The Hospital Bag

so I always saw these posts while pregnant "What do you need for the hospital" and I did a TON of research to make sure I had everything I needed. Most of the posts put what they packed and then what they actually used. I generated my pack-list based on what they used and still had WAY too much.

Disclaimer: I am a minimalist, who likes to pack as little as possible and refuses to carry a purse most of the time ;)

What do you need at the hospital?
1) flip flops/ easy on off shoes. flip flops are great since you can wear them in the shower too.
2) shampoo/conditioner/soap. my hospital room only had "body/face" soap.
3) robe. I brought a light weight robe for walking around for some modesty.
4) cell phone/ charger
5) granola bars
6) tooth brush/tooth paste/deodorant
7) hair brush
8) something to wear home and something for baby to wear home
9) carseat on take-home day

What did my hospital provide? (that I remember using)
1) water bottle
2) mesh undies- yeah they get mocked, but they are comfy, hold up the giant pads and you throw them away
3) GIANT pads, ice pads, absorbent packs etc
4) pillows out the wazoo (you can double stuff the cases if you want)
5) hair dryer
6) all things for baby (diapers, wipes, Vaseline, gauze, clothes, pacifier, blankets)
7) all things for breast pumping
8) night mask
9) ear plugs
10) towels
11) meals and snacks
12) any medications
(13- they also provided toothbrush and toothpaste but I am particular to my own)

1 week down, a million to go :)

Charlie-man is a week old!! I cannot believe it.

Momma recovery:
1) things "down south" are healing. first few days were really, really rough- word of advice, get epifoam at the hospital & buy some dermaplast spray.
2) I can finally eat proteins!!
3) broccoli gives little man HORRIBLE gas
4) I'm down 8 pounds [edit: 14 pounds. 8 pounds to go for prepreg/post IVF weight.  Ideally, I would like to lose 10-13 more]. considering little man was 6 pounds I am a little bummed but my boobies are huge so maybe it evens out?
5) sleeping pretty well :)
6) I am still living in sweat pants lol too afraid to try on my jeans

Charlie-man:
1) already back to birth weight
2) loves him wubbanub & mamaroo
3) First activities

• car ride
• grocery store visit
• stroller ride (just around the neighborhood)

4) sleeping really well. I feed at 10pm & go to sleep. hubster feeds by bottle at midnight then I feed 4am, 6:30am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5/6ishpm, 8pm and we continue then next day. It seems to work really well for all of us.

The Birth!!

Charlie-man arrived at 12:30am on May 22nd.  We went to the ER after I had an uncontrolled heart episode and after they stabilized me, we went to Labor & Delivery.  We started pitocin around 3pm and nothing happened until about 8pm.  From 8pm - 11:30pm we went from 5cm dilated to 8cm dilated.  I suddenly felt big pressure and we went to 10cm in 5 minutes! It was go time.. after only 45 minutes or so of pushing, out popped little man! He is so perfect. I am so happy everything went well and he's good.

We spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday in the hospital and finally got the clearance to go home.  Charlie man is super easy going for the most part and a really sound sleeper.  We had a little trouble feeding at first but he's getting the hang of it.  We'll do a 1 week post tomorrow for postpartum and Charlie recap :)