So, I was going to post this prior to giving birth… But then I thought it would be MUCH more useful to post about the things I brought to the hospital and actually used/needed, so here we are! After lots of research and planning, I created the ultimate hospital bag packing list for myself, baby and Brian so that all three of us could be comfortable during our stay and prepared for the car ride home. And I’ll be honest… I used about 5% of what we brought!

Now, I knew this would happen… Every single mom out there will tell you, “you literally just need to bring the car seat,” but I like to be prepared and I can be a classic over-packer. And even though we didn’t use the majority of the things that we brought in our hospital bag, I can say with confidence that I’m very glad we brought all of it with us. Especially as a first time mom, you just never know what you’re going to want or need during labor. SO, on this packing list I will share everything we packed, but I will put a * by all of the items we actually used. Every single mamma is different, and your needs during labor are so personal, but I think I covered almost every base with this list (even if you’re having an at-home or birth center delivery).

But first, some quick “to do’s” before heading to the hospital…

I mean, would it really be a packing list from me if it didn’t include a short to-do check list?! Here are a few things we did leading up to the birth and prior to leaving for labor/delivery (I also wrote more about this in my third trimester blog post):

• Time contractions (our doctor had us call her when they were consistently 5 minutes apart for 2 hours)
• Shower
• Nap, if able
• Hydrate 
• Eat small/healthy/easy to digest snacks (protein shake, apple, chia seed pudding, electrolyte drops, peanut butter, energy balls, protein bars, oatmeal)
• Charge phones
• Make sure house is clean for coming home

Things For Mom

• Drivers license & Insurance card (you would think you would need these, but no one ever ask for them, haha! I would still recommend bringing, though!)
• Birth plan (3 copies)*
• Copy of will
• Phone*
• Nursing bras/tanks* (I delivered in this one and loved it)
• Headband/hair ties*
• Grippy socks
• Compression socks
• Heating pad 
• Chapstick*
• Lotion*
• Dry shampoo
• Toothpaste/toothbrush*
• Hair brush*
• Towel (TMI, but I didn’t feel like getting blood or anything on the one I brought, so I just used the ones from the hospital. Not the best towels in the world, but they get the job done and it’s less laundry for you to bring home.)
• Shampoo/conditioner*
• Soap/face wash*
• Loofa* (highly recommend bringing one with a dry brush attached to scrub off all of the sticky tape from IVs and epidural)
• After birth snacks*
• Suckers for during labor
• Massage oil
• Essential oils
• Robe (I was WAY to tired to even think about looking cute for pictures in a cute robe. I honestly don’t know how people get those cute “in the hospital newborn pics.” I was in a nursing bra, hospital gown and mesh undies the entire time, haha.)
• Make up (see above ^)
• Deodorant
• Travel jewelry case*
• Sweatpants*
• Support bloomers
• Going home outfit*
• Reusable water bottle (because of COVID, we couldn’t leave our room to refill waters all the time, so we just asked for water/juice from our nurses)
• Extra Long phone charger*
• Portable fan (I forgot we packed this, but wish I used it during L&D)
• Headphones
• Nerve desensitization kit (for possible c-section)
• Extra bag for hospital items that are given to us*

Things For Baby

• Baby Book to add foot/hand prints to (we brought this, but the nurse we had was actually kind rude about helping us do it, so we just bought inkless pads to do it at home)
• Onesies (he was given a shirt, swaddle and hat after birth which he stayed in until we went home)
• Blanket/hat for pictures (we just took a photo with the blanket and hat they gave you in the hospital)
• Burp clothes
• Going home outfit* 
• Socks*
• Car seat*
• Car seat cover/blanket*
• Travel sound machine
• Nail file/clippers

Things For Dad

• Phone*
• Headphones*
• Reusable water bottle
• Zip up sweatshirt*
• Birth deck* (highly recommend!… Review the deck prior to labor so you can practice technics and see what you like/don’t like)
• Conversation cards* (also would highly recommend for getting your mind off of things during a long labor)
• Glasses*
• Contacts/contact solution*
• Snacks/Gatorade*
• PJs*
• Bathing suit (we had a large jetted tub in our L&D room, so we thought Brian might want to get in with me)
• Socks/underwear*
• Change of clothes*
• Toothbrush/toothpaste*
• Camera/Camera Charger (we just ended up using our phones)
• Tripod
• Going home outfit*