blokes hospital bag

ginga96

Hi, my wife is expecting our 1st child a week on monday and her bag is packed ready to rock and roll, i was wondering if anybody had any tips on what i should take to the hospital that would make the labour any easier for her or at least cheer her up a bit,ive got the 20pence pieces for the phone and the whole nut because she loves it but i'm not sure what else, any help greatly appreciated.

Bennifred

FLOWERS! Be sure to take some flowers in asap - I have never really forgiven my OH for not doing this after the birth of our first baby (18 years ago, lol!) His reasoning was that everyone else would be bringing in flowers, and he might as well wait until those had all gone and then get some!! I was not impressed...... :rolleyes: He remembered after the next two - I wonder why?!
Oh, and tell her how fantastic she is, and what a fantastic job she's done!

crutches

if shes staying in she might appreciate a card telling her how much you love her etc to look at at night when shes missing you.
check out the phonesystem,our hospital has phones by the bed accessed by csards that you top up in a machine.A loaded one of those could be useful.
some 4711 ice roller cooler?
water mister to cool her down?
her favourite magazine?
a notebook and pen?
a photo of the two of you to focus on and your scan photo?
good luck.If you arecaring enough to post the query i think she will have all she needs in you!

mountainofdebt

what about a home made compliation (?spelling) tape of her favourite music?

Smiley_Mum

Just a word of warning, if she is feeding the baby herself then the chocolate/nuts is something I was told to avoid due to it causing wind etc in the baby and they were right...

Flowers for your wife definitely and a nice card.

A little bit of olive oil (to put on the babes bum, it stops the meconium from sticking, otherwise it's going to be like wiping tar off, honest). I know you don't want to hear this but your dd/ds first poo will be somewhere between crude oil and HP sauce, anything that makes it easier to clean will be appreciated. Leaves their bum super soft too without fear of any rashes.

Lots of bottled water, not fizzy as the carbon dioxide will give the baby wind (if she's feeding the baby herself). She will need to drink lots anyway if b/feeding and it will also stop stinging if she gets stitches as it keeps urine dilute.

Some nice shower gel/smellies etc. The only time you have time to yourself is usually the 10 minutes in the shower so having some nice smelly things/soaps to use while there to leave you smelling nice would be appreciated.

Some cheap flip flops to wear in the shower at the hospital, you never know what's lurking in there so don't go in with bare feet.

Pay her loads of attention as well as your little one. Baby blues can kick in, if susceptible around day 3 and also canon ball boobs.

The newspaper for the day of the birth, local one and The Times to keep for the baby box and also the single that's No. 1 for when baby is born too. Hope it's not The Crazy Frog, is that still No. 1. If so, scrap that idea.

Sign up with all the baby clubs, Tesco, Huggies, Pampers etc to get money off vouchers.

Try to limit visitors for first little while, just until you get some kind of routine, if you want to. Would be easier although I can appreciate everyone wants to see baby within the first few days.

Don't worry too much about going in with a lot of stuff. There were women who had tonnes more than me, and I mean tonnes, everything but the kitchen sink. I had one big bag and one little one but some went in with a lot more, a lot more.

jenpoptab

My hubby just being there on hand with plenty of drinks was great & having lots of change/ mobile phone so he could go off & call everyone so that I could rest- well try!

It may be worth you taking book/magazine for you as inbetween contractions, I found pethidine made me sleepy with first baby so hubby got really bored. Also I was induced so there was lots of hanging around in hospital all day.

Good luck with the new arrival.

Mado

We had forgotten to pack Dad's bag. We arrived at 2 am and little Miss turned up at 5.30 pm. Meanwhile Dad had been with me ALL the time (I was a bit scared!!!!) and had only had a cup of tea and some bicuits and was really ravenous.
Mum did not feel that hungry but when the Midwife got us some toast about 8-9 pm and I offered them to hubby she advised us to share as I would probably feel hungry before breakfast.
Soo, for us. food on the day would have come handy.
Also, if she stays more than a day in hospital, it's nice to have "proper" clothes and not just PJs. (comfy tracksuit bottom or light elasticated bottomes and a nice T-shirt).

Good luck

foreverskint

make sure you wear cool clothing yourself, as the delivery wards are like ovens, and take a change of clothing for yourself in case you get caught in the waters breaking , and also it's nice for you to have something clean to freshen up in, especially if you've been at the hospital for a few hours. Take some wash things for yourself, toothbrush razor etc, cos sometimes you can be there a while, and plenty of non-perishable snacks.

Lavender essentail oil is a hab=ndy one to take for soothing stitches in the bath, and also to put on hot & cold breast compresses, for when the milk comes in.
HTH and all the best for you and your wife and new baby:j

pandas66

Best of luck to you both.
Long time ago but I wanted a soft flannel to wipe my hands and face, those Johnson or similar packet wet wipes are lovely. A packet of polos too as I couldn't wait to clean my teeth, freshened nicely. Camera. Packet of sports biscuits or nice as they are dry enough but sweet enough. Think of your feet, you might be stood on them a while.

Savvy_Sue

You might want to look at this thread on the health board to see if there's anything you've forgotten from your wife's bag!

But the food and the clean shirt for you are both a good idea: if you're in for a long time you'll need 'em!

mini

In this weather I'd be packing a cool bag with frozen blocks in to keep drinks cool. Lots of change for hospital car parking as well as phones, keep the camera somewhere easy to see/get & don't forget to use it!

I'd say to see how she feels about vicitors, I had said no visitors on the first day (baby born late afternoon) then realised I wanted to show EVERYONE my beautiful baby & got husband to ring round to recruit

Look forward to hearing about your new arrival

mini