What I packed in my hospital bag (+ bonus birth story)
Before getting pregnant, I had never thought about what you’d pack to go to the hospital to have a baby. It’s sort of a strange experience: you know you’re going to be there for a minimum of two nights, but it’s not like…it’s going to be a comfortable, luxurious stay. And although I ended up with a scheduled induction (aka knew exactly when I had to head to the hospital), it’s also something that you want to have ready to go at any point. On our way there, David joked that it was like we were checking into the worst possible motel!
My coworker friend Allison put together an insanely helpful Excel with everything she packed for the hospital, and I referred to it so much as I was figuring out what to pack in my bag (and David’s bag, and Gert’s bag). And so! Sharing what I used the most and what I am so glad I brought with me should you, too, be pregnant and wondering what to bring.
The thing that made the biggest difference in my overall birth experience? Having a doula! This is my first (and only) time giving birth, and I found it very helpful to have someone in the room who could translate any medical speak for me and help me and David weigh the pros and cons of different situations. She also really freed David up to just focus on supporting me, since she could do things like get more more ice water or go pick up lunch or ask the right questions. I feel like there’s a bit of a misconception that a doula is only if you want an unmedicated, hippie-dippie birth, but I had an epidural in a hospital setting and found my doula completely worth the expense. My only goal in birth was to have a non-traumatic experience: I knew there would be a lot that I couldn’t control, and although things didn’t go exactly as I would have liked, I was not traumatized–and for that, I givve my doula, along with my incredible nurses and midwife, so much credit! (I would 100% recommend my doula Haley in San Diego if you are in the area.)
Hospital Gown: Probably the #1 thing that I’m glad I bought and brought with me, even though it seemed a bit frivolous: my own hospital gown! I felt so much more like myself wearing something I brought from home, and it was much more comfortable and versatile than the hospital-issued one I changed into and wore post-labor. I chose a floral, which felt the most like me, but my best friend (who recommended this to me) chose an all-black, which felt more like her: it’s just nice to wear something that *you* chose for such a big day. If I could go back, I would have bought two: one to wear during labor (but obviously, it gets kind of gross!) and then one to wear for the next couple of nights in the hospital.
Stainless steel tumbler with straw: The second thing I was happiest to have was my stainless steel tumbler with a straw. I *love* cold water, and I was so thirsty for ice water the whole time I was in labor: I asked this to be refilled so many times! Having it with a straw versus a lid that had to be removed was also just much easier and more accessible.
Pillow: I am incredibly obsessed with my Purple pillow: if I’m driving to a vacation, I usually pack it with me (along with a silk pillowcase!) and I actually have ordered one to keep at my in-law’s in New York City for any East Coast vacations. It is very heavy and dense and specific, and I love it. If you have any sort of allegiance to any pillow, I recommend bringing it with you because hospital pillows are not exactly premium.
Weighted Blanket: When they moved me in a wheelchair from the labor room to my hospital room for the rest of the stay, the nurse was like…WHAT IS SO HEAVY. Oh, just me and my 12-pound pillow and my 15-pound weighted blanket and my 8.5-pound baby! Similar to my pillow, I love my weighted blanket and tend to travel with it when possible to most closely recreate my sleep routine of home. And again, hospital blankets are not exactly premium, so having this on-hand made it a lot easier to try and get some sleep.
Extra-long phone chargers: I have a hot pink phone charger that has been my go-to for travel for a while: it’s harder to forget plugged into a hotel nightstand or a rental car when it’s such a bright color, and the fact that it’s extra long makes it much more versatile.
Speaker and white noise machine: This travel white noise machine is one of my favorite travel purchases, and it very much came in handy at the hospital (as well as traveling with a baby!). It’s super tiny, but works well as a white noise machine and as a speaker. We used it to play music while I was in labor (my friend Aly made a fun playlist for my baby shower that was great for labor as well!), and then we used it as a white noise machine during our two-night stay in the hospital. Very helpful to mask some of the beeping and noise of all of the hospital machines! Don’t forget to bring a charger as well–we basically had it on 24 hours a day.
