Before you go into labor, you want to make sure you have any final preparations in place. This includes packing your hospital bag, but also involves getting other things ready as well. And just to note, this section is primarily for women who are planning on giving birth in a hospital or birthing center. But some of this lesson is applicable to home births as well. And if you're planning on having a home birth, you'll want to make any necessary arrangements and have your postpartum needs ready, which we'll discuss in a few minutes as far as your postpartum needs. You'll also want to make sure you know in advance the local legal requirements from over it's like how and when to register your baby's birth and your baby's birth certificate, etc.

Back to preparing before leaving for the hospital or birth center. Some things you'll need to do. One, if you haven't already, make sure you've pre registered at the hospital or birthing facility where you plan on delivering. And you may be able to do this through your ob gyn or midwife's office. Sometimes they have a The registry form that you can fill out and then they'll fax over for you. So you could ask about this.

And we'll do that for you, too if you have pets or children that need to be cared for and make sure you have a solid plan in place for who will be watching them when you go into labor, regardless of when you go into labor. For example, if you need to drop off your kids at someone's house and they're at work the same time they're in labor, that's not going to fly. So you may want to have a backup option too. If you think something like that might be an issue. Some families may also just want someone to check on their household their way depending on their situation and where they live. Three, make sure your birth plan is done printed out and that you've already discussed it with your midwife or doctor and provided a copy for them.

For Make sure your baby's Carsey is properly installed in your car in advance so you're ready to bring your newborn home after birth. And it's good to practice installing it a few times so that you'll remember how to do it. Five have your Android working partners that hospital bag packed As well as baby clothing and items you want to bring in we'll talk about this below. So what about your hospital bag, I'm going to divide this into two parts. One things you need to bring into items you may want to bring. So first, we'll talk about your hospital bag with things that you need to bring.

You'll need to bring your wallet money your purse, a photo ID, preferably a license if you have one, your insurance card or cards, and your baby's insurance card or info if you already have this prior to birth. Note that in some places, some of the care provided to a newborn following birth may be billed with a mom's insurance. But if you have it, you should still bring your baby's insurance simple, and how things are bills may vary depending on the type of care provided and where you live. You'll also want to bring a couple copies of your birth plan and a list of medications and allergies. Although in theory, the hospital should have this information either from your doctor or from when you pre registered It's so good to bring this just in case. You also want to bring your phone and charger.

If you wear glasses or contacts, you would definitely want to bring those a few comfortable outfits shirts, pants, undergarments, socks, shoes, pajamas and nursing bra for you, etc. and know that although you will lose some of your pregnancy way after giving birth, you will still have a bit of a belly postpartum. So generally after delivery, you'll be about the size you were around the beginning of your third trimester, give or take. So plan for this with a clothing your brain. And don't worry that belly can eventually disappear. You may want to bring a nicer outfit for taking newborn photos.

You may also want to pack a nice outfit for your husband or birth partner for this reason as well or remind them to if you're on any prescription medications, you would want to bring those as well so you wouldn't miss taking them during the time you'd be gone. So mainly if you have additional health issues that you're on medication for and then your hospital bag itself. I recommend a duffel bag or backpack instead of a suitcase if you can manage to fit everything in something smaller. Any toiletries the hospital or facility doesn't have or that you'd prefer to use your own for you but also bring and no I'm one of the more generic hospital maternity tour questions I suggest asking in a Section seven sample is which toiletries they have available so that you know this in advance, and some people will bring their own anyways perhaps because they're more comfortable with what they have or maybe they'd have allergies are sensitive to certain things, or just in case the hospital would be short on supplies.

So it's up to you if you want to rely on them for toiletries that they offer. My hospital had toothbrushes, combs toothpaste, soap, lotion, and a couple of other things, but you'll want to double check with yours because again, every facility is different. So some toiletries you should consider bringing would be shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste and floss mouthwash, razor and shaving gel. So for body wash deodorant lotion Hand Cream, face wash and face moisturizer hair gel or cream. So now let's talk about your hospital bag for things that you may want to bring if you have a camera and then you'd also want to bring the charger and or batteries to disinfectant wipes, you may want to bring flip flops for during labor so that you're not walking around on the dirty floor with bare feet. A health care proxy if you have one.

You could decide to bring cookies or treats for the hospitals and nurses or staff. Why do this well to show you appreciate them and usually they're nicer to you when you're nice to them. During my first pregnancy, I had baked cookies ahead of time and froze them then took them out of the freezer to thaw when I was in early labor and brought them to the hospital and gave them to my nursing staff. But don't blame me if you end up with a nurse that's diabetic or allergic to gluten or something like that. I haven't had this happen but I'm sure it's happened to someone. You may also want to bring snacks for you if you're permitted to eat and or for your birth partner.

