3rd Time Mom: What’s in My Hospital Bag.

Emily here! In the spirit of twinning and winning Maddie and I were pregnant at the same time! I welcomed our 3rd child (a little girl) at the end of May just a month after Maddie had her baby. Here is what a 3rd time mom packed for the hospital! For reference I had a scheduled c-section and stayed in the hospital for 2 days. Also didn’t pack my hospital bag until I was like 36 or 37 weeks pregnant. I can’t even remember.

Pjs. I packed one set of pjs (pants, top, and short robe). I used all these items at various points in my stay.

Going home outfit. I brought a pair of basic sweats and a long sleeve top. A going home outfit isn’t even necessary. My first birth I just wore pjs home and no one cared. You change back into pjs immediately upon arriving home anyway.

Nighttime nursing bra. I also used this as my milk came in fast since this is my third child. This particular bra I brought was for sleeping so not as ridged as a normal nursing bra.

Sock and underwear. I didn’t use either of these. Idk why I even brought underwear? But I figured I needed to be prepared?

Depends disposable underwear. Maddie had great success with bringing her own pads I figured I’d give it a try this time. I’ve always used the hospital issued mesh underwear but I’m very glad I brought my own this time. It was a much better experience. The mesh underwear can sometimes catch on my csection scare which just makes me want to throw up thinking about it. The depends didn’t catch at all!

Eye mask. This was a must! It allowed me to sleep whenever I needed to without being disturbed by light. (Husband also brought one for himself)

Swaddle and blanket. We brought 2 swaddleme swaddles to the hospital and used both. I can never figure out how to swaddle with a blanket so these are very helpful. Highly suggest two since one is bound to get pee or poo on it. Also brought a soft baby blanket to cuddle the baby with. Those hospital ones are like paper!

Toiletries. I keep these very basic. Toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, hair ties, deodorant, body wash, eye drops. The only things I didn’t use was the deodorant and body wash. I also didn’t feel like showering until I got home. All 3 of my births I have never showered in the hospital.

Baby clothing. I overpacked on this for sure. We only used one outfit for taking her home. I brought like 3 pjs, 4 onesies, socks, and a hair bow. Only used 1 pj to take her home in.

Nail file set for baby. My second birth Bud came out with super long nails and I didn’t bring anything and he was scratching himself and me the whole time we were in the hospital. So this time I brought our file kit. But ended up not using it for baby #3.

Nursing pillow and regular pillow. Ended up not using either. I found the nursing pillow was too hard to use after my csection (which is odd because I used it for my 2rd birth). Also didn’t use my regular pillow because my husband forgot it in the car and I didn’t want it enough to make him go get it (although I brought my own pillow for births 1 and 2 and very much enjoyed it).

Kindle and phone charger. Used the phone charger. Didn’t pick up my Kindle once while in the hospital.

Wedding ring. My ring fit for my whole pregnancy and I wore it to the hospital but my nurse suggested I take it off before my csection and I’m glad I did because I swelled up like a balloon (as one does). I wish I had just left it at home because I was sorta stressed out about it the whole time.

Birkenstocks. My feet were swollen going into the hospital and leaving. These were the only shoes to fit and my husband had to loosen the straps before we left because of the swell.

Quarters. Previous births my husband has brought quarters for the vending machines with us. He forgot them for this last birth but they come in handy when I get hungry at 2am and everything in the hospital is closed.

20 out of 37 items got used in my hospital bag. Also please note that I didn’t pack any makeup. I have never packed makeup for any of my births. If you’ve got time to put on make up after giving birth you need to be sleeping instead. I said what I said.

First Time Mom: What I Packed in my Hospital Bag vs. What I Actually Used

Maddie here! The hubz and I welcomed our first baby this Spring and I was very prepared… some might say over prepared. We had our hospital bag packed and ready to go when I was 32 weeks! We ended up using so little of it that I thought it would be a fun blog post. For context, I had a relatively quick and straightforward delivery with a second degree tear and we stayed in the hospital for two nights. The items we used are in pink and the items we packed but didn’t use are crossed out.

What we used:
1. Robe I really did not feel the need to cover up during my stay as I was either (1) in the bed with the baby or (2) going to the bathroom and it felt like too much hassle for the short trip.
2. Flip Flops I packed these for showering, but did not feel like showering until we got home.
3. Socks (x3) The hospital provided unlimited gripper socks that I used.
4. Slippers Again, just used the hospital socks.
5. Underwear (x3) I wore the Always diapers instead. Oh the glamour!
6. Pants for me (x2) – I wore 1/2 to go home.
7. Shirts for me (x2) – Same as ^
8. Sweatshirt for me
9. PJs for me (x2) – Didn’t wear the PJs at night, but I did end up popping on one of the PJ tops during my mother-in-law’s visit.
10. Nursing Bra (x2) My milk didn’t come in while we were at the hospital so I didn’t feel the need for a bra.
11. Nursing Pads Same as ^
12. Nipple Cream Same as ^
13. Dermoplast The hospital provides this.
14. Earth Mama Herbal Perineal Spray I used the Dermoplast provided by the hospital.
15. Always Discreet Underwear aka diapers (x3) – DEFINITELY used these and three wasn’t enough so we asked my mother-in-law to bring more when she visited! The hospital provided mesh underwear but I wasn’t a fan of those and found the Always diapers to be much easier to get on/off.
16. Coke – Oh yes, this was MUCH needed!
17. Shampoo Didn’t shower.
18. Body Wash – I did use this to wash my face, but it wasn’t really necessary since the hospital provided us with a nice toiletry bag when we arrived to our room.
19. Toothbrush/Toothpaste – Mustered up the strength to brush my teeth night two.
20. Body Mate Extra Large Body Wipes – I used these at the start of each day instead of showering, although the hospital did provide some that I could have used instead.
21. Hair Brush/Hair Ties – Yep, proud to say I did brush my hair!
22. Deodorant – Same as ^
23. Vaseline
24. Phone Charger
25. Bag of Snacks – Oh these came in very handy! The hospitals snacks were not very healthy and it was great to have snacks to munch on in the middle of the night when we were up with the baby.
26. Ipad Nope, we were plenty entertained with the baby!
27. Bluetooth speaker I brought this to play a playlist while I labored but ended up wanting silence instead. #peaceful
28. Nursing pillow We didn’t figure out how to use this until after we got home and the lactation consultant at the hospital seemed baffled by our pillow since it was smaller than ones she was used to (??)
29-35. For baby: swaddle, sleeper, booties, hats, mittens, going home outfits (x2) We kept the baby in a diaper and hospital-provided swaddle the entire time and she wore one of her going home outfits to go home.
36. Newborn diapers/wipes Lol the hospital provided these.
37. Change of clothes for husband He didn’t feel like changing.
38. Water Bottle with Straw – This was a last minute addition (brought it with me in the car on the way to the hospital) and I was SO glad to have it because I was thirsty those hospital cups would not have cut it!

For those counting, that is 14/38 items that we used! We packed so much stuff that it was actually overwhelming to open up the bag anytime we wanted something. It would be great to get an experienced mom’s take (cough, Emily cough) of what she packs in her bag!