Sleep mask: again, you’re basically checking into the crappiest hotel–one with lots of noise and light and interruptions. A sleep mask made it possible to get at least *some* sleep while I was there!
Chapstick: there is nothing worse than being stuck in a dry hospital room with no chapstick. I really like this Ilia lip mask (I keep it on my nightstand at home to put on before I go to sleep every night), but frankly, anything will do.
Ponytail holders: the rattail mess that my hair became after three days in the hospital was real, and I had the foresight to watch and blowdry my hair before we checked into the hospital! I love these velvet scrunchies: they’re not as tight on your hair or wrist, but still do the job.
Toiletry bag: the day after I gave birth, it was very nice to wake up and go through a bit of my “routine” with all of my standard products: wash and moisturize my face, put on some lotion and deodorant, etc. Definitely made me feel more like myself again!
Extra tote bag: when you check out of the hospital, our nurse encouraged us to take the extra diapers, wipes, hydrogen peroxide pads, ice packs, etc.–they will throw out anything that is left behind! Great to bring an extra tote bag to make it easy to take those (very helpful and necessary) freebies (that your insurance is paying an arm and a leg for) home with you.
Slippers and cozy socks: it’s not like you’re really bopping around, but it can get chilly! I was glad I had my cozy slippers from home just for getting up and going to the bathroom and whatnot.
Extra set of clothes: frankly, I packed so many extra clothes that I never wore! I was in the hospital gown for the entire stay. That said, I am glad that I packed sweatpants and T-shirts (aka loose clothing) to go home in.
Instax Camera: My friend Aly gave me an Instax to capture memories on my wedding day, and I have loved it ever since! It’s one of my favorite things to take on vacation for a few hard memories of every trip. I’m also so glad I brought it with me to the hospital for the first few photos of Jojo!
Baggu Fanny Pack: my friend Kate got me this fanny pack as a baby shower gift saying that it was perfect for bopping out with kids–hands-free and just enough room for wallet, keys, phone and a snack. But I found it so helpful in the hospital as well: I could “hook” it onto the hospital bed to have all of the key things easily accessible to me (phone, charger, chapstick, etc.).
The one thing I missed? In hindsight, I wish I had brought my pump with me. I bought the Spectra S2 after much hemming and hawing, and am very pleased with it: however, the box says not to open until *after* you have the baby, and I am a rule follower! That said, my hospital had Medela pumps (which seem great, but just a slightly different set-up) and I think it would have been really great to utilize the hospital lactation consultant while I was there to ask about flange sizes, how the Spectra settings work, anything to keep in mind as someone who planned in advance to exclusively pump. I ended hiring a lactation consultant to come to my home about four weeks after birth after I had some issues with clogged ducts, and I think some of my stress and discomfort could have been avoided if I had been able to learn a little bit more about how my pump worked while I was still in the hospital.
Although I’m not much of a “birth story” person, here we are and thus…if you *are* a birth story person, enjoy! If you are not, off you go!
I had a fairly easy and healthy pregnancy, although I did get Covid when I was about eight weeks pregnant and I had one test score that was higher than it should have been by about .05. The other negative was that my ob-gyn (who I loved!) left the practice when I was about six months pregnant. Because of those things, my last month was a little frustrating: I didn’t have a regular doctor or nurse, and I was supposed to come in for twice-weekly stress tests (that were always normal, and frankly just created more stress for me in terms of having to leave work).
I tried to keep a very open mind about birth. I’ve seen and heard about so many women who had a really disappointing or traumatizing experience because they were so dead-set on something (i.e. going all natural, having a vaginal birth, etc.) and then the universe has a different plan and they didn’t get what they wanted! My only goal was a healthy baby and a non-traumatizing experience for myself. For a while, I considered trying to go all natural but after a crazy weekend of horrific lower back pain when I was about 38 weeks pregnant, I thought: heck no, give me the epidural. In general, I thought: I’ve never done this before so I don’t know what I’ll want or be able to control, so might as well try to take it all as it comes!
