Hospital Bag Must-Haves

Now that I’ve had two babies and it’s fresh in my mind, I just wanted to jot down my list of hospital bag must-haves! I had consulted lists for this before both deliveries, but I had totally forgotten certain things/ ignored things on lists that would have been helpful!

The Bag:

There is no space for a rolling suitcase, I think a duffle/ weekender type bag works much better. I had mine packed with several different small bags (I used the thick plastic zipper bags that sheets come in but gallon/2gallon ziplocks would work) for things I would need at different times. 

The small bags:

Labor & Delivery- sweater, slippers, socks, printed photo of Maya at birth (this helped me keep my eye on the prize during labor and was also adorable to compare likeness), focal point item (something to look at during contractions, I had a special necklace made for me at Maya’s baby shower), phone charger (you will need this the whole time but it’s in this bag so you have it first). 

Recovery- dark colored nursing nightgown & robe (you feel so much better in your own clothes!)

Toiletries- minimal makeup, toothbrush & toothpaste, lotion, Chapstick (this could have been in the labor bag too), shampoo/conditioner/ body wash, deodorant, q-tips, hair ties, hair brush, non prescription meds (I take vitamins & probiotics, any perscription/pain meds must be supplied by hospital).

Baby bag- Going home jammies (we brought 2 just in case), hat, tiny nail file (we didn’t need it but some babies come out with really long nails).

Daddy bag- toothbrush, t-shirt, comfy pants, underwear, deodorant.

Going home bag- Loose pants, granny panties, shirt that fit mid-pregnancy.

Other items:

• Small notebook & pen (Pediatrician, nurse & OB will likely tell you things you need to jot down. We also used this to track contraction times.)
• Chocolate or a special treat for recovery
• Tissues (I had a cold but you will cry at some point and TP won’t cut it!)
• Soft bath towel (I didn’t bring this and regret it, hospital towels are tiny and so rough on nursing nipples!)
• Boppy pillow or similar
• Nursing Cups (these were a must for me during the first few weeks of nursing Maya and I’m so glad I have them this time from Day 1)
• Ear plugs & eye mask (if you are a light sleeper)
• Camera (I was going to leave this at home because we usually use our phones but I’m glad we brought it)
• Baby book (I forgot it this time! You will have more down time now to fill it in than when you get home)

Things the hospital supplies:

• Snacks- ours had a whole “nourishment” room this time! 
• Everything baby needs during hospital stay
• Disposable underwear, pads, Tucks pads, numbing spray. 
• Lanolin (nipple cream)

Ok! That’s all I can think of right now.

Big Sis

One of the main questions that we get regarding Maya and my pregnancy is “Does she understand what’s happening?”. Yes, she totally gets it. She is super excited and we talk about Baby Brother’s impending arrival all the time.

She has been very involved in the whole pregnancy and preparation. She loves hugging and kissing my belly and asking when he is coming out. We have kept a calendar since week 20 where we cross off the days with June 1st circled. She has been obsessed with putting stickers on my belly and I recently let her paint it, haha!

We are lucky to live just a few blocks from one of the local libraries and we have definitely taken advantage of all the Big Sister books they have to offer. Some of our favorites:

 Hello In There!: A Big Sister’s Book of Waiting

We love this one, Maya requests it all the time. The Mama’s belly grows and there are flaps that show the growing baby.

You’re Getting a Baby Brother!

Favorite line: “You better watch out or he’ll pee in your eye!”.

Waiting for Baby

This book leaves an open narrative so that we can discuss all kinds of things regarding preparing for baby’s arrival. There are a few others in this series for after the baby is born.

 Little Miss, Big Sis

We had always said “big sister”, but Maya loves being called “big sis”!

One Special Day (A Story for Big Brothers and Sisters)

Maya’s dance teacher recommended this one. It starts out with the character being strong, fast, silly, etc. (Maya loves to act these things out) and then ends with him being gentle once his little sibling comes home.

Another thing that has helped her understand is that a few of our friends have already welcomed their second babies! Maya is so sweet and gentle and loves getting to see them and even hold them! Here she is when she met baby Nick, little brother of her friend Cate.

 

6 Month Faves

I posted about some favorite baby items when Maya was about 2 months old. I thought I would do another post since she is older and our climate has changed so much!

Baby Gear
High chair– Maya’s Great-Grandparents here in Portland bought her a wonderful high chair last month when she started solids. I love how the height adjusts and how comfy it is for her. And it is super pretty!

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Jeep Rain Cover – I don’t purposely go walking in the rain, but there are often times when we need to make a dash from the car and it is raining. The rain cover that was made for my stroller is $40. This one is universal and only cost $13. It comes with a storage bag that is way too small, so I just fold it up and put it under the stroller or in the trunk.