Converts during labor may want to bring music to listen to like iPod CDs, CD player, radio, etc. And some people of course will just use their phone. pictures to look at and some moms will bring ultrasound pictures as well. popsicles for you to suck on during labor. Some hospitals offer these. If not, you can check if you can bring them yourself if you want these comfortable clothing you may want to labor and some woman will bring a bathing suit for laboring in water a robe or comfortable sports bra tank top or t shirt.

Beauty supplies, especially if you want to get dolled up for pictures of what to bring maybe your makeup hair ties and accessories a blow dryer hair straightener, curling iron, whatever you use to style your hair, nail polish jewelry and a Chroma brush. For postpartum comfort. You may want to bring witch hazel, aloe vera or hurricane gel. Those are all things people use for suiting discomfort down there, which we'll talk about a little bit more detail in a minute. It pads of choice for postpartum bleeding, nipple cream, nursing pads or nursing shelves. And just to know some of these things hospitals will have on hand and you can again ask in advance what types of items they provide for moms postpartum.

However if your particular about what type of pads you want to use, I would definitely bring your own if you're not going to be comfortable with the type they have. My hospital also made me ice packs for postpartum relief, which was awesome. If they don't do this automatically, then I would ask about this. Baby items you can bring even bring a diaper bag I suggest bringing a small to medium sized separate bag to keep all the baby items that you are bringing for your baby except a Boppy pillow or a pump because if you bring these they probably won't fit in the bag, or going home outfit or cue outfit for baby pictures. Plus a few extra outfits are sleepers. And keep in mind that newborns often walk through their clothes and are split up on them.

So that why you'd want to have several hats or hats, socks or mittens in you can also use socks admins. Keep in mind what will be appropriate with the weather too. If it's really cold outside, you'll want to make sure that they're bundled up good when it's time to go home. You can bring blankets and boyfriends if you want to bring a Boppy pillow and a pump. You could also bring pacifier nasal aspirator diapers and wipes, diaper rash cream, bow headband, cat hair accessories or other props for newborn photos. Carsey Of course, as I mentioned several times, we want to have this installed in your car, as we talked about earlier, splits ready to go.

And just to know again, most hospitals will provide basic items for your baby, and home once again, I recommend you ask about what they provide during your maternity tour or you could also call in advance to ask and you again may not need to bring everything that I listed. That's okay. These are Just suggestions. My hospital provided a pacifier, a hat diapers and these last breeder wipes although they were dry, then you had to wet them yourself in blankets. Some hospitals also have a Boppy pillow or pump free to use, but mine did not. Or at least they didn't offer these to me while I was there.

So again check specifically with a facility you're going to to find out what they specifically offer. And hospitals will generally be stocked with bottles and formula for if you're supplementing or not nursing. But again, you can always ask if this is a concern. And there may also be other items you want to bring personal so just make sure you add these to your hospital bag list of things to pack. When it comes to packing your hospital bag. Ideally, you should have your hospital bag all packed and ready to go at least a month before your due date if possible, and add last minute items at the time you go into labor like your purse, wallet ID insurance card or toiletries things that you can pack in advance so you can print out Write out a list of last minute items to add to your hospital bag and then place this list in your bag on top so that you can reference it right when you need it and then hopefully you won't forget anything need.

You could also use a smaller travel size containers to pack toiletries in advance so that you have less items to add last minute to your bag. Prepare for your postpartum recovery at home. There are supplies you'll want to have on hand during your postpartum recovery at home. If you aren't having a home birth, your hospital or center may provide some or most of these items, you can always ask them what items they offer to moms during postpartum recovery to be sure that you'll no doubt have some things that you need to stock up on for your recovery at home. You definitely need some sort of pads. So your main options are maxi pads, or thinner pads like the always brand offers or reusable or washable pads.

I personally haven't used these ones, but some moms do. And if you opt for these, you can either make them yourself or buy them I'm quite certain there are people that sell these on Etsy and other places online. And for myself personally, although for periods I always use the thinner pads like the always brand or generic version of them. I personally vastly prefer maxi pads for postpartum recovery because they have more of a cushion, which I felt was more comfortable after getting a whole bunch of stitches on there. But whatever pads you personally choose, just be sure to pick something comfortable that will be able to hold everything and can handle a heavier flow at times because at first your flow may be quite happy. You may want to stock up on a couple of different types of pads as well to see which ones you prefer to use postpartum.

Had circles or ice packs. If you want to use a form of cooling or ice down there, you can choose to make pad symbols. There are tons of ideas on Pinterest and if you don't know how to do that, or you could choose to use ice packs. And you might want to try both and see which like butter or you could alternate what you used to. I personally preferred ice packs for myself. And how I make these is I would put four to five ice cubes and a snack sized Ziploc bag.

