say to pack but you think no normal person would need?

#Childbirth #Labour #Pregnancy #HospitalBag