Hospital Packing List: Revised.

I thought it would be fun to revisit and revise my hospital pack list now that we have "been there, done that"...

So, here's my pack list for myself, Dylan, & for baby...

My Bag Includes...

Clothing:

• A button-down nightgown  sounded good in theory, but I stuck with the yoga pants.
• (2) pairs of yoga pants (I read that tighter, stretchy material helps hold those humongo pads in place). YES! And by the way, the pads really are humongo..and amazing. Don't even bother packing your own because trust me, they aren't big enough! Plus, the hospital's are free..
• 2 nursing tanks YES! These + yoga pants were my only outfits.
• 2 nursing bras
• maternity zip-front hoodie I wore this only when it was cold which was ..never.
• 4 pairs of larger size, stretchy boy short style underwear (my hospital provides the mesh undies but not sure how many pairs they will give). Just wear the mesh undies..those pads are seriously giant and the mesh undies stretch like crazy, are comfortable, and really..I couldn't have cared less about having cuter underwear in my bag.
• 2 pairs of socks  The hospital provided the nonslip socks & I just stuck with those. As much as you think you want cute fuzzy socks, quite frankly you just don't give a damn once you're there. Plus, I was worried about slipping & falling with Layla. 
• Cheap pair of flip flops for walking around
• "Coming home outfit" - a tunic & maternity leggings. And yes, you're going to want to wear your maternity leggings and the least clingy tunic/shirt/dress you can find. 

Toiletries (all travel sized):

*side note: Target has a great travel size section.

• Shampoo/Conditioner
• Hairspray
• Mouthwash
• Floss
• Toothbrush/Toothpaste
• Razor
• Shaving Cream Target sells the travel size of EOS shaving cream. Love it! Shave wet/dry. I continued using it once I got home when getting a shower was only a dream and I really needed to shave my underarms in a pinch. 
• Body Wash
• Face Wash
• Wet Facial Wipes Yes, yes, yes. My advice is to stock up on these for once you're back home as well..because seriously, you wont be getting a shower and even after a few weeks I was too tired at night to wash my makeup off at night (assuming I even got around to make up that day). 
• Deodorant
• Make Up

I have a "Last Minute" list sitting on top of my bag for things I can't pack until we know we are heading out. The list includes things like:

• Hair Dryer
• Flat iron
• Round brush (I have to have one when blowdrying my hair)
• Prescription medications Hospital provides you with any perscription medication + pain meds
• iPad   haha, there was no time to kill once we made it to the hospital! Even prior to delivery, after 2 days of laboring at home I was too busy relishing in my amazing epidural to care about an iPad.

Miscellaneous:

• Nursing pads (your hospital may provide these, ours didn't mention them)
• Lanolin cream If you bring Lanolin, bring the nursing pads unless you want your bras/tanks stained. One of my nursing bras now looks like I have a permanent leaking situation. Awesome.
• Prenatal vitamins 
• Protein bars The hospital food was surprisingly good, someone was usually bringing me Chicfila for lunch, but I still wanted a little snack in between and was glad I had a stash of these! While we're at it, Dylan and I practically made these one of our meals during the first few weeks at home too when time is limited and we were starving/exhausted.
• Pens
• Quarters for vending machines
• Phone/iPad Charger
• Pillow with colored case
• Towel (colored) for shower (our hospital said their provided towels are small and probably what you would expect from a hospital) Yeah, their towels are tiny..bring your own.
• Belly Bandit

Apparently, Belly Bandit is the bee's knee's. We heard about if from a friend who said it was amazing. It seemed like a vain thing to add to the hospital list, however I'm taking it with me. It's benefits can be found here. 

I'm planning on wearing it home from the hospital. 

Yeah..nope. My plans for wearing this were immediately squashed by one of my nurses who made me feel like she might kill me if she found me wearing this. (Seriously, even when I just wanted to try it on I was scared she may walk in and catch me.) Not only was she right that I wouldn't want to wear it, she also made me feel like a vain idiot. What I didn't know about was the gush of blood/discomfort every time your uterus contracts while nursing after delivery. She said I wouldn't want to add to that, and she was right. She also told me my belly would shrink back down, I would just have to give it some time. I felt like an idiot even asking about it. I had just had Layla the day before, of course my belly was soft and squishy.. 

The only benefit I could see would be the support for posture. I didn't realize how bad my posture had gotten after carrying around a baby for 9 months. However, I bought the small size and it was already not tight enough even a few days after delivery, and definitely didn't seem tight enough to really do any good. Plus, the flap doesn't lay flat so it shows under anything you wear. 

Daddy Pack List includes...

• Pajamas (basketball shorts/T-shirts)
• Change of clothes
• Hoodie
• Rainbows/flip flops
• Travel size toiletries: shaving cream, razor, toothbrush/toothpaste, deodorant, body wash
• Pillow with colored pillow case
• Blanket
• Towel (colored) for shower
• Books hahahaha. yeah right. 
• Protein bars 

Pack List for Baby Layla:

• Carseat
• Blanket for the ride home
• Breast Pump  I would say bring this and leave it in the car. If everything goes smoothly you shouldn't need it.Plus, the hospital typically provides a manual hand pump which is all you would really need at that point.  I personally didn't need to pump & was able to nurse without issue. However, a friend of mine's baby had to go to the NICU for several days and she was able to pump for that reason. 

