My Hospital Bag

Dress: Flounce Sleeve Ribbed Maternity Dress (wearing a medium)

I am so excited to finally share what we are bringing to the hospital with us! This has been a highly requested blog post so I am happy to finally get it done and I hope that it can be a big help to a lot of you. I am 37 weeks, 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced so baby girl could really come any day now! We are officially on baby watch and have our bags ready to go! 🙂

I want to start out by saying that you seriously do not NEED anything at the hospital. You could show up with literally nothing and you would be totally fine. The hospital has every thing that you would ever need. I have had friends show up empty handed who were totally fine. Hospital bags are 100% optional and based on personal preference. They are only made to make you feel more comfortable in the hospital and you can bring as much and as little as you would like.

My OBGYN was sweet enough to send me a list of things she thought would be good for me to bring for myself, the baby, and my husband. I also got advice from a lot of my friends/family members. Again, none of these things are needed and they are just simply personal preference. I could use all of these things, some of these things, or none of these things. We will just have to see! I will keep you guys updated after delivery to let you know what I actually used and what I didn’t.

Stuff for Mom (what I packed for myself):

• Hospital Bag (I recommend a decent sized bag with enough room to easily fit everything that you want to bring)
• Makeup Bag (I am not bringing a lot of makeup at all, just enough to make me feel a little put together for any pictures that we take in the hospital)
• Toiletry Bag
  • Toiletries (personal preference on what you want/need):
    • face wipes
    • toothbrush
    • toothpaste
    • deodorant
    • face wash
    • face lotion
    • body lotion
    • belly butter/stretch mark cream 
    • dry shampoo
    • travel size shampoo/conditioner
    • hair ties
    • hair brush
    • chapstick
• Comfy Robe
• Nursing Friendly Pajamas (I would bring at least 2 pairs just to be safe)
• Slipper Socks with Bottom Grips 
• Comfy Slippers
• Comfy Blanket(just to help you be more comfortable)
• Pillows with Non White Hospital Colored Pillow Cases
• Slip on Shoes like Birkenstocks (to wear home from the hospital)
• Nursing Tank
• Comfy Joggers or Lounge Pants
• Nursing Bra
• Something comfortable to wear home from the hospital (flowy dress or maternity leggings with a flowy t-shirt)
• Nipple Cream (to help with breastfeeding)
• Soothing Gel Pads (to help with breastfeeding)
• Prenatal Vitamins (I use the Ritual Prenatal Vitamins-use code MACAROONS to take 10% off your fist 3 months)
• Any other medications you may need/take regularly
• Reusable water bottle

Electronics & Other Essentials:

• Wallet (make sure to bring your driver’s license and insurance card)
• SNACKS!
• Portable Charger
• Extra Long Cell Phone Charger (you never know where outlets will be!)
• BabyShusher (I’m not sure if you need this in the hospital but my friends have said this is a newborn must have)
• White Noise Sound Machine
• Portable Night Light (my sister in law has 4 kids and said she has used this in the hospital with every single kids-comes in handy at night when trying to breastfeed)
• Fan
• Portable Speaker

Stuff for Baby:

• Car Seat
• Baby Hospital Bag (I packed a separate bag for baby’s stuff but you definitely don’t have to)
• Diaper Bag
• Going Home Outfit
• Newborn Gown
• Newborn Onesie
• Swaddle
• Outfit for Announcement Pictures (personal preference)
• Baby Blanket
• Paci
• Bows and/or Hats
• Anti Scratch Mittens
• Nursing Pillow
• Baby Socks

Stuff for Dad:

• Change of clothes (at least 2 outfits just in case)
• Pajamas
• Slippers or comfy slip on shoes
• Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant etc)
• Lots of snacks
• Reusable water bottle
• Book/iPad/laptop/headphones & general entertainment/chargers for all of these things
• Cell phone & charger
• Blanket and pillows (for comfort)
• Portable charger
• Any daily prescription medicine

So that’s about all I can think of. Again, you do not need ANY of these things. The hospital has everything that you need. These things are just to make you feel as comfortable as possible.

We are also bringing some baskets for our nurses/doctors as a way to say thank you to them for working so hard, especially during COVID. I have everything saved to my highlighted stories on Instagram titled “Nursing Baskets”. We packed them full with snacks, candy, gum, hair ties, pens, toiletries, and drinks! You can put whatever you want to in them. These baskets are just a nice way to say thank you but they are definitely not a must have. I am not sure yet where exactly we are going to put them, when we are taking them in, or anything like that. We are going to figure out the best way to do things when we get to the hospital and I will let you guys know afterwards what we did!

I am not bringing any diapers/wipes or any postpartum care to the hospital. The hospital already has all of that stuff. However, I did buy some postpartum care things to have for right when I get home from the hospital. I will list what I bought below!

Postpartum Care: 

I hope this was helpful! Love you guys!!

XOXO,

Katy