On the day that I was going to give birth, I went to the hospital in the afternoon to see my OB for what I thought would just be a check-up. But when she examined me and said that my water already broke, she told me: “Call your husband and tell him that you’re delivering the baby tonight at 6:00 PM.”
It was a good thing that I had already packed all of our hospital bags and other essentials way in advance! All Mike needed to do was grab them and make a mad dash to the hospital to make it in time for Andi’ entrance into the world. Luckily, I was prepared!
Okay, I might have been over-prepared.
Before reading the rest of this article, you might want to read my post on My Hospital Bag Packing List to see all the items I included in our bags and all the things I THOUGHT I needed. I got a little too excited and only realized later that some of those things weren’t really necessary.
These are the stuff that I didn’t actually get to use when I gave birth:
Everything in my labor bag (except for the multiple copies of my personal records and my valuables).
I was on the labor bed, hooked on the IV for about 5 hours so I didn’t really get to do any writi.ng or reading, or any other activity for that matter. Those jellies that I packed were left uneaten because the doctor advised me not to eat or drink anything AT ALL. The one thing I didn’t regret packing, though, was my focal point of choice: Slippy the Seal (a baby seal toy that I had even before Andi was born). Since he was there from the very start of Andi’s life, he’s considered as Andi’s first friend.
Way too many clothes (for Mommy)
I thought I was being a minimalist by bringing ONLY 1 robe, 1 cardigan, 2 sets of pajamas, and 3 clothes. Reality check: I wore nothing but a hospital gown for my entire 4 days in the hospital. They’re comfy and they have breastfeeding access — a feature that is very handy because I was breastfeeding round-the-clock. The only piece of clothing that I actually got to use was one nursing-friendly dress, which was my going home outfit.
Episiotomy kit
I had a very carefully planned bag specifically for my fanny in the event of an episiotomy, but it ended up untouched (the kit, not my fanny) because — surprise! — I had an emergency C-section. However, even if you’re not going to have a cesarean delivery, it’s still a must to bring underpads (unless the hospital provides it) and maternity pads because you’re still going to bleed down there. AN AWFUL LOT, to my surprise! I got the wrong kind of maternity pads though. I brought the pull-up type, which is similar to pants-type baby diapers, thinking it would be easier to wear. But because I was hooked to a catheter, the nurse asked me to have someone buy regular overnight pads for me since those were easier to just slip in, out, and under my lady bits.
Makeup kit
I had this illusion that I was going to have the energy to doll up and look cute despite having zero sleep from endlessly nursing a newborn and recovering from the pain of childbirth. Ha ha ha. Who was I kidding?
Tons of baby clothes
I brought 3 sets of clothes and too many extra outfits and accessories, but Andi was just in onesies, pajamas, and swaddles for the duration of our hospital stay. Really, we could have survived with less.
Lots of baby soaps, towels, and wash cloths
We were only in the hospital for 4 days and Andi only had a bath once in those 4 days. We didn’t really need 3 kinds of body wash, 2 towels, and 4-8 wash cloths!
Now I know what to pack next time if ever we do have another baby! For Baby #2, I’m definitely going to live by the words “Less is more.”
