I did a little poll over on my Facebook page last week asking if it would be helpful for me to write a post about packing my hospital bag. The majority of you said yes, so here we are! I’m trying not to go overboard with packing this time around. With this being baby number three, I have a better idea of what I used in the past and what just took up space. Hopefully this will be helpful, especially for you first time Mama’s out there!
Must Have Toiletries
Always padded underwear – I saw an Instagram blogger who just had a baby swear by these. For those of you that have had babies know how awful the hospital mesh underwear is. And the pads are so bulky and overkill. I’m trying these this time around, and I’m hoping they are much more comfortable to move around in!
Nursing pads – I can not live without these things! I use them through most of my months of nursing. They are wonderful!
Dry shampoo – This is an absolute must for your hospital stay. You wont have the time to be curling your hair and getting extra beautiful, so dry shampoo will be so helpful!
Mascara – Because if anything makes you feel more human after hard labor, it’s mascara!
Lip oil – For some reason my lips get so dry and cracked during my stay at the hospital, so I like to have something to moisturize them on hand.
Outfits
Usually during labor I just have on a comfy tank or nightgown. I don’t love the hospital gowns, and they aren’t comfortable at all! I haven’t decided on what one I want to take for that yet.
I’m taking three comfy lounge outfits for after labor. I usually stick to dark colors after to hide the baby pooch, but these floral lounge pants are so insanely comfortable that I could live in them!
Lounge pants
Joggers
Comfy tank
Comfy t-shirt
Swing t-shirt
I also picked a bright flowy top for my outfit home instead of the dark top and leggings I usually go with. I think I’m going to bring a long maxi dress too in case I don’t want to put maternity jeans on for the ride home.
Of course I can’t forget my new favorite nursing tanks with built in bras. These have no wire in them, so they are incredibly comfortable, plus they are pretty form fitting (in a comfortable way) so they hide and suck in your belly. Perfect for layering under tops postpartum!
Nursing tanks
I will also take one cardigan, one robe, one pair of slippers and one nursing bra along.
Robe (haven’t purchased yet, but it’s in my cart. A little bit of a splurge, but I want to feel pretty and girly in a nice robe. Plus I foresee myself wearing this a lot at home postpartum.)
As you can see, I’m keeping it pretty simple and straight forward this time around! I’m hoping not to be at the hospital for three full days, but you have to prepare for the “just in case”.
What Took Up Space
A lot of women like to bring their own pillows, fan, essential oils, boppy etc. I found this all to be unnecessary in my cases. The hospital has an overabundance of pillows for you to use. I also just used pillows to prop baby for nursing so I didn’t see that a boppy was needed. Like I said though, this is all personal preference because we didn’t want a bunch of stuff to carry in and out. I also never took a pump, but it might not be a bad idea to do so. My babies always latched and nursed awesome right away so I didn’t need to pump at all. But better to be prepared than not on that one!
Bag For Baby
As for baby, I have everything packed in the diaper bag for him or her. Since we don’t know what we are having, I have to pack double of everything. I am bringing three sets of boy and girl jammies, one cozy blankie each, one hat each and then a take home outfit for each. I am convinced I am having a boy, but of course it would be foolish to only bring boy stuff. I’ll link my cute new diaper bag below.
I hope this proved to be helpful for you. Packing for the hospital can be a little overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time. There are so many unknowns to think about, so it’s always nice to get an outside perspective! The hospital does have a lot of things there for you, so if you forget something, it’s no biggie.
I’m so ready to meet my sweet baby, and I can’t wait to share my birth story with you in just a few weeks! How amazing to think it’s almost here!
Thanks for stopping by!
XO Becca
*the links used in this post are commissioned links
2 thoughts on “Packing Your Hospital Bag”
How has the Always padded underwear worked out?
Hi Kelly! It has been awesome! The nurses were even making comments about how brilliant they are and that the hospital should start carrying them because they are so much more comfortable and effective. Super glad I went for it this time around!