All of that said: I really didn’t want to be induced! I’d heard that inductions can cause more painful contractions (as per my pregnancy advice guru Emily Oster) and that early inductions were getting more and more common in hospital environments, and that was something I was trying to avoid.
And of course…because of my one high test score, my doctors did not want me going past my due date. So for the week before my due date, I tried *everything* to induce naturally: two membrane sweeps, an acupuncture appointment, eating all of the pineapple, the Miles circuit, long walks around the neighborhood. I was 3cm dilated for about a week before my due date, but to no avail! I went in for my last scheduled doctor’s appointment the day before my due date, and they promptly scheduled my induction for 8pm the following night. I was pretty disappointed, but tried to look at the upsides: it was easy to schedule the pug drop-off to friends, I could take a nice long hot shower and have a good meal before going in, and we could get all of our go-bags packed without much chaos.
We checked into the hospital at 8pm on Thursday night: my doula met us there, and we did all of the paperwork before settling into the hospital room for the night. I immediately was hooked up to an IV with pitocin and got a fairly decent night’s sleep in a hospital bed (aka nothing happened).
The next morning at 7:30am, the midwife on call came in and let us know that since the pitocin hadn’t done much: it was time to break my water! Another thing that can cause more painful contractions! Shortly after this happened, things *definitely* got more painful and they got more painful fast. I opted to start with IV painkillers, but after about an hour of pretty intense pain, I decided it was time to call in the epidural. I got an epidural around 10am (VERY GLAD I DID), and WHEW! I definitely felt a lot better in terms of contraction pain, but was pretty woozy and nauseated. I tend to have a pretty strong reaction to any drugs that can cause nausea (aka most painkillers), so I spent most of lunch hour (while David and my doula enjoyed a very delicious-looking pad thai) throwing up. Alas!
About 3:30pm, things kicked into high gear: I started shivering uncontrollably, which I learned is a sign of active labor. I spent the next three hours pushing, and it was INTENSE. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt as truly exhausted as I did during this time: even with the incredible support and cheerleading of my doula and David, I was starting to feel a bit defeated. They had a mirror set up so that I could see where the baby was starting to pop through as a bit of extra motivation: I didn’t want this at the beginning, but it ended up being really helpful in terms of showing me what pushes were helping and what technique wasn’t doing enough.
At 6:30pm, the midwife let us know that if the baby wasn’t out in 10 minutes, they would need to get the vacuum because my heart rate was dropping. I had an oxygen mask already, and at this point, I was completely spent, but when I heard that, my first thought was: I don’t want a vacuum, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll need an emergency C-section and I don’t want that after all of this work!
And so: a few more intense pushes (and a quick motivational speech from David on avoiding the vacuum), and baby girl Merrill was born at 6:46pm! Joanna was eight pounds, eight ounces (much bigger than my midwife had predicted–when I had seen her earlier that week, her guess was no bigger than six pounds!). It’s hard to describe the feeling, but I was just overwhelmed and exhausted and so happy to hear a baby cry and hear the midwife proclaim that everything looked healthy.
In addition to my excellent epidural, one of the things I was super grateful for: my nurse and midwife worked in 7am-7pm shifts (and they were both incredible!), so I basically got to have the same team with me the entire day. And the baby was born just in time before they were off! My doula also had another family who came in around the same time as me, and was more dilated than I was–so it was an ongoing joke (but actually really motivating to me) that I wanted to have my baby before them. And it worked! Champions champ, aka I did have my baby first.
The end! We are now a very happy and complete family of five (pugs included), and I am very pleased to hopefully never go through childbirth again. Although it is true what they say: you forget! I can somewhat think back and remember how intense it was but I also really can’t conjure it up. I’m just so happy that we had a healthy baby without any complications. And now onto the fun stuff: keeping this baby happy and healthy for the next 18 (and beyond) years!
