In My Hospital Bag

I know that I had Delilah five months ago so shame on me for just now posting this. I had planned to post this soon after bringing her home from the hospital, but when she was in the NICU for a week things just didn’t go as planned. The last thing I felt like thinking or writing about was the darn hospital. Now I feel like I can finally get past that and share what I was thinking during the crazy nesting period leading up to her delivery. Like a typical mom I had everyone in mind when getting my things ready. Those days leading up to delivery are some of the longest days – especially if you don’t have a planned delivery. You just never know when the baby might decide it is time. With two other kids at home I wanted to make sure that they didn’t feel left out when they came to visit. I wanted them to know that they were just as special even though most of the visitors would be there to see our new bundle of joy. I felt like we were moving into the hospital this time. I knew from my experience with the boys that sitting in the hospital room can be boring if you are not a big fan of television. I also knew that my feet were always freezing, my hair doesn’t do well with hospital shampoo and condioner 2-in-1, and we would need our camera for lots of pictures of our new little girl. Here is what I packed for myself –

• warm socks
• shampoo and conditioner (travel sizes)
• hair ties
• deoderant
• lotion
• chapstick
• camera and charger
• phone and phone charger
• robe
• comfortable clothes and pajamas
• Q-tips and floss
• toothbrush
• flip flops for the shower
• magazines/book

For the baby I packed:

• the car seat
• bring home outfit
• headband for pictures
• hat to keep her warm
• cute blanket

I learned that the hospital has everything you need while you are there unless you want to dress your baby in something special. Since Delilah was in the NICU I let her wear the little onesies and hats that the hospital provides so that if they had to change her while I was away things wouldn’t get lost. For my husband I packed a mini dad survival box. It included-

• Snacks (trail mix, sour patch kids and beef jerky)
• A magazine
• Daddy’s Princess onesie with a matching headband
• Daddy’s Doody Diaper Kit (to get a laugh out of him)
• travel size toiletries for him to use

When we had our oldest, Wyatt, my husband had the honor of changing his first dirty diaper in the hospital. It was quite the comedy show to say the least. Here he was – he had never changed a diaper before and this was his first time. Wyatt had his first poop and I was in the hospital bed while my mom was helping him change the diaper. As they went to change it Wyatt started peeing so they covered him back up. Once he was done they put the new diaper on and before they could get it closed he pooped again. Once they took THAT ONE off to put the second diaper on he started peeing all over. We were all laughing so hard, and it is a memory we still laugh about. For my two boys (the big brothers) I packed things to keep them busy while they visited-

• coloring books
• crayons
• hot wheel cars
• stickers
• a big brother book
• a onesie for them to give Delilah that said ‘Little Sister’

A week or so before Delilah was born my husband and I took the boys to Target and let them each pick something out to give Delilah. They picked out the funniest things. We were trying to get them to pick onesies or pajamas but Wyatt picked out pink flower slippers and Mason picked out socks. In the end the boys didn’t get their boxes at the hospital because they were not aloud in the NICU, but we gave it to them the day we brought Delilah home from the hospital and the items kept them busy while we tried to get some rest. I remember all of us sitting on the living room floor while the boys opened their boxes and gave Delilah her gifts. Mike and I looked at each other taking in the moment we had there with all of our babies together for the first time. I think that moment will stick in my memory forever. A happy moment, one that I had envisioned from the day I found out I was pregnant for the third time. In the weeks leading up to my delivery I had really stressed over making sure that Wyatt and Mason never felt left out and in that moment I knew they were fine. Enjoy,
I party HERE