Dad Blog: Things I Wish We Brought to the Hospital for Baby Delivery

My wife, Sarah, gave birth to our daughter, Juniper, a couple month’ ago. We went to a local hospital for Juniper’s delivery. Here are the things I wish we would have brought to the hospital, and some things I’m glad we packed.

Things I Wish I Had at the Hospital

Extra long charging cables

It would have been nice if both Sarah and I had 8 or 10 foot charging cords for our phones. We were in the hospital for just over three days, so having easy access to a charged phone would have been a nice piece of mind. I recommend the Anker brand on Amazon.

Snacks, like good snacks

The hospital food was not that great – and we had to order it if we wanted it to come. At one point about a day after birth, Sarah even got light headed, which was remedied by eating. It would have been nice to have some tasty back-up snacks on hand for that and for in between meals, and late at night. Popcorn, Nuts, Luna Bars (Sarah loves these), fresh fruit, Barkthins, dark chocolate and any other go to snacks you eat at home would be nice.

Nursing Bras (at least a few)

We did bring one nursing bra to the hospital, but it got dirty quickly from baby spit-up and hospital funk. Though it was totally fine to be topless around Juniper’s birth since we in a medical environment and skin on skin contact with newborns is encouraged, but by day two in the hospital, it would have been nice to have nursing attire on hand.

Eye Masks for a Good Nights Sleep

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this for the hospital. Sarah and I take eye masks on planes and to hotels to help us sleep. Hospitals are full of light and sounds. Whether its the bedside screens, and status lights, or room or hallway lights, hospitals can get bright. Maybe one partner just wants to watch TV? Having eye masks to wear would have been super helpful I wish we had these so we could get better sleep in the hospital. (Shop eye masks online.)

Earplugs

While you’re at it check out earplugs too. Growing up with my dad as a general contractor and I went to the woods to shoot guns occasionally. I was only ever aware of those dense yellow earplugs that come in those tiny cardboard envelopes. But guess what? That is not the only earplug offering out there. There is this awesome thing called comfort earplugs. They’re made of much softer material so they are a lot easier to wear at night.

Things we brought that were wins

Things

Insurance info – in an accessible location – questions and info for paperwork people –
Yoga ball
Luna Bars

Tissues w/lotion – hospital tissues are like sand paper.
Lotion – my brand, fragrance free. You do a lot of hand washing and use a lot of sanitizer in the hospital, so having a lotion on hand you like is key to avoiding dry and cracked skin.

Knowledge

My insurance offered classes to jump start our understanding of baby essentials. I’m really glad we took the classes, as it reduced surprises and gave us confidence in the birthing and post birth child care process.

Birthing class – this was huge in knowing what to expect like the different stages of labor – when do I, as the partner need to be on?

Baby care class – this taught us the essentials including: how to swaddle a newborn, and what comforts a new born: shooshing, motion, noise, warmth, skin to skin etc, and diapering.
Nursing class – to help Sarah as needed

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions on this stuff, or add your own essentials if you saw something I missed.