My Hospital Bag Essentials Packing List - For Mummy, Papa and Baby

Now that I am in my final trimester, it has become a lot more real that a little newborn will be joining our family in a few weeks. Along with being very excited I also feel slightly unprepared this time.

Having your second is very different to your first. By this stage last time I was pregnant I had everything washed and ironed placed neatly in the nursery. Currently I am just trying to workout how Bubs is going to share his wardrobe with his sisters ever growing collection of clothes, let alone washing them and because we know we have all the essentials apart from buying pretty bows, dolly shoes and frilly knickers there has not been any need to go shopping. 

In true chaos life fashion we are also about to start a loft extension meaning all the baby stuff I was hoping to leave hidden away until the end will soon be in my living room. On the upside the quicker the loft starts the quicker it finishes and hopefully before this baby arrives. :)

On the topic of preparation, one thing I did find very helpful last time was having a hospital packing list, with my great love for lists this is not surprising.

I ended up spending nearly a week in hospital last time, therefore I have edited this to only include what is really useful. In the UK you often stay on shared wards rather than in private rooms meaning there is not much space to move around so taking only what you need is a great idea.  Hopefully you will have lots of visitors so they will be able to bring you anything you need to.

Bubs ended up being really tiny so my mum had to go out the morning he was born and buy lots of tiny baby babygros that actually fit him rather than the newborn or 1m size I had packed. 

The most useful thing I found for myself during my stay was my flip-flops and a feeding pillow, for the baby they just need essentials - nappies, cotton wool, babygros and blankets. For Papa especially with the first baby probably a phone charger is most useful item :)

When it comes to actually packing all the items I would use a trolley hand luggage suitcase to hold all  of mums items and a separate duffle bag for the babies items. Papas stuff should fit into a rucksack, this means he should be able to manage carry it all from the car by himself leaving you hands free to rub your belly through the contractions. I also found we ended up moving around quite a bit when we were admitted to hospital so maybe best to just take your notes in with you initially then return back for all the other items.

The car seat can stay in the car until you are discharged from the hospital, along with in this case a wrapped up present for Bubs from his little sister. I really want to get him a doll and pushchair but having just had a huge toy clear out I am now too scared to buy anything that takes up any space in our house.

Please print off and keep this list handy when out buying new items and packing. Anything that can make things easier in the lead up to the big arrival is worth it. 

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