Slip it up tightly and keep it in the freezer until I needed it. Then I'd wrap it in about three to four layers of cotton rags. You could also use paper towels, but I use your eyes because I have extra clean rags I cut out from old clothes my kids out from I placed the ice pack on top of the pad for a while until it either melted or warmed up or until I no longer needed to on. Then I take it off throughout the rise that I dropped in wash off the Ziploc bag and then reuse it later. I personally alternated ice packs with regular pads that I would put hurricane on so that I didn't constantly have Colin moisture down there sitz baths, you can ask your doctor about this in advance but I was so thankful mine gave me a sitz bath while I was in a hospital.

It works really well with relieving discomfort temporarily and they told me it would also help What's falling from where I had such as to, I will personally took about one to two sitz baths a day during postpartum recovery, and my husband would wash the baby and kids while I did that. So additional comfort for products for relief. You can use a witch hazel some moms use either a liquid version that they'll pour on their pads, and then they sometimes freeze it for pad sickles or they might use something like tucks pads, which are thin circular pads with a witch hazel that you can put over your Maxi or thin pad cream for hemorrhoids. I unfortunately haven't had to use this Yeah, but if you do get hemorrhoids, you may want to get an over the counter cream or the hospital might give you some as well if they see you have those while you're there.

Aloe vera gel. Some moms will use this on their pads or pad sickles and hurricane topical gel which is something that the hospital gave me the most recent time I was there. It's actually designed for using for use of numbing insights. Your mouth but the hospital gave me this to use to numb for where I tour. So I would put some on my maxi pads but some woman will also put this on the witch hazel pads that they place on their maxi pads. And I've also heard of moms using a numbing spray instead of a numbing gel.

Pain medication such as ibuprofen, like Advil or Motrin or a sediment toughen, like Tylenol. nipple cream, some women also just use their Express breast milk and rub it on after feedings. But if you're nursing, see what works for you. Also just some reassurance if you are experiencing your irritation, soreness or discomfort from nursing afterwards, that's normal. It usually goes away after that first few weeks. If you really want a nurse I personally think it's worth enduring any initial discomfort which will go away after your body adjusts if you just keep nursing home system, but definitely talk with your doctor or midwife if you aren't finding the way to relieve discomfort If it's just not going away, or if you think you may have a medical problem that's causing this discomfort or pain such as thrush or mastitis, nursing pads I suggest you and last and washable reusable ones.

The disposable ones cost you more long term and they can also irritate your skin. You can usually find these in stores in the baby section usually near like the bottles and pumping supplies. I personally developed a rash and disposable nursing pads where the culprit my rash went away as soon as I switched to the reusable and washable ones which my midwife had figured out and recommended. You can also make your own reusable ones there are tutorials if you do a quick search online or you can buy ones that other people have made. I know a lot of people sell these on Etsy crush shells. These can help protect you from discomfort after nursing and using them can also help you be latched on better for future feedings.

If your nipples are naturally flat or inverted, and a periodontal This is used for rinsing after you use the bath Instead of wiping while you're healing down there, and usually the hospital will give you one. things to keep in mind when you go into labor. If you're a preterm or experience anything concerning in regards to your labor, make sure you contact your midwife or doctor immediately. Otherwise contact them as they instructed you to if you're using a doula, let them know when you're in labor, you can usually choose whether you want them with you starting earlier labor. If you're staying home for a bit first or if you want them just to meet you at the facility where you're giving birth after Labor has progressed farther. Three.

Let anyone know who is watching after your home kids and or pets that you're in labor ASAP so they can be ready to help out for pack your last minute items in your hospital bag. out of anything with it forget make sure you don't leave without your insurance info wallet ID birth plan in your baby's car seat because you need to be able to take them home. Five, grab your baby's diaper bag with the things they need which should already be set to go and six. Make sure Both your hospital bag, your husband, your birth printers bag and your baby's diaper bag all get put in the car so they come with you. And note that there are other things you may want to keep in mind for labor as far as making sure it's the real thing and not Braxton Hicks. There may also be additional things you want to do in early labor when it's a real thing.

However, I don't get into these topics. And so the medical aspect of pregnancy is not the focus of my course. And I'm not a medical expert. Information about false labor and medical advice regarding what to do during real labor are things you should really learn about from your midwife or doctor and her birth class. So please make sure you get any questions answered from them on this subject well before your due date, so you are prepared to know what to do. So to do next, using pages two to five in the third trimester workbook, decide which items you personally want to have ready for the hospital, labor and postpartum.

And complete any remaining items on the to do list. And when you're ready, you can move on to the next part of this post.