10 Hospital Baby Bag Essentials

I have seen a lot of posts across the web lately about pregnancy and babies, and it makes me think about what it was like when I had my first baby. I remember reading books and looking online for what I needed to have in my hospital bag and it seemed that everything listed was pretty obvious – camera, soap, toothbrush, etc. One story I read suggested to bring makeup for pictures, I thought that was crazy. The last thing I want to be doing after having a baby is putting on mascara! So today I am sharing with you what my hospital baby bag essentials were when I had my kids.

Essentials for the hospital bag:

1. Hair brush or wide tooth comb – Yep, I forgot a hair brush. After 28 hours of labor, my hair was a hot mess. It was tied up in a bun on top of my head and as the hours passed and I became more and more irritated and tired, the nurses help me to pile my very long hair higher and higher on top of my head. It was awful.
2. Facial wipes – These are very easy and convenient to use to keep your face clean and fresh, especially if you are confined to the bed either due to a c-section or an epidural. I bought a small pack in the travel section at Target.
3. Maternity clothes for going home – I brought a normal pair of pants and a top thinking that my body would be back to normal once I had the baby. I was in for a big surprise. It takes weeks for your uterus to return to normal size, and all of that weight you gained? It was not all baby.
4. Cotton brief underwear – You will bleed a lot after having a baby while your uterus returns to normal. And along with this never ending bleeding, the hospital will give you the most giant pads you’ve ever seen to use. Buy a pack of full coverage underwear to hold in these pads, it’s also a bonus that you won’t ruin your nice underwear if your giant pad fails you.
5. Protein or meal replacement bars – Not only are you not allowed to eat while in labor, if you don’t have your baby around a planned meal time you’re pretty much out of luck. Plus, once you deliver your appetite doesn’t magically go back to the way it was before your were pregnant. You’re still hungry all the time, and now if you’re nursing you’re body is also working overtime to produce milk and breast feed. You will be very hungry for food, not a snack size bag of pretzels to grab a box of protein bars or even trail mix would be good.
6. Socks or slippers – My first two kids were born in the summer, so that last thing on my mind was socks. Not only is is cold in the hospital, but I didn’t really want to walk around with my bare feet, that just seemed gross to me. I bought a pair of slipper socks are Target that worked great.
7. Lip Balm & body lotion – Your whole body seems to dry out during labor. I was so happy to have my own lip balm & lotion.
8. Nursing Bra, Nursing Pads & Lanolin cream – With my first baby I remembered the bra, but didn’t even know that I needed some sort of nipple cream. It was a tough two days in the hospital without the cream, especially since this was my first and I had no idea what a “good latch” was for breastfeeding.
9. Books, Magazine, Tablet – You will have visitors, and your husband will probably be there for the most part however there are time when the baby is asleep, there is nothing on tv and you can’t sleep. You would think that naturally since you’re tired you would sleep all day, but you don’t. My sister called it The Baby High. For some reason, you’re wide awake.
10. Extra Bag – Friends and family will bring you gifts and the hospital will send you home with diapers, wipes, thermometer strips, baby wash, all sorts of baby item. If they open a pack of anything, they have to send it home with you.

Before you have the baby, you will also want to pick up a few things that will make your first few days at home easier.

• Advil/ibuprofen– You may have cramping, I also had a lot of back pain and this helped.
• Ultra Absorbent Menstrual Pads – As mentioned above, the hospital gives you super thick & giant pads that are so uncomfortable. I bought ultra thin heavy flow pads that were much easier to use, I also got the ones with the “wings” so that they stayed in place.
• Tucks/witch hazel pads – These will help reduce swelling if you had a natural delivery, you place them on top of the menstrual pads.
• Heat Therapy Patches – You can get these at any drugstore, they are disposable heated patched that stick to your skin. I wore them on my lower back to relieve and soothe the pain.

What did you have in your hospital bag that you were glad you packed? Comment below!