Postpartum Hospital Must Haves

Another post for the expecting ladies, so all others please feel free to tune out until next time! Now that our little peanut is over a week old I thought I would post a list of some of the items I felt were must haves while we were staying at the hospital after labor and delivery. I wanted to post this as soon as possible while things are still fresh in my mind in hopes it would help some of you ladies that are getting ready for you own little one's arrival in the near future!

Wet Wipes: Our hospital didn't provide moist wipes ,therefore I was very glad I brought some to "freshen up" every time I made a trip to the restroom. The last thing you want to do is use hard toilet paper when you nether regions have been traumatized for hours on end. Plus, the thought of taking a shower or bath, at least for me, was so traumatizing that I preferred to use these for the first 24 hours until I felt up for getting in to clean off after the initial delivery bath.

Pillow: I would highly recommend bringing your own pillow, and one for the hubs. The hospital pillows are limp and awful and having your own makes you feel a little more like you're at home. Make sure and not use a while pillow case though so they don't get confused with the hospital ones.

Robe: I was so glad that I brought my own lightweight robe from home. The nurse wanted to me to get up and walk around the hospital halls a few times to get my "sea legs" back so I was thankful when I didn't have to wear that awful hospital gown around and have my bare bum exposed to the world.

Water Bottle: At our hospital they only gave us these teeny tiny styrofoam cups that could be gulped down in one sip. I was very thankful to have my camelback, which has been mentioned in a previous post.

Nursing Pillow: I took our Boppy to the hospital and was thankful I did. The nurses and lactation consultants tried using the pillows from the hospital to position Baby C when I was learning how to nurse which just didn't work. Using the Boppy made a world of difference and helped the process along immensely. 

Gatorade: A good friend recommended that we take some gatorade to the hospital for dad, but I was also very thankful to have some on hand postpartum. I got sick of drinking water after 24 hours and felt the electrolytes really helped me feel better. Buy a 12 pack and keep it in the car until you get moved to your postpartum room. 

Mittens: Your little one will have insanely long finger nails right out of the womb, so make sure and bring some for when you take them home! You'll regret not packing them when they claw up their tiny little face on the way home.

Folder: The hospital will send you home with all kinds of paperwork that will need to be taken to your pediatrician and insurance company so it's a great idea to have somewhere to store it all so it doesn't get lost!

Trash Bag: Let's just say that if you're water breaks before or on the way to the hospital, this is a good thing to have....for obvious reasons.

Blanket: Bring a blanket from home. We didn't have an extra bed in our postpartum room so the hubs was so thankful to have a blanket that wasn't paper thin to sleep with while I was recovering.