Pregnancy bags

ncmc

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but I only found out at my antenatal class that you need you and your partners pps number, photo ID and your wedding licence if you're married in order to register the baby. So no harm having all that to hand in advance.

lazygal

There's no rush to register the birth. You can easily leave it a few weeks.

kandr10

Yeah a lady came round when we were in hospital and took our details and my husband just showed the marriage cert when he went to collect her birth cert. i wouldnt bother bringing any of that stuff either.

You ladies are so kind to your partners. I made him pack his own stuff.told him id enough to think about lol :-)

Sarah Bear

Something that I found really great was a sports bottle water to spray cool water while having a wee after the birth!

Merkin

Hey ladies, just packing my hospital bags and you'd swear I was emigrating I'm bringing so much.....a leopard doesn't change it's spots! This thread has been great for tips and I'm wondering what kind of extra goodies or pampering things you found useful in labour? I've packed my TENS machine, have treated myself to Vichy face and body spray which might be nice to cool down with, as well as a little face fan (I believe maternity wards are very hot) and have some strappy light nighties. Am thinking maybe some aromatherapy oils. What else can you recommend? I'd like to bath during labour (the delivery room has a bath and shower), what did you ladies wear for this? I'm big into self indulgence and pampering so is there any little treats that you found comforting or helped on the big day? Thanks in advance

kandr10

Merkin wrote: »

Hey ladies, just packing my hospital bags and you'd swear I was emigrating I'm bringing so much.....a leopard doesn't change it's spots! This thread has been great for tips and I'm wondering what kind of extra goodies or pampering things you found useful in labour? I've packed my TENS machine, have treated myself to Vichy face and body spray which might be nice to cool down with, as well as a little face fan (I believe maternity wards are very hot) and have some strappy light nighties. Am thinking maybe some aromatherapy oils. What else can you recommend? I'd like to bath during labour (the delivery room has a bath and shower), what did you ladies wear for this? I'm big into self indulgence and pampering so is there any little treats that you found comforting or helped on the big day? Thanks in advance

That spray was an absolut godsend for me during labour. Im not sure about putting anything in the bath if youre labouring, i didnt do it myself. However afterwards i had minis from sanctuary spa, just shower gel and lotion and that made showering extra nice :-) a good lip balm would be useful also. I dont lnow why but my lips dried out so much in hospital and they dont usually.

Ps if you suspect youve overpacked you probably have. Take some stuff out and leave it handy for your partner to take in should you need. Not a lot of space in most hospitals and rummaging through bags isnt fun. Best of luck :-)

Merkin

Oh great idea re lips so thanks for that, I have some Eight Hour cream so will bring that for dry lips, thank you! Did you use gas and air? Everyone says that it makes your mouth and lips really dry!

Millem

Merkin wrote: »

Hey ladies, just packing my hospital bags and you'd swear I was emigrating I'm bringing so much.....a leopard doesn't change it's spots! This thread has been great for tips and I'm wondering what kind of extra goodies or pampering things you found useful in labour? I've packed my TENS machine, have treated myself to Vichy face and body spray which might be nice to cool down with, as well as a little face fan (I believe maternity wards are very hot) and have some strappy light nighties. Am thinking maybe some aromatherapy oils. What else can you recommend? I'd like to bath during labour (the delivery room has a bath and shower), what did you ladies wear for this? I'm big into self indulgence and pampering so is there any little treats that you found comforting or helped on the big day? Thanks in advance

I was told you can't put anything in bath after your waters have broken ( only water). I had bath and showers at home do didn't wear anything, I remember thinking about packing a bikini for the hospital, looking back I can only laugh!!!! You actually won't care what you are wearing!!

Merkin

Millem wrote: »

I was told you can't put anything in bath after your waters have broken ( only water)

Thanks for that, one less item for bag then!

Millem

Merkin wrote: »

Thanks for that, one less item for bag then!

The steam from my baths and showers made my hair a bit fuzzy so in hindsight I should have put on a shower hat but honestly the pain was so bad I didn't care!!

Merkin

Shower cap is a great idea thanks, especially if I could be in for a few days.

Suucee

I had a bath in hosp and didnt wear anything. That was the last thing on my mind. Sure they had seen everything at that stage. Was only me and OH in there anyway. .
Deff bring lip balm. My lips were in an awful state first time. But forgot it second time too.
Midwives both times were kind enough to give me some of theirs

Sarah Bear

I was in for two days I didn't bother washing my hair at all or put makeup on. I didn't use a lot of baby clothes either.
I found a changing mat handy and a notepad to write down feeds.. A bit scary to look back and see how many times he was on the boob on night two 😱 nipple cream if your bf!

Suucee

Dont scrimp too much with clothes though. First time i was in 4 days. Was in a day before baba was born due to waters going but no contractions. Anyway i used 2 vests and babygros. And few pjs for me.
With no 2. I packed way less and had get OH bring loads in. I was just over 24 hours in hosp but baba was so mucasy i had to change him and me and his bed and mine (well nurses done that) so many times. Honestly think i uses bout 4 or 5 babygrows in that lenght of time.

lazygal

You can download an app for tracking feeds. Although I never really saw the point, they cluster feed so much in the early days.

effibear

lazygal wrote: »

You can download an app for tracking feeds. Although I never really saw the point, they cluster feed so much in the early days.