*Side note: I have the big fancy Medela Double Breast Pump but I use the manual pump from the hospital way more! It's great to leave by the bedside when I need to pump for comfort whenever Layla does a long stretch of sleep.

• Boppy nursing pillow I keep my boppy now only because Layla likes to lounge around in it, however I think it's super awkward while nursing and I have never used it during breastfeeding.
• Pacifiers (some hospitals provide these, our hospital does not) We decided to wait as long as we could to introduce pacifiers. There are conflicting thoughts as to whether or not babies experience nipple confusion if bottles/pacifiers are introduced too early or before breastfeeding is well established. I was a paranoid first time momma and wanted to wait as long as possible (I even cried the first time we gave her one...was it the hormones or crazy talking, who knows!)
• Noodle & Boo  wipes for "monkey showers" 
• California Baby lotion  Any baby body care products are waste of time to pack. Their skin is too sensitive and even when it's time for a bath they still only need warm water. I didn't know anything until after I had already put lotion on Layla because her skin was so scaly and dry looking. No one told me ahead of time that it is normal and necessary for their skin to adjust and "molt" from their aquatic environment to the "real world".

• Nail clippers Layla's nails were super long when she was born, however they are also paper thin..you can peel the hang nails off with your fingers. Also, if you're anything like Dylan and I, we were nervous to try and cut her tiny nails anyways. 
• Hair brush (she may need some styling before heading home..ha)
• (2) hats  Newborns definitely need hats if it's cold, however Layla's head was entirely too small for any of the hats I packed! 
• (2) infant gowns
• (2) pairs of scratch mittens Layla's wrists were way too small for the mittens we had but we loved that her gowns had the built in mittens.
• (3) pairs of socks 
• (2) "Coming Home" outfits. Packing two outfits came as a suggestion from the nurse at our maternity open house, in case the one special outfit gets thrown up/pooped on. 
• Aden + Anais swaddle blanket
• Headbands (for pictures)

First Month Must Haves for Baby.

So, before Layla was born Dylan and I bought a ton of stuff for her including the gifts we received from family and friends. I thought, surely she couldn't need anything else! While we still feel like she has everything she could ever need, we still found ourselves at the store a lot during the first month. Turns out, there's a lot of stuff that you think your baby will love but ends up hating, and things your baby loves that you didn't end up with before hand. So here is some stuff baby Layla (and Mommy & Daddy) have loved over these first few weeks.

1. Mam pacifiers: We waited about 2 weeks before we introduced a pacifier. I was a nervous wreck worrying about nipple confusion.We originally purchased the Gumdrop pacifiers mainly because I thought they were cute and had no idea what Layla would actually like. Fast forward to the night that she was SO fussy that we decided to resort to the pacifier.Well, she didn't like them. The nipple is way too long and hard, she just kind of rolled her tongue around it and continued screaming. So, cue the next day run to Target. I remembered reading a good review of the Mam pacifiers so we grabbed a pack of Mams & a pack of Nuks. She loved the Mams so much that we never even opened the Nuks. We purchased Newborn size & I like that they are simple, tiny & light weight.

2. Aiden + Anais Bamboo Swaddle Blankets: Not only are these blankets amazing, we get compliments on them whenever we are out! So multifunctional. We have the Aden by Aden + Anais swaddle blankets as well but the bamboo are our favorite. The others are a rayon+bamboo blend and not as big, soft or stretchy. The bamboo cost a little more but I use them so much more!

3. 4Moms Mamaroo: Oh. My. God. I know I complained about Dylan wanting to splurge on this thing but it has saved our lives! She naps and sleeps in her Mamaroo every day/night. I swore I would have her sleeping in her crib from night #1 but baby girl hates laying flat in her crib. She will never sleep in long stetches in the crib like she does in the "Roo". The motion of the Mamaroo is soothing to her when she's awake and content, but we can put her in it without motion for her to sleep. I think she likes the slight incline (the incline is adjustable, we have it as laid back as it goes) and the infant insert kind of "hugs" her and makes her feel secure. I ultimately want her to sleep in her crib but I think we will take the welcomed sleep for now!

4. Prince Lionheart Wipe Warmer: I was hesitant to buy this. A lot of reviews said to save your money, blah blah blah. I think it depends on the baby, but Layla hates cold wipes. She almost always starts crying if we have to use a cold wipe but hardly notices if we use one out of the warmer. I especially like having the warmed wipes for middle of the night changes when I'm trying to keep her as calm as possible.

5. 4 Moms Infant Bathtub: I think Layla and her parents love this bathtub equally. It's main feature is that the "clean water flows in, dirty water flows out" which is nice. Our favorite feature is that it has a water temperature thermometer that reads the water temperature as it collects from the faucet. If water gets above 100 degrees it beeps and flashes red so we know to adjust it. I didn't know if it would be gimmicky, but it's super accurate and gives us some added confidence while we clumsily give her a bath.