Walker– I know walkers are kind of controversial these days, but I think with correct supervision they are just fine. Maya loves standing. She has since she was like 2 months old. We put the walker in rooms where she can’t go anywhere else (it is impossible to go over carpet or up stairs). She loves having toys piled up on the tray. For us this works better than an exersaucer since it is a bit more compact and you can easily pick it up and move it to another room. We aren’t using this to teach her how to walk, but she loves putting weight on her feet and scooting backwards.

Crib Entertainment- I wasn’t sure how I felt about having entertainment in the crib when Maya was first born. We don’t have a TV in our room and I like to think of the bed as a relaxing sleeping place. But there are times when you just need to put the baby down in a safe place and there is no safer place than the crib. Maya has two projectors, one for at Grandma & Grandpa’s and one for home (currently storage due to our living situation!). I love this Fisher Price one (thanks McCall’s!), it has the best music of any baby product I have heard so far! Our other Soundspa (thanks Nana & Papa!) is super useful because the projector tilts so you can project onto a wall or the ceiling and it comes with a few different disks so you can change the “movie”.

Nose Frida– It’s a little bit weird, but it works so much better than a bulb syringe. You basically suck out the boogers… But there is a filter!

Toys
Teething Jewelry- I have a teething necklace that was a gift (thanks Nicole!) as well as a bracelet and Maya absolutely loves these. They are meant for me to wear so that I have an emergency toy when we are out. But I rarely wear them since they are always covered in drool!

Sophie the Giraffe– The boutique teething toy really does work wonders. I received 2 of these as gifts (thanks Mary Kate and Hilary!) and they seem to be a baby shower staple these days. I love the funny rubber sucking noises that it makes when Maya is gumming on it!

Keys– A classic. Maya is totally into these right now. They are made of hard plastic unlike the silicone teethers mentioned above, so they are better for playing at home or in the car… Not so much in restaurants or on the plane since they are so loud when tossed. Her daddy dressed her in the below photo 🙂

Mirrors- At our old house the only mirror we had was the medicine cabinet one in the bathroom since my vanity went to storage and the full length one on the door was removed to create a Dutch door. My parents have mirrored closet doors which are so entertaining for Maya. She squeals and flaps her arms and legs when we bring her in there!

Clothes
Cozy suits- Between her Winnie the Pooh Sherpa, knitted suit and fleece suit Maya has cold weather covered… at least until she grows to 9m size! These are great for stroller rides and prolonged periods outdoors when a coat just isn’t cozy enough.

Long-sleeved sleep sack– So many of Maya’s pajamas are cotton and just too thin for cold winter nights. These fleece sleep sacks are great since you can’t give a baby a cozy duvet like we have!

REI Socks– Maya has 2 pairs of these (thanks Kalbergs!) and they are the best thick, cozy, stay-on socks! They also hold up to being sucked on and drenched in drool! She was not wearing REI socks on this day:

Diaper rash cured!

We have been dealing with a pretty bad diaper rash since we started solids. I decided to take a short break from feeding solids so that it would clear up. I had used Bordeaux’s Butt Paste and a cornstarch mixture, they appeared to be slowly working. I read in my baby care book to use an oil based cream to create a barrier between her skin and the diaper.

So thank you to my cousin Daniel who gifted us this Burt’s Bees Multi-Purpose Ointment! I can’t believe how fast it worked! Every butt is different, but this sure worked for us! I think now we will slow down with the solids, just feed her every 2-3 days until her system gets used to it.

Figuring it out

I got Maya a suction cup toy for her seat. She is really into it!

Playtime

I added a few more toys to Maya’s activity gym… way more fun now that they are within reach!

Maya is our favorite accessory to wear!

I got a new baby wrap earlier this week for cheap! I think a good sign of a baby carrier is when your baby falls asleep in 2 minutes or less… Check!
This one is pretty comfortable and super light weight. I got it at the Children’s Orchard in Torrance which is a consignment store. But I guess someone makes these wraps and sells them to the store so it is brand new. I am going to find a bag for it and keep it in the bottom of the stroller for those times when Maya wants to be held but I still need my hands. I think I will use this wrap when we fly to Portland next month.

We got a similar Moby wrap last month but the fabric is so thick that both the wearer and Maya get really hot. I still wear it around the house, but if will need to wait until it gets cooler to wear it outside.

Maya is not too into our Mei Tei carrier right now because she is between sizes. When she was itty bitty she fit in it with her legs curled up, now she needs to have her legs out in a sitting position and she is not quite big enough for that so we are taking a break from it for now. It’s really comfortable for me so I hope we can go back to it. In the photo with Billy she was only 10 days old, you can hardly even tell there is a baby in there!

