What do you need to pack? Hospital Bags

[Cassius2]

my essential item was a dressing gown lol! so not sexy! but i had to waddle from the room to scn for feeds for the first 2 days and also they did morning teas down the corridor where you would be given bf classes, physiotherapy classes etc and i just chucked on my dressing gown over my pjs and off i went...i was HOT LOL!!!

i preferred the Kotex too and the libra ones were good after the first week.

we used the hossy nappies while we were there and then switched to the BGs when DD was big enough (she was a wee bit tiny for the pockets we bought at first)...

nipple cream.

hairbrush (forgot mine...again, so so sexy)

comfy footwear (again, for any waddling in public places...i completed my 'ensemble' with the ubiquitous uggs lol)

our hossy provided all for the baby (clothes nappies wipes wraps etc). so that was fairly easy. packed going home clothes but they were too big (ooo) so i recommend packing a range of sizes JIC.

[Janie]

Clare, you are sooo funny!!! Good idea re. the baby clothes sizes.....IMO if it's too big it looks so wrong! And they get cold too. I knew that my baby was going to be small so I'd packed all 0000 stuff, but I was unprepared for a prem, and my mum had to go and buy some 00000 clothes because all the 0000 stuff was way too big. So you just don't know!

[jakodai]

i preferred the Kotex too and the libra ones were good after the first week.

Why were the Libra ones good after the first week? Now I'm worried, because I've bought a few packets of those... lol

packed going home clothes but they were too big (ooo) so i recommend packing a range of sizes JIC.

I am also so worried about this - I have actually gone down a dress-size or two since being pregnant, because I basically had NO appetite at all in my first trimester, and the thought of eating quite literally made me feel ill. Now I have no idea at all what size I'm going to be when I have bubs. Although, given that we're not stopping anywhere on the way home, and I really don't care what I look like, I'm thinking of just going with a T-Shirt and a pair of tightish trackie pants. Very trendy, I know, but at least I know they'll fit!

Off topic... I actually bought a few maternity T-Shirts the other day that I can get away with wearing after I've had the baby, because rather than being those really big flowing ones that are loose ( ;-) ) over your belly, they're just longer than a normal shirt and would look really good with a pair of jeans or something. I was ultra paranoid about maternity clothes because I didn't want to spend a fortune on clothes that I'm not planning on wearing again - I want to have lost weight before we have baby number 2...

ETA: OK, so I went off on my own little tangent RE: clothes sizes... hehe

[Janie]

I think Clare was talking about baby clothes sizes LOL. But as for your stuff, don't forget that you will likely still look anywhere from 4-6 months pg when you leave hospital! And your boobs will be bigger too when your milk comes in So whatever you want to wear, make sure it's adaptable

[sazzafrazz]

I would definately reccomend the dark undies and I preferred the higher granny waist ones. I wore them while pg and found them fantastic afterwards because I ended up with a C-section. No rubbing undies on my sore tummy. Same goes for clothing for myself: I actually just wore my maternity clothes in hosp and home. My tum was still really big and my boobs were sore, plus my ceasar site was SORE so I wanted high waists all the way!

Our hosp supplies cloth nappies but we used our own sposies. DD was a small 0000 so I didnt use our cloth nappies for the first 5weeks! They also supplied little nighties which we used to start off but then switched to our sleepsuits as they looked so much more comfy.

Things I reccomend: 10 big, dark undies
2packs pads. I used the ENORMOUS hosy ones for the first day Kotex are MUCH thicker than Libra too...
1pack breast pads
Maternity clothes plus extra teeshirts for the spews and milk leakages
PJS!!! I loved my breastfeeding nightie too - no exposing tummy I didnt bother with my dressing gown. I had my own bathroom and preferred to shower and dress every morning. Just made me feel more normal.
basic toiletries. I didnt want too much perfume for the new baby and only wanted her to get used to what I usually wear.
Massive bag to take home gifts. Like the stripy $2 shop ones.
phone charger, camera, batteries, notepad to keep track of gifts/who you have phoned.
dont bother with a book. I was that busy with nurses, visitors, baby...
personal clock/watch. NEED for feeds/tracking bubs nappies etc.
Plenty of spew rags. Nappies and going home home clothes. 4 wraps.
Wheat pack for labour, lip balm, essential oils.

hope that helps some!