hospital bag revisited...

So I thought I should re-visit this hospital list that I made back [here]. Some of things were great, others were silly. We had a normal delivery, healthy baby, but a fussy baby. We have been in survival mode every since delivery trying to figure out how to soothe our babe.... so that may have changed a few of our items and hospital stay. But, perhaps this could help the preggers out there trying to pack realistically.

The green writing is what I would change for next time....

Hospital Bag:

• camera- a point and shoot for matt to use...that does black and white for my unflattering labor pictures.-the black and white pictures I love... except we had the shades drawn and lights off for me to focus on being calm...so all of our photos are dark. Ooops. Next time we will know.
• music- our iphones with playlists and pandora and little speaker Pandora wouldn't work for some reason in the hospital, so we had music from our iphones... it was great with the epidural... but during real painful contractions music made me nauseated. I needed silence and my dear husband telling me I could make it through.
• camera and iphone battery charger
• chap stick.... maybe two of them.
• my own disolveable zofran... can I take this while laboring? My least favorite thing in the world is vomiting. I will ask this of our midwife next appointment Funny thing, Matt was the only one to use Zofran. Right before I was going to start pushing matt felt like he was going to pass out or hurl....or a combination of the two. He is a big guy mind you....so I told him to take a zofran and put a chair behind him just in case. He was wonderful about 1 minute after taking the zofran. It was just such an exciting time, so many nerves.
• snacks- I get rather cranky without food...crackers, cheese, granola bars, peanut butter, veggies Thank god I packed powerbars and granola bars- these were crucial. It's the only thing I ate my whole stay.
• matt's swim trunks for the standing jacuzzi- didn't get to the jacuzzi. walking was just not possible for me with the pain.
• matt's change of clothes/ pajamas
• matt's toiletries
• after delivery lounge wear... fresh, clean yoga pants, tank top, sweat shirt- oh man, I hated the hospital nursing gown. It was huge and cumbersome. I just wanted to be naked with my frustrated non-latching little baby. So I took a shower and changed into my own clothes in the middle of the night after we got to the post partum room.
• flip flops
• travel sized: shampoo, conditioner, face soap, face and body lotion, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant
• makeup (the little makeup I do wear, I don't want to do without)
• hair dryer and curling rod (if I didn't have a short-styled hair cut, I could do without this stuff...but alas, I do. No ponytails for me)- didn't use the curling iron... and they had a hair dryer. It was nice to look "normal" again after being so bloody and goopy.
• spud journal to write about our experiences that I don't want to forget-still haven't gotten around to writing in this. Too stressful with all of the crying and not eating....survival mode I tell ya.
• one newborn pajama and one 0-3 pajama to go home in... extra snugly with fold over mittens and footies-the newborn PJs were even a bit big. She was alot tinier than we thought she would be.
• one blanket to swaddle/cover her on our way home
• infant nail clippers (this is silly, but the hospital can't cut your baby's nails, and I think it would drive me crazy...some of them are so very long! I don't want her to scratch herself)- we did use these! Her nails were very long!!
• car seat safely installed in car
• box of candy for the nurses...maybe I like this sentiment because I will be a nurse soon? But screw it I like it, and I'm doing it. - I thought for sure I'd deliver after being induced like a week after I ended up giving birth. So I thought I had time to buy the candy and put it off. Oh well.
• I did have my own motrin with me, which was great. I got tired of asking for pain meds, and I didn't want narcotics. I was in quite a bit of pain after delivery so I wanted to stay ontop of it myself.

Stuff I don't think I need:

• pads, underwear, my own hospital gown... this birthing process and recovery is bloody and gooey. I'd rather use their disposable gear or they-wash-it clothing- very true. I loved their pads.... LOTS of bleeding. Their underwear however were awful...I think because I was too large for them (umm... 56 pound weight gain anyone?! yeah.) I wore my own maternity undies.
• diaper bag, lots of baby clothes, pacifiers, diapers...they supply all of this- I wish we had brought a pacifier. It would have made things easier (read this post about it)
• breast feeding pillow- I think I can manage without the boppy pillow. They have ample pillows to use and prop in any way imaginable.- just fine without it. They have everything, even a breast-friend pillow.
• books, movies, magazines.... we have each other to be entertained, I think. - yup, didn't need it. Didn't even turn the TV on once.