Hospital Bag

Okay so I'm sure you're aware, the time is drawing near for me to pack up myself and my husband and ship off to the local hospital to give birth. When I had Moo I packed everything. I read and re-read and dissected about a million checklists online and in books to pick the exacts of what it was I needed to take with me. I was a woman possessed with being organised down to perfection.

And then she was born and I couldn't for the life of me find one of the three hats I had packed (why I thought I needed that many I don't know).

So this time around I've decided to pack more wisely, a huge deciding factor being that iPad the first sign of trouble I will be shipped off to another hospital, so packing light is going to be a must. Here's what I'm taking...

- Newborn nappies.

- Baby wipes.

- Travel changing mat.

- Rattle.

- 3x sleep suits.

- 3x vests.

- 2x scratch mitts.

- 2x socks.

- Hat.

- Coming home outfit.

- Blanket from home.

- Pyjamas.

- Slipper socks.

- Wash bag (toothbrush, toothpaste, flannel, shower gel, moisturiser, deodorant, lip balm).

- Comfortable bra.

- Cheap underwear.

- Maternity pads.

Not pictured I'm also taking a bikini top for the birthing pool, breast pads, my handbag because I never leave home without it and my maternity notes. My husband will have his own bag that will probably have his iPod and speaker, a magazine and a bottle of squash in which are things I also recommend. I'm hoping he remembers his phone charger also...

One thing I will admit to be unsure on at the moment is feeding equipment. I have a travel, single bottle steriliser with instructions and small bottle for formula feeding. With Moo I didn't take such things because I was so sure that I would breast feed, it was something I wanted to do and why not? It's a very natural thing?

I didn't factor into my birth plan, however, that old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men...Moo was born with an inverted bottom jaw (an overbite, basically) and I have a rather large bosom, shall we say. The two combined turned out to be a recipe of disaster. Multiple midwives tried to help me and her, we worked away at it for hours and I was devastated. After being alive for seventeen hours and having nothing in her stomach, my husband put his foot down and she was classified an emergency. They gave us formula as we had nothing with us (though had things at home). This is really a story for another time, as the aftercare we received with Maddy was not fantastic and I'm sure it's multiple situations like ours that contributed to the downgrading of our local services.

So this time I know that breast-feeding might not be on the agenda no matter how hard I try. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, I have had two very easy pregnancies in comparison to a lot of women and Moo's birth was strait-forward, I'm not super woman and natural or not, my body might not be able to do it. I am going to give it my hardest like I did before but I certainly won't be allowing my baby to starve for seventeen hours again (I hope that seventeen hours after birth, I'll be home). I have no excuse not to be prepared this time around, I think I will leave my feeding equipment in a separate bag in the car, then my husband can fetch should we need.

So that's my hospital bag! Please remember that this is not what I think every woman should take to the hospital with them. We are all different and I have made my decisions based on previous experience, the facilities I plan and may potentially go to, as well as the time of year that I'm due.

I will say, make sure you definitely have plenty of funds on you, cash or bank card, especially if it's your first baby...labour can take forever and those televisions aren't free!!

Clare