What’s In My Hospital Bag+Things I Wish I Knew Postpartum

I’m probably jinxing myself by packing my hospital bag this early and Parker will come a week LATE but I’m type A and can’t help it. With Jackson, my hospital bag was more like a hospital suitcase.. I brought all. the. things. Let me tell you how many things I used from that suitcase.. five (maybe). So let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson to go MINIMAL and bring the essentials. Honestly, the hospital provides you with everything you could ever need but it is nice to have some of the comforts of home with you while you heal in the hospital and get ready to bring a new little human home. So here’s what I’ve got:

For me

• Pajamas + Robe
• Nursing tanks + flip flops
• Makeup wipes/toiletries
• My favorite nipple cream
• Nipple shield (Neither of my babies latched properly right away and it made it extremely uncomfortable and nearly impossible to breastfeed them without some sort of “shield.” Once I used this product, they were able to latch and learn to feed. I was able to ditch the shield after about a week).
• Going Home Outfit (my advice: don’t pack tight workout pants to walk out of the hospital. You will basically be wearing a diaper if you deliver vaginally and the last thing you want to do is squeeze your butt in Lululemon leggings. I’ll be wearing oversized but still cute joggers and a cozy half-zip sweatshirt. It will be November, after all. 

For Parker

• Baby blanket + Velcro Swaddle
• Going home outfit + hat
• Nursing pillow
• Car seat cover
• Baby wipes (for some reason, my hospital didn’t have wipes my second time around.. they had everything BUT wipes.. so weird.. so this time I’ll make sure to bring my own so my husband doesn’t have to leave in the middle of the night to buy some!)

Now my tip to all new mamas.. take EVERYTHING from the hospital (within reason lol).. take extra mesh underwear, extra padsicles (yes, those are pads that you can freeze), the spritz bottle, Tuck’s pads, diapers, snot suctions, wipes, etc, etc, etc! I swear I’m not a kleptomaniac and the nurses encouraged me to take things home with me but honestly, I’m glad I did. I got home and was like OMG give me that huge sexy mesh underwear and an ice pack STAT!

Also, some things I wish I knew about postpartum and the days after giving birth:

1. Nursing HURTS and doesn’t come naturally to most. And by hurts, I don’t mean your boobs.. I mean ya, those hurt too but it’s more than that. After your give birth and you’re nursing every couple of hours, your uterus is also contracting back to it’s normal size and it’s literally like having contractions all over again. After I pushed the boys out, I remember asking for another epidural for the pain.. apparently that’s not allowed haha. Also, the nurses are really aggressive and pushy.. I think that’s a universal trait and they come in every 2-3 hours on the DOT and force you to nurse even if baby is asleep. At some point, modesty goes out the window and I just laid in the hospital bed topless because they’d come in and start tugging and pulling at me to get my baby to latch. They’re all up in your business so just let it happen and know that once you get home, you’ll get into your own groove. But don’t be afraid to speak up, either! At one point, I told the nurses I needed a break and didn’t want them grabbing me or my baby and forcing him to eat because he was clearly tired (as was I) and didn’t need the added pressure. It’s hard enough.. let it happen naturally.
2. You’re going to be afraid to stand up and walk around after you push out the bowling ball baby. I was terrified that if I stood up, something that wasn’t supposed to fall out would, well, fall out. And while I was waiting for the epidural to wear off, I was bed ridden and didn’t get up for WAY too long. Eventually, the nurses encouraged me to get up, get moving and try to use the bathroom (GAHHHHH!) and when I did, I had bed sores forming on my back and tiny whiteheads all over. It was nasty.. so even though your body is in shock and you’re afraid something might tear, it won’t. It’s important to get your body gently moving as much as you can. It will actually make you heal faster.
3. You’re going to cry A LOT. And for no damn reason.. well there’s a reason and it’s called hormones but it can hit randomly. My postpartum blues (I’m not going to say it was depression because I was never diagnosed) hit me about 6 days after I got home from the hospital with Jackson and every night at 6 pm, on the dot, I’d start to cry. It didn’t matter if I was holding my baby or not.. if I had a room full of help or not.. I’d sit in the dark and cry. The waves of anxiety hit me like a ton of bricks. In hindsight, I know it was the fear of the unknown of what the night would bring. I was absolutely fine during the day but once the sun would set, I would start to panic. Will my baby be up all night? Will I get any sleep? Will he latch? So many questions.. and the mommy blogs do NOT help so stay OFF THAT SHIT. You’re going to be so tempted to google, to Pinterest, to ask for opinions and guess what.. there is NO answer the first few months. It’s trial and error, it’s sleep deprivation, it’s survival. It’s letting your baby sleep on your husband’s chest at 3 am. It’s letting your baby sleep in a Rock N Play even though everything says they should be on a flat surface. It’s doing what works for the time being and knowing this too shall pass. Here’s what I can say: you need to ask for help even if you think you can do it all. You need to let people bring you food, water and coffee. You need sleep. You need a break. Your world just got ROCKED, it will never be the same, you will ask yourself why in the world you decided to have a baby. But you will sleep again. You will miss this (LOL), you will forget this time and you’ll probably decide to have another kid even though you swore you’d never do it again!

I don’t want to make it sound like I am not forever grateful for these little humans I brought into the world because they are my heart and soul but the first few months (years) are HARD. It’s not newborn bliss 24/7. And what you see on Instagram is a highlight reel.. not real life.

Every new mom (and seasoned mom) struggles. I know I am going to have many sleepless, teary nights. But at least this time, I’m prepared. If I feel my anxiety spiraling, I am going to talk to my doctor and speak up instead of bottling it up like I did the first time.

The last piece of advice I have is you have to get out of the house at least once a day. I’m not going to have a choice with two other kids to take care of but my first time around, I was a little gun shy to leave the house.. again, the fear of the unknown. But even if it’s just a walk to get coffee or an iced tea, you have to do it. Fresh air is good for the soul and being cooped up in the house all day will drive you mad.

Bringing home baby is exciting and terrifying and fleeting. I’ve done it twice before and I still don’t feel prepared because every baby is so different. Jackson: colicky (awful in the most loving way) baby turned smart, funny and cautious toddler. Cammy: easiest, sweetest baby turned Cammy monster toddler (also in the most loving way) 😉 So Lord only knows what we’ll get with Master P but I can’t wait to meet him and find out.

Thanks as always for listening. xx, H