Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Packing for Labor and Delivery

I've always really wanted to do a labor and delivery bag post! For one, just because they're fun to read in my opinion. For two, if we do this again I'd really like to know what I did and didn't use. So here it goes!

I started out by doing a quick google search about common labor and delivery bag items. I printed out 3 or 4 lists from blogs and from websites (the bump, etc) and used those to make my own personal list. Alot of things I decided we just didn't need, like money for vending machines and snacks. We live in a highly populated area and everything is open 24 hours here! The hospital is literally 5 minutes from a 24 hour Walmart and McDonald's. I also found out at our prenatal class that there are snacks like sandwiches, pudding, and juice available for "patients" but that the husband can feel free to rummage through it if he's hungry and the cafeteria is closed. I also made the executive decision to not bring flip flops for the shower because the rooms (labor and delivery AND recovery) are all single family rooms. I'm not going to have to share a bathroom with anyone but the husband, so the flip flops seem silly. I also saw that alot of people said to bring 2 bags: one for labor, and one for recovery. Knowing that, I made separate sections of my list to accomodate a two bag scenario. After all that, my list looked like this:

I knew that we'd probably need the toiletry bag in the labor section since even though I might not want to shower or brush my teeth, Jesse might. Then E's stuff went into the recovery portion because she wouldn't need it until we were ready to go home. I had it all stacked and decided that two bags for the same trip would be ridiculous because there just wasn't much there. My rolling suitcase has separated upper and lower compartments, so if I pack it properly Jesse won't be rummaging through the whole bag to find what he needs anyway. All laid out, it looked something like this:

1st row: Hospital gown I made, my robe, Jesse's clothes, and Jesse's pajamas.
 2nd row: 2 nursing nightgowns I made, socks, my slippers, the toiletry bag, and a swaddle sack.
3rd row: NB size outfit, 0-3 month outfit, 2 hats, 3 mittens, and 2 pairs of socks
Not pictured(but packed): undergarments, feminine napkins, carseat, and bundleme
Not pictured(not packed): Wallet, electronics, boppy, pillow, hair brush, and makeup

At that point, I had basically reaffirmed my decision to only pack one bag. There really isn't much there! Jesse's clothes and the toiletry bag take up most of the space, but this is a family event and I want him to be comfortable, too. Some of the stuff isn't pictured because you don't need to see it, and some of it isn't even packed because it's still in use or won't be in the bag. Finally.... I crammed it all into my rolling suitcase and it looked surprisingly un-cramped.

Left(top of suitcase): Recovery items
Right(bottom of suitcase): Labor items

It's kind of hard to tell from that picture, but there's plenty of room in both sections for the electronics, makeup, and hair stuff. I didn't pack those because I'm still using them at the moment. Since the boppy, the pillow, and the carseat/bundleme won't go in the bag, those are just off to the side. I'm supposed to be keeping everything in the car at this point, so think I'll pack a small makeup bag with essentials and a spare brush just in case and then Jesse can run home to get the tablet, chargers, and camera bag when he has a chance. That way if we're both at work when I go into labor we won't have to worry about being unprepared.

What do you think, did I overpack? I think that considering my history of wayyyyyyyyy overpacking that one suitcase for three people is pretty darn good. Then again, I live 10 minutes from our hospital so that probably swayed my overpacking ways.

No comments:

Post a Comment