BABY TIME: Hospital Essentials

1.  Notepad and Pen - the nurses will give you lots of tips and you'll want to keep track of baby's meal times, medicine times for yourself and jot down any questions for medical staff that may not be in your presence.

2.  Nipple cream.  Can't stress this enough.  It will help you with nursing and pumping.  I would have died if I didn't have this.  Literally.



 3.  Comfy jammies - preferably the nightgown sort because the hospital staff will need access to your lady bits and it's a pain to pull pants on and off. 

4.  Water and snacks.  It's nice not to have to get up.  It's also nice not to have to eat hospital food toujours.

5.  Shower supplies from home.  It's unlikely that you'll be up to shaving your legs and doing a body scrub, but you may want to wash the stink off and brush your teeth.

6.  Pads.  Big.  Humongous.  Pads.  The biggest you can find.  They'll still be 5x smaller than the hospital variety, but you'll need 'em.  There will be lots of "activity" down there. I brought:  Always Extra Heavy Overnight Maxi With Flexi Wings - they did the job. 





7.  Lip balm and mascara.  I know you just had a baby, but you don't have to look like hell.

8.  Flip flops

9.  Cell phone, camera, batteries, chargers.

10.  Receiving blankets and some little (previously washed) jammies and hats for the baby... hospital blankets are so scratchy

11.  Reusable grocery bags - visitors typically bring you gifts and you can just toss everything into a couple of big sturdy grocery bags, rather than have your partner lug zillions of bags and flowers to the car in several trips.

Amy