What To Pack In Your Hospital Bag.

I’m one of those people who YouTubed what to pack for my hospital stay. I completely overpacked, to say the least. I was there for three nights and four days which is longer than I had anticipated, but I know some women stay for shorter/longer times. Hopefully this list will help anyone out there wondering what to pack!

What To Pack:

1. Chargers. Don’t forget to bring chargers for all your electronics! I’d like to add that you should make sure it’s a long charger in case the outlet is far away. Also make sure to bring multiple chargers just in case you need to charge multiple electronics at a time.
2. Hair Accessories. I’m talking about a hair brush, hair elastics, and/or bobby pins. I personally wore my hair up in a (very) messy bun the entire time I was at the hospital because I definitely did not want to deal with my hair while I was in labor. I only needed one hair elastic and my hair brush.
3. Baby’s Going Home Outfit. You don’t need to pick an extravagant outfit, unless you absolutely want to. You’re literally going from the hospital straight to your house (assuming, since I can’t imagine going anywhere else). I put my son in a footie onesie and a beanie. Obviously if the weather is warmer, dress him accordingly.
4. Deodorant. Giiiiirl, after everything you go through you will be smelly let me tell you. Or maybe it was just me, haha. But seriously, bring deodorant. I was so embarrassed when the nurses were all up in my business teaching me how to breastfeed and all I could smell was my nasty a$$ body odor, lol…ew. Not cute.
5. Slippers/Slides. I wore my slides during my hospital stay. Convenient for when you need to get up and use the restroom and don’t want to be bare foot. I’m not someone who likes wearing socks when I sleep because it bugs me so this was good choice for me.
6. Clothes. I’ll mention this down below, but you only need to pack an outfit for when you leave. I wore the hospital gown the entire time I was there except for the day I knew I was leaving. I know I probably could have worn regular clothes after I had given birth but I liked the convenience of the gown for breast feeding. I also felt really gross because of all the vaginal bleeding and I had leaked twice so that would have sucked if I was wearing my regular clothes during that time. If you want to be cautious, pack double of everything in case you have a longer stay after you give birth or if you live further away from the hospital and you don’t have anyone who can go back to your house to get you more clothes.
7. Razors. Well, you only need to bring one. This is completely optional and depends on the person but I couldn’t wait to shave my armpits while I was there. I actually didn’t shower until the day I was leaving since I had been in labor Sunday and didn’t have my son until Monday and things were still so hectic Monday night so I showered Tuesday morning. I absolutely hate the feeling of being hairy so this made me feel clean and was a necessity to me.
8. Nursing Bra. I packed a couple of them and honestly didn’t use them at all BUT if you do have a longer stay than I did or want to wear one on your last day for convenience then I suggest packing at least one. For the ultimate convenience, don’t wear a bra at all!
9. Pillows. This is mainly for your partner or whoever stays with you overnight. I had my boyfriend bring a pillow since I knew that the hospital pillows weren’t the absolute best. Feel free to bring a blanket too but I knew my hospitals blankets would work just fine for him.
10. Snacks. When I had read that I should pack snacks for my partner because they’d be stuck in the hospital with me I thought that would be a great idea. You know who ended up eating all of those snacks? Me. I ate them. So yes, pack snacks! But for yourself, haha. Hospital snacks suck when you’re a diabetic. Hospital food sucks in general but when you have diabetes, you’re only allowed low carb meals so you don’t get to eat what all the other women get to eat.
11. Lotion. My lotion and my face wash were necessary for me because I had worn makeup the day I went to the hospital and I knew I didn’t want to wear makeup the entire time I was there. I had slept in my makeup the first night I was there and I couldn’t wait to wash it off the next day.
12. Plastic Bag. Or whatever you want to use as a designated dirty clothes bag. Whenever I travel I always like to bring a bag to put my dirty clothes in so they don’t touch my clean clothes. I just like using a bag I’ve saved from the grocery store or wherever.

What You Don’t Need to Pack:

1. Underwear. The hospital provides these mesh underwear and I know they don’t sound cute but cute doesn’t matter at this point. You aren’t going to want to ruin underwear so stick to the mesh underwear, even when you go home if you get to take some extra with you.
2. Pads. I packed a couple of pads with me. Also unnecessary since the hospital provides them.
3. Outfits For You. I brought three pairs each of sweats, shirts, socks, and underwear. I didn’t know I’d be in the hospital for three nights but I packed that much because I wasn’t sure what to expect. You seriously don’t need to pack any clothes besides the ones you plan to wear when you leave the hospital. TIP: You will look about 6 months pregnant after giving birth so wear loose comfy sweats and a loose shirt. I also wouldn’t wear regular shoes going home in case your feet are swollen, so stick with the slippers/slides or anything you find comfy for your feet.
4. Toiletries. Well, check with your hospital first but because I had stayed at the hospital earlier this year, I knew they had complimentary toiletries. Toothbrush, toothpaste, body wash, Chapstick, and shampoo/conditioner were all given to me in a bag. When you think about it, some people stay there for long periods of times so most likely your hospital will have all of these things available for you.
5. Makeup. This is a personal preference, but I packed makeup thinking I would want to wear it the day I left the hospital. Yeah, no thanks. I did not care about that at all, I just wanted to get the heck out of there!
6. Robe. I packed a robe because I thought I’d be using it in case visitors came and I wanted to cover up. This was unnecessary for me because I just wore the gown and mostly stayed in bed anytime someone visited me.
7. Boppy Pillow. I heard that this would be useful but I didn’t use mine at all. I just used the pillows at the hospital to help when breastfeeding.

*For anyone staying the night with you, make sure they pack: a change of clothes (I’d say double of everything), their own toiletries if they don’t want to use the hospitals but honestly it’s one less thing to pack so I’d take advantage of it, snacks because they will get hungry eventually- my boyfriend would leave and get his own food at places close by or go to the hospital cafeteria so he didn’t need many snacks, their chargers, electronics and ear phones for when you’re resting and don’t need to be bothered by whatever they’re doing on their phone/iPad/video game, and whatever makes them comfy to sleep aka pillows/blankets.

I hope this list helps! I barely used anything I packed and most of the items were so unnecessary! Packing is exciting because it makes everything seem more real. I didn’t pack until about 3 weeks before my due date. Some of the items I was still using, like certain clothes and stuff, but pack whenever you feel like you want to! It’s always a good idea to just have a bag packed and ready to go in case you go into labor early.