Hospital Essentials: What to Pack

So, as many of you know, I’m expecting baby #4 this fall.  My actual due date isn’t until October 30th, but due to my recent cardiac health issues, we will actually be meeting baby at 33 weeks!

While there’s a certain element of excitement that goes along with the idea of meeting this sweet babe sooner than we thought, the reality of it also hit me full force that we have a lot less time to get everything in order – including packing up our hospital bags.

Trying to figure out what to pack for a hospital stay can be overwhelming! I remember with my first baby, it seems like we took everything but the kitchen sink, and I’m pretty sure we had our bags packed about 4 months before she was due.  With baby number two, we didn’t pack enough!  I remember frantically tossing items into an overnight bag in the middle of the night between contractions. And finally, with our third, it had been so long since I’d had to pack a hospital bag (there are nearly four years between our second and third kiddos), that I really had to stop and think again about what I should take.  Luckily – with this being baby number four, I *think* I finally have it figured out.

The first step for me is always to find the perfect diaper bag, that is both stylish and functional.  Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of brands, and this time around, I knew I wanted an Original Fawn Design bag.  Having everything well-organized is huge for me when I head off to the hospital, and I knew this bag would be able to hold everything baby needs.  The optional back-pack style straps also mean it’s easy to carry, and the soft grey colour I chose is something even Jeff won’t mind carrying. [#sponsored]

Once you have your actual bag selected, it’s so much easier to start deciding what to pack.  The other challenge for me is that because we never find out the gender ahead of time, I often end up having to pack two of everything – blankets, onesies, etc, so having enough space for these extra baby items is a must for me.  Overall, I am loving my Fawn Design bag for baby number four!

As for the rest of my hospital essentials list, most of the items are actually for mama, as I haven’t found that baby actually needs a whole lot in those first few days, outside of what you would put in a well-stocked diaper bag,  While some of the items I mention may seem frivolous, in my experience, these are are definitely the items that made my time in the hospital the most comfortable.

 

And for those of you who prefer specifics, a few of my go-to brands that I’ll be taking with me include a hospital robe from PinkBlush and a couple of  rompers from Smash + Tess.  I plan to labor in the robe, and recover in the rompers.   For baby, I’ll definitely be packing our swaddles from TheOllieWorld and Mebie Baby, as well as our L’oved Baby organic onesies gifted to us from one of my favourite shops, Leo+Cullie [#sponsored].

So there you have it – my hospital essentials checklist!  I hope you find this helpful as you prepare for your hospital stay with your little one.   I would love to hear what your hospital essentials are, or if I’m missing anything crucial from my list!