Hospital Bag: What I Brought to the Hospital

A few of my friends are expecting this year. Most of them are also first-time moms and I can't help but remember my pregnancy journey as well. It is indeed true that when your baby grows and becomes a toddler when he or she is already very energetic, he wants to get away from you and just crawls and walks all around the house, we get to miss those times when the baby just lies there in bed and won't even know how to roll over. It is not true that the hardest of having a child is their first few weeks, indeed, when they grow bigger and get too active, it's the hardest.

I had a chat with a friend who's due in November. As early as now, she was already thinking of her hospital bag. That's good though but since she doesn't know the gender yet, I advised her to wait first and start buying instead after the gender reveal.

Because of that, I am blogging about how I prepared my hospital bag as well as the things that I placed inside the bag, both my baby's and the parents.

Hospital Bag

The name itself is self-explanatory. This is a bag that we bring to the hospital on the day of admission for the greatest day of our lives. Unlike being a patient where no one expects to prepare a hospital bag, giving birth is different. It is a planned event and for several weeks, a mother has to get things ready for both the baby and the mommy, let's also include the daddy of course.

Preparing the hospital bag is necessary should there be unforeseen events, you can immediately just bring pick up the bag without worrying if you left something at home.

Pandemic Pressure

Since I was pregnant during the pandemic and in the middle of the community quarantine in Cebu and the entire country, the malls were closed, the online shops have slowed down their delivery services and I was caught with no option but to wait for an announcement from the government.

I badly want to get an ultrasound at an earlier time but I can't. At week 26, I wanted to know my baby's gender because I want to prepare my hospital bag already. I have been watching several videos on hospital bag preparation and I know I must get mine ready soon too because we'll never really know when the baby's going to come out.

But it was only on the 33rd week that we went to Dr. B-B TIU Medical and Ultrasound Clinic for a 4D ultrasound and gender check.

As soon as I learned that I am expecting a boy, I researched where I could buy all the things needed for my baby. And as a first-time mom, it was somehow confusing what to get, I was also limited to buying these things over the phone since the malls were closed. Also, online shopping is not a guarantee that the items would arrive in less than a month. Most online shopping sites made a note that deliveries were all delayed due to the pandemic.

Baby Company to the Rescue

A piece of great news came when after weeks of being closed in malls, the Baby Company posted on SM's social media page that they have reopened the branches but no personal visit yet but only through call and messenger communication can be done. Also, the bought items can only be delivered.

This was a challenge but we pursued and went on ordering baby items from this company instead over the phone and they contacted me as well via Facebook messenger for items that I need to choose designs or sizes, etc.

Overall, I spent a huge amount on all the things I ordered and when the items arrived, I realized that I was ordering too much. Some items were not even used by Matti! Newborns grow fast and the items were bring outgrown instantly.

Watch my unpacking video here:

Preparation of Hospital Bag

Online, there are so many resources to find on what items should a mother bring at the hospital. Some websites list so many things while there are also others that lists only the necessary items.

But what helped me were those videos from YouTube creators who made content about what they brought and what is used at the hospital.

Baby's Bag

Of course, I packed Matti's stuff first before mine and James'. I used zip locks to organize things inside his bag. The bag by the way was a gift from my small group during their surprise virtual baby shower.

There were six sets of clothes, all in white, in each zip lock, there's a pajama, short, long sleeve, booties, and bonnets. There were also swaddling clothes in each pack.

A special pack included all the items plus a receiving blanket. I also put in there a swaddle. Then there's also a going-home outfit pack. Aside from the ziplock with the outfits, there were also other items like alcohol, cotton balls, cotton buds, and other toiletries for Matti but they were not used actually. The nurses cleaned up and bathe Matti at the hospital and they used their soap and shampoo.

Mom's Bag

As for my bag, I prepared all the papers needed like birth certificates, marriage contracts, medical records, my Swab test result, identification cards.

A simple nightgown too which will be used after labor when I will be roomed in, there were toiletries, maternity pads, adult diapers, snacks, and drinks.

Papa's Things

I also prepared James' items which were placed on the same bag as my stuff. All I brought for him were his clothes and that's it. Somehow, we had already looked forward that we won't be staying in the hospital for two days so our things were only good for two days and I had prepared another reserve set.

James brought a camera but he wasn't able to use it. In fact, it was just sitting in his bag the whole time even when Matti was already roomed in with us, he didn't use the camera to take videos or photos, I was not also concerned about it but thinking of it right now, I wished he took it out and filmed Matti's first day on earth.

Conclusion

Packing up a hospital bag can sometimes be overwhelming. Some mothers tend to go overboard and pack too much. Unless the pregnancy is not complicated, there shouldn't be a problem with just packing the necessities.

xoxo,

mommy jean of momentswithmatti

Love harder than any pain you've ever felt.