Take only your maternity panties, not your nice prepreggers panties. After a vaginal delivery, you WILL have a discharge that lasts and lasts (don’t know about C section). Your maternity panties will fit you, and you probably won’t care as much if they get stained. Similarly, either use the hospital gowns or your own sloppy gowns…they’re gonna get leaked on. And you WILL want lots of pads. Check to see if and what kind the hospital provides.
I haven’t seen any mention of medications…I’ve been taking various prescription medications since I was 15 or 16. Your doc should know about any medications you take. Take a list of meds to the hospital. Your doc might want you to continue to take prenatal vitamins, especially if you’re nursing.
You will also have discharge with a c-section.
Take old, big, unloved underwear.
We have pictures of me staring dubiously at the hospital tray, just before I sent Mr. Lissar out to get me a sandwich. Lots of food. And a person who can be with you to run errands and fetch you snacks and walk the baby a bit so you get a few minutes’ sleep.
I was at a freestanding birth center, too, so I didn’t have to have supplies for days after delivery. But, for what it’s worth, here are the things I used in both labors:
Juice boxes - you’re using tons of calories and have fluids literally gushing out of you, so these are a Godsend.
A CD player with my Music for Zen Meditation and ocean waves CDs
A couple roomy Hanes men’s t-shirts - comfortable, and I didn’t worry about getting blood and stuff on them.
Roomy, don’t-care-if-it’s-stained underwear. They may give you stretchy mesh drawers, but they aren’t comfortable at all.
Diapers and an extra baby hat. The ones they provided my kids got blood and goo on them, so spares were useful.
Oh, and warm, cozy clothes. I was FREEZING all the time after Claire was born.
And some things I didn’t use, but I think might be useful:
Swim trunks for dad, if there’s any chance you’ll be laboring in the tub or shower and need support.
Exercise ball, if the hospital doesn’t provide them.
Given that I/we are childless by choice, I just have to say…Leakage, and Sitz Baths, and Altoids[sup]®[/sup]! Oh my!
Lissla, when I read your suggestion to bring one-handed food, my thought process went something like this:
[ul]
[li]one-handed? why is that?[/li][li]does she had IVs in one arm so it’s hard to bend?[/li][li]maybe she needs to lie on one side because of hurties?[/li][li]:smack: a nursing baby![/li][/ul]
I’ll send this link to my friend, and I can happily offer her my services as Gofer This and Lugger of Stuff when they come home. So, thank you all for your responses!
Also, I am embarrassed that I did not mention all the other Doper parents-to-be in my OP. Apparently I was preoccupied with the fact that my friend’s second pregnancy has not been uneventful, and that she and the Players have something in common.
Congrats to all the parents-to-be. May you all safely deliver your child(ren) armed with the mother of all maternity bags!
That reminds me! Even though I overprepared, taking all the recommended classes and reading obsessively, why did no one warn me about the postpartum sweating?
Your body holds on to lots of extra fluids while pregnant. Some laboring women have additional fluids pumped into them while laboring for various reasons. It’s all got to come out after the baby does. It’s not uncommon to wake to find yourself completely drenched by night sweats the first few days postpartum.
I hate the feeling of clingy synthetic nightclothes drenched in sweat. Cotton, and a change of clothes for when the cotton is soaked, was much more comfortable.
Some hospitals are particular about postpartum women not wearing pants. I know my SIL was required to wear gowns only.
A pack of adult diapers i.e. Depends. Someone suggested these to me as an alternative to granny panties and post-partum pads, and they were bliss. Wonderful for once my waters had broken, and really comfortable for a week post-partum. No uncomfortable pads bunching up, no worry about leaking or ruining my underwear, just tear them off and toss them. All the midwives on my ward thought they were a fabulous idea and told all the other new mothers about them. They’re not exactly glamorous but they were so comfortable and totally worth it.
