I was completely clueless what to pack in my hospital bag as I was preparing for Rylie to come, but thanks to a mix of a paper my hospital gave me, Pinterest, blogs and friends, I threw something together and I feel like we survived our hospital stay splendidly and had most of what we needed + some extra. I reread the blog post I had written about what was in my hospital bag, and I noticed I typed “Packing our hospital bags is something I definitely feel like I might do differently the 2nd time around…” so I figured I might as well share what I packed this time, if nothing else, for myself to look back on.
Although I think I remember what I used the most (and what we didn’t pack that we needed) when we were at the hospital with Rylie, I still looked through Pinterest and blogs to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything.
So here is what I packed this time around –
For Mom:
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Toiletries
Toothbrush, toothpaste, hair tie, Chapstick, deodorant, dry shampoo, makeup, face wash, moisturizer, shower stuff, blow dryer, hair brush (I forgot my hair brush last time so my hair was pretty much always up in a ponytail lol)
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Baggy, Comfy Clothes – 2 t-shirts, 1 shorts, 1 sweats, 1 hoodie, 3 pairs of socks, 1 cute robe
Let’s be honest, you just had a baby and your belly is pudgy. Having baggy clothes helped me feel comfortable and less self-conscious of what I looked like (because let’s be real – you may have just birthed a miracle, but you still kinda want to look presentable haha). I loved having a cute, light robe too. It helped me feel pretty immediately after I had Rylie and hadn’t showered yet.
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Slippers
For when you want to walk around or go to the cafeteria
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Nursing Bra & Nipple Cream || 3 bras
For obvious reasons.
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Post-Partum Stuff
Depends (so helpful for those first few days!!!), pads
For Baby:
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Nursing Stuff – Bobby Pillow, Nursing Cover, Burp Clothes
The Bobby was really helpful while I was in the hospital and trying to figure out how to nurse. I think I used the bobby + a couple hospital pillows haha
Nursing Covers are great, but only if your comfortable nursing with others in the room. I was such a newbie I couldn’t try to figure out a nursing cover too, so I just had anyone I wasn’t comfortable seeing me nurse leave the room for a few minutes and come back later. I think I’m going to pack it this time around though since I have a better idea of what I’m doing.
And then Burp Clothes because you’ll be burping the baby and they spit up.
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Swaddle Blanket – 2
I just used the blankets at the hospital for Rylie, but I wish I would’ve brought a couple cute ones. So that’ll be coming with us this time around.
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Clothes – 3 size newborn + 3 size 0-3 months || 2 beanies & 2 headbands || 2 pairs of socks
This may sound excessive, but it’s good to bring the 2 different sizes just in case baby is big and can’t fit into newborn clothes. I packed 3 with Rylie and that was great because I had options when trying to pick out her “going home” outfit.
I just packed beanies for Rylie since she was a November baby, but since baby #2 is a spring baby, I’m adding headbands too. Plus, I want to take some cute hospital pictures and I think having a headband or two packed away would be sweet.
Misc.:
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Food
Food / Snacks was something I meant to bring the first time but I never got around to shopping beforehand. Although the hospital gave me main meals, they left Aaron to fend for himself and they did not have snacks outside of the vending machine and we were not about to pay for overpriced snacks. Rick and Michelle went to WalMart for us and brought some food for Aaron and snacks for the two of us. I remember that whole ordeal so vividly that it’s definitely on my “priority list” this time around!
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Our Own Pillows
We brought our own pillows when we had Rylie and it helped SO much! I can’t imagine having tried to sleep with the hospital’s.
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Phone Charger
I was so transfixed with our newest addition I really wasn’t on my phone much, but I do remember needing to plug it in at least once during our 3 day stay.
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iPad + Charger
Friends told me to bring stuff to do because there’d be a lot of down time, and even though I didn’t believe them (because I was thinking of before/during labor), after you’ve had the baby, there is A TON of down time! Having your iPad (+ charger) or something to help the time pass is definitely a must.
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DSLR Camera + Charger
Because you know I’ll be taking pictures 😉
I’m letting Aaron back himself (he’s a big boy, and I honestly just don’t want to worry about it) and I’m not packing anything for Rylie because I don’t plan on her staying the night with us.
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So with that, our bags are packed and ready to go whenever our little girl decides to arrive 🙂