Depends on the baby, my fella was very sleepy the first day so the midwives were constantly asking when his last feed/nappy was and how long it was for so having a pen & notebook the first day was very useful.

lazygal

effibear wrote: »

Depends on the baby, my fella was very sleepy the first day so the midwives were constantly asking when his last feed/nappy was and how long it was for so having a pen & notebook the first day was very useful.

I learned my lesson, second time I always said 'he's just finished a feed/had his nappy changed/delete as appropriate' when asked. I had more to be doing than keeping track of how long he spent on each side and how heavy his nappy was. I was in for five days first time though, so I was thoroughly sick of things.

Suucee

With both mine you are left a form and pen to fill in the time he had a feed , for how long if bf and how many ml if bottle , when he had wet/ dirty nappy and if he was sick and if it was spit or proper vomit. Then with no 1 they gave me the form to bring home to continue to fill in for phn. With no 2 they didnt. I wouldnt have bothered anyway. Its funny the differences between 1 and 2.

lazygal

Second time they definitely leave you to it! What a pointless question, logging how long baby spends on each side feeding. Cluster feeding is normal and pressure about timings isn't good for a new mother getting to grips with breastfeeding for the first time.

kandr10

lazygal wrote: »

Second time they definitely leave you to it! What a pointless question, logging how long baby spends on each side feeding. Cluster feeding is normal and pressure about timings isn't good for a new mother getting to grips with breastfeeding for the first time.

To be fair to them though not all babies cluster feed especially if bf gets off to a bad start. I know it's a little anal to keep records but when i had a meltdown about bf not working the midwife was able to show me the chart and reassure me that it would pick up (she could see the pattern emerging when i was too fuzzy headed to notice). I continued making notes on my phone for about a week until i could see what was normal in terms of length of feeds etc. i was so tired i just couldnt see the situation clearly and the written record helped.
Very much a case of to each their own.

Hello Lady!

I still use the app on my phone and my twins are 6 months. Every time I plan on abandoning it something happens which makes me glad I still use it - such as yesterday's visit to temple street. Instead of saying 'she didn't finish she her bottles' or 'shes off her food' I was able to tell them exactly how many ounces she took and at what times. In my experience the more detailed you can be with doctors the more likely they pay attention. With twins its very easy to forget who drank most, who pooed last etc.

Sarah Bear

I found it handy just to keep track of things in hospital it's very hard to remember when you are so exhsusted.

lazygal

I found it more stressful to be expected to keep track of a feeding schedule. As I said, second time around I was left to it more and told them I didn't want to be put under pressure about feeding and weight gain/loss because that caused a lot of problems for me with breastfeeding first time. The nurses are obsessed with weight gain and loss, I don't blame them, as its a marker for health, but not the only one. Second time motherhood is definitely a different ball game though.

Sarah Bear

lazygal wrote: »

I found it more stressful to be expected to keep track of a feeding schedule. As I said, second time around I was left to it more and told them I didn't want to be put under pressure about feeding and weight gain/loss because that caused a lot of problems for me with breastfeeding first time. The nurses are obsessed with weight gain and loss, I don't blame them, as its a marker for health, but not the only one. Second time motherhood is definitely a different ball game though.

I used it as a personal reminder I wasn't expected to show anyone. In the beginning I found it hard to remember which side he had fed from last. I still keep track of his feeding now!

shortstuff!

Just starting to get the final few items for my bag and have a question re nightdress for labour. Midwife said to get one that buttons at the front. Now the only ones I could find in Pennys that buttoned the whole way down had really long sleeve which Im sure would annoy me with the heat etc. Just had a look on Dunnes and they have these ones that button 1/2 way down, would they be low enough for skin to skin? http://www.dunnesstores.com/five-button-nightdress//dunnesstores/fcp-product/1659242?colour=turquoise

Found these ones on amazon that would do the job perfectly just wouldnt be able to try on & not sure what size to order - Im 5ft and use to be 8/10!http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KFE2FC2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1YEYJI3RQDS0T http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IHXPOHG/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1KFXM9PT3VME6

Merkin

M & S have quite a good selection of both strappy maternity and button down nighties at the moment so worth having a look as another option!

xalot

shortstuff! wrote: »

Just had a look on Dunnes and they have these ones that button 1/2 way down, would they be low enough for skin to skin? http://www.dunnesstores.com/five-button-nightdress//dunnesstores/fcp-product/1659242?colour=turquoise

I had the same dunnes one (different colour) and it was perfect for breastfeeding and skin to skin, make sure you get it a size up. I brought pajama shorts too to wear underneath for after so that I wasn't worried about exposing myself everytime I got up off the bed or when the nurses cam around to check my scar etc. .

Chattastrophe!

I got a few in Heatons that were perfect, and very cheap!

Betsie_xr3i

I had them dunnes ones for my last little girl and have them packed again for this pregnancy found them great

Millem

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

I got a few in Heatons that were perfect, and very cheap!

Me too! It was reduced to €3! Actually ended up giving birth in my top which they just pulled up and plonked baby on when he arrived! I remember finding it so hard to get a nightdress that had buttons all the way down. I found that the ones in penneys didn't button down far enough. I bought massive sizes as I wanted it long (to knee length anyway!)
http://www.heatonsstores.com/action/searchsite/Button%20through%20nightdress