We were also just given a hand-me-down Ergo Baby carrier from Shawna whom I work with. It is a primo baby carrier and very comfortable. We were going to use it for Stroll & Savor but we realized Maya’s legs would be exposed and it was pretty bright out. We used a wrap instead because you can pull the fabric over her legs. So we will save the ergo for nighttime or when she has pants on. But how cute does Billy look with it?! It is much more manly compared to the others we have!

It’s nice to have options! It’s also nice to have Billy carry her since when I do she seems to smell milk and get hungrier quickly. It’s also nice to give him a taste of what pregnancy felt like! Haha!

Month 1-2 Faves

I always love hearing about baby items that others have had success with so I wanted to make a list of what we love (and don’t love) so far. I hope this helps out some of my pregnant friends!

STUFF WE LOVE:
Avent Soothie Pacifiers – I don’t know what it is about these but they are the only pacifier’s that Maya will take. We started them a few days after she got home from the hospital and she is addicted. Our breastfeeding instructor had suggested waiting until 5 weeks to start pacifiers but I don’t know how we would have made it through the first month without them!

Muslin Blankets – These are a must during the hot summer months. Our favorites are the Summer Infant ones because they are adorable and the SwaddleDesigns from Target because they are extra big and super soft. We also have muslin sheets and changing pad covers from aden + anais which are nice and breathable plus the cutest prints.

Creepers/ Rompers – These are so much easier than onesies! Maya is pretty good about having her clothes changed, but if I take too long getting something on or off her head she freaks out. Creepers and rompers for the most part have snaps and open up so you just lay it flat and snap baby in. I have a bunch of 3 month ones that I am excited for her to grow into!

Diapers.com – I am so glad we found this website, not that it was hard to find, haha! They have great prices on diapers, etc. and they ship SUPER fast. Most of the time the stuff is here the next day. They have all these other affiliated websites so we have ordered soap, paper towels, cat food, etc. Basically all the stuff that we forget to buy and running out of is a tragedy!

Mittens – This was a month 2 discovery. Maya loves her hands so much but they seem to overstimulate her at times. For the past week I have been using the mitten folds that are on most of her newborn pajamas as well as the little cotton mittens to prevent scratching and she goes to bed a lot faster and sleeps longer. Up until a week ago I thought these were totally pointless, you live you learn!

Netflix – I seriously don’t know how the last generations got through middle of the night feeds without Netflix! I would not be able to stay awake! Billy got me an iPad for my birthday and it has been a permanent fixture next to the rocking chair. My middle of the night favorite right now is 30 Rock. Billy and I also marathoned The Killing (thanks for the recommendation Brittany!) last week during the daytime feeds. When Maya is more awake during feedings I try not to watch anything and I make the most of our special time together, but at 4am… let’s get real!

Carseat Canopy – Everyone has these and they are a pretty obvious item, but I still occasionally see someone attempting to shade their baby with a blanket and it seems like so much work! Plus these are free (with code) and all you pay is shipping.

Burp Cloths and Wash Cloths – Can’t have enough of these. I totally regret returning duplicates of both. I will probably buy more soon because it seems like the main reason I have to do a load of baby laundry is because we run out of burp cloths! Maya does her fair share of spitting up (although not at all today I just realized!). She also gets gunk in one of her eyes due to her tear duct forming (pediatrician says this is normal and it can take up to a year to form completely) so I wash her eyes a few times a day. These are also useful while pumping to clean up drips.

STUFF WE DON’T USE/LIKE:
Toiletries – Maya has been lucky enough to have NO diaper rash so far so every cream, ointment etc. has been sitting here unused! I would recommend just buying one item (like Desitin) for emergencies but not buying more until you know you need it. I am also amazed that the travel size container of baby shampoo from the hospital lasted us about 5 weeks of baths. I received some jumbo size containers of shampoo and lotion from my shower that will probably last us years!

Pants – For a summer baby pants are pretty pointless. The first few weeks I had her in a onesie and pants every day to stay cozy. But now that she isn’t sleeping all the time and the weather has warmed up she is either in a romper or just a onesie.

Boppy – As far as breastfeeding goes, the Boppy is such a pain to use. It is so difficult to get it in the right position while you are holding a hungry baby. I have heard that the My Brest Friend pillow is much better from those that have used both and I may need to invest into this since I hope to keep breastfeeding for a while. I will say that the Boppy seems like it is more versatile and we do sometimes use it for tummy time and to prop her into a sitting position. It now makes sense why the Boppy was a hand-me-down from a friend that never used it!

I hope this helps you out! I will make another list in a couple months!