Hospital bag

Hi ladies

I just want to know what you packed for you and your babies for hospital, and how much of everything?

Thanks!

Hey Eve, so here is my tips.....

For you:
*Pack nice summer nighties (the hospital is quite warm)
For night 1 and 2, you dont wear the pants of the nighty - night 1 you still have the catheter, so cannot wear anything...
For night 2 i just put some panties on, but did not put my pants on, my belly were still very sensitive and sore and anything touching it was irritating
*Pads: I got some pads with my hospital bag which lasted me until i went home (and if you do get with your hospital bag you usually get double with twins since there is a hosp.bag per baby). But pack a few for yourself just for incase
*Waslap x 2(i dont know what it is in english.... is it a face cloth... whatever) - but take Dark colours like navy, dark green or brown. They wash you the first night , and you do bleed quite a lot. So giving them a nice dark coloured one is better.
*toiletries
*panties that come very low - or very high.... but not inbetween. You dont want anything pressing on that scar - its eina..
*some maternity wear to go home with.... there is no way you will fit in your Nr 10 jeans.... haha....So take a nice maternity pants with loose top over it.
*Jelly babies if you want something sweet to suck on
*Breastfeeding - Lansinol ointment to rub on the nipples
thats about it!
*Your camera to take pics of your angels

Babies:
*Babygrows and longsleeve vests - the ones closing between the legs works wonders... And they can all be prem. Even full term babies are under 3 kilos so will wear the prem clothes for a while. NB babygrows are also fine.
*Long sleeve tops and long leg bottoms are also fine - just dont pack any summer clothes (short sleeves.... maybe its obvious for some, but i never knew newborn babies can only wear long sleeve clothes..)
*receiver blankets (according to my hosp list you had to take 5 for each baby, but that is a bit much - i think 3 for each are fine)
*blanket - maybe 2 for each baby
*towels - 4 for each (because they will have 4 baths in hospital )
*socks - the hospital fitted socks underneath my babies's babygrows and leggings.
*dummies
*beanies if you want
*Soft toy for their little hospital crib
*Spoegdoeke - just maybe 4

Very important - pack your bag and babies's bag separately. Your bag will be in your room and the baby room staff like to have the baby's bag with them in the babyroom.

Thats all i can think of now - i will check my booklet that i got from the hospital
Happy packing....

Sorry forgot to add.... Prem nappies.
I got a free pack of Huggies 1 with each hospital bag but brought my own prem nappies and used the Huggies nr1 only lateron.
And wipes off course if you dont get that in your hospital bag either.

Also, to add to Page, it depends on whether the babies end up in NICU or not, some NICU's let you use your own baby clothes, some use their own. Plus, they will let you know what you need to bring for them, that will be nappies, bum cream, wipes (again some use wipes, some cotton balls), and some other stuff. They usually let you bring a little teddy for each baby, and perhaps their own blankies.

Re the prem nappies, I only ever used them for Rachel, Olivia at 2.2ks used Pampers #1, they just folded the top over. You preference. They will however definitely fit into prem clothes like Page says.

Oh and dummies, definitely, even if they go to NICU, they like them to suck at them to practice sucking. You do get prem dummies, and also prem NUK teats, again the NICU sisters will be able to help.

Hope they stay in long enough to bypass the NICU though!

Let us know what the dr says today!

Another useful thing is the disposable maternity panties for the first couple of days, they come up high so provide some support for the incision, and they also keep the pad in place. Take nighties for every night (3) because they get dirty.

HI

I agree with Paula those disposable panties were great my cut oosed a bit and I just threw them away. Also they are one size fits all but they support your sore tummy without squeezing. I had mroe than enough pads in my hospital baga also there was enough for the babies in the bag for the first week.

Pack some snaks for your self as with going up and down to the babies you sometimes miss meals. I also found my self wishing for t shirts rather than pajama's when going up to the babies as the parents that are home arrive in clothes and there you are in pajamas.

Thanks for the advice ladies!

Snacks, snacks and snacks lol, they feed you such a little in hospital! I think that the ladies have covered everything. I never used prem nappies, I found that they never fitted, I also used the number 1 and just folded the top.

What hospital are ou having babies at Eve?

Hey, another thing Eve.... some hospitals offer the service to register your babies (There is this agency that does the regitering of your babies at home affairs for you), and its just so convenient. So if your hospital 's maternity ward offers this, then take 2 certified copies of your id with you to hospital so that you can fill in the forms while in hospital and then the registration will be done for you (and obviously some cash to pay for it - or arrange with someone to bring you the cash when you are in hospital).

I checked my hospital booklet this morning and i think i covered most of it!

Thanks again ladies.
DJG - I am having them at Linkwood clinic
Page - yes, my hospital does offer that service, so I will definately get them to register their births!

Ok seriously, how big was your hospital bag for babies??????????????

Because if I go according to what Page said I must pack for them, I am packing an entire suitcase!!!
How many baby grows each?
How many vests?
How many pairs of socks?
How many beanies?
4 towels each? I dont even have that many towels!
And I am going to pack for NICU. Please help!

Hi Eve

I think everything has been covered. I had an IPOD which I found useful to listen to (didn't sleep much the night before my Caesar!). & books to read.

Also recommend summer pyjamas as it is so hot. And those disposable panties are great. i wore them for about a week after the birth.

Re Prem nappies - I am sure you won't need - but should one or both of your babies be very tiny I used Little Miracle nappies which were great (but expensive) - recommended by the NICU. You buy them at Baby City. I used these on Grace for about 3 months - even the Huggies Prem nappies were too big for her.
while in NICU my babies wore hospital clothes. It was only when they came home that I was able to dress them in their own clothes.

Will someone be with you at the birth? We had a mad scurry the day before to find camera & video camera. My hubby has the whole birth on video and it is so special - I love watching it. Not all hospitals let you video though.

Heck, I never realised packing a hospital bag would be like packing up house!!!!!!
Ok, went and bought some more vests and prem baby grows. Got myself some slippers. Still looking for PJ's. Did you ladies get PJ's with buttons for incase you could breastfeed?
I really dont know what PJ's to get. I'm a pants and top PJ person, not a nightie at all. Fleece PJ's will be too hot right?
Did you use suitcases or ktbags for your and babies hospital bags?
Do babies wear clothes in NICU all the time? (May sound like a dumb question, but when I visited the NICU at my hospital, the babies only had nappies on.

Hi

I would worry more about your stuff than the babies as you can get most things at the pharmacy at the hospital for them. I took a kit bag but I did not get the chance to pack it as I had unpacked it after the previous scare and I was just sorting it out.

PnP has lovely PJ,s fleece and not fleece. but also pack ordinary clothes.

Babies in NICU don't wear clothes in the incubators. but usually it is easier to dress them in hospital cothes then the nurses change them when ever they need to.

you only need the basics for the babies and the hospital gift bag has everything they need at first. ANd it is a nice kit bag. I think you get it after delivery.

Thanks Kerry

Linkwood doesnt have hospital clothes for babies. I phoned them and they said I should pack 2 items of clothing per baby per day, as they sometimes mess on the clothes.

That sounds right to me Eve, they also tend to poep on their clothes as it is runny and the nappies are always too big, lol. I think that I packed a bag for each baby and then a bag for me, it was a lot but I had my mom and the ex there so there were lots of hands. Because they stayed behind, I just took clothes, washed and brought more the next day...