So i'm in the 34th week of pregnancy and it's about time I shared a blog post with you of what's in my hospital bag and what's in Iris'. This is obviously Iris' hospital bag and i'll put mine up tomorrow.
It's totally crazy how quickly it's all flown by and that now i'm anything from 2 weeks away from my baby being born to at a very push 7 and a half! Lets hope i'm not still waiting at 42 weeks, her heads been engaged since 33 weeks and I walk very slowly and in a lot of pain already.
When I packed Lucas' bag, I overpacked, I think you always do with your first. You follow the "hospital bag checklists" in your bounty packs, on websites and others recommendations. This time i've been more sensible and really thought about what i'll need. I found this whole packing thing more exciting this time round. I have packed one before and also packing for a different gender was so exciting too. It's been so lovely thinking of outfits, and also photo opportunity outfits too. I want some comparison photos of Lucas and Iris to look back on, so needed to pack a couple of things purely for those too.
I have packed these headpieces. The two hats are from a website called Ali express, and they were so cheap and turned up so quickly. I saw a mama on Instagram who had bought them and fell in love with how feminine they were but practical. The headbands are from NEXT and they're so cute and are velcro, meaning you don't have to pull them over their little heads. I thought they were so cute and totally lovely that they match the sleep suits below.
The first pack of 3 sleep suits are from NEXT and they're in the size 'first size' as we don't know what she'll weigh when she's born. Lucas was 4 weeks early so all his newborn clothes hung off his little 6lb 5ozs body, so we're bringing two different sizes of sleep suits to be sure. We got these from NEXT as we adored the pattern, they aren't pink and frilly girly, but they're totally our style. I am a huge autumnal fan and these just scream Autumn at me. I love the colours and the pattern and think she'll look so cute in them.
The second set are from ASDA and i can't link them as they were bought back when we had Lucas. They're in tiny baby and we're packing them to be sure she'll have clothes to fit, especially if she decides to make her appearance early, like Lucas did. We have packed 3 of each as i'm being extra cautious that if we have to stay in hospital for 2 days, like I did with Lucas, as he was born 10:17am, we had that whole day and the next day, due to my section. Although we have plans for my VBAC and praying that we do get that and it's all successful and wonderful. I wanted to be prepared. I also wanted to be prepared for poo explosions, sick up's and just general dirtiness. Meconium is a disgusting and i'm hoping we don't end up with it on these sleep suits. I can't imagine it will wash out very easily.
We have these vests, they are also NEXT and they come in a pack of 5, they're so soft and lovely and I thought if the hospital was hot then she can just wear a vest, and if it's cold then she can wear a vest and a sleep suit. We can't predict what the weather is going to be like, she could arrive anytime from the very end of September to the beginning of November. So we're being prepared. These are the only size we're bringing and they're 'first size' and once again we're only bring 3.
This outfit is from f&f at TESCO and i can't find a link anywhere, but it was a gift. Lucas had a photo taken in an outfit very similar, and we still have that and will get a photo of her in the same outfit too, but really want to get a comparison photo of the two in similar outfits, both at 1 day old. This outfit is literally only being bought to the hospital for photography purposes but will be so worth while.
I love the copper colour writing and navy floral and bird pattern on these too. Super cute.
Practical wise, we have packed 3 muslins for sick ups, boob milk spillages and just general mopping up, burping protectors. They were from ASDA, and they're just cheap and cheerful. I never really used muslins with Lucas but am making sure we do this time.
We've got packed 24 size 1 nappies and they're from TESCO, they're just their own brand 3 for £10 packs, and we've taken 24 out and put them in the nappy holder section of the bag and also taking one pack of water wipes.
Last time we took cotton wall balls, but I have a horrid thing about cotton wall balls and meconium and also water wipes are just so natural, I personally don't see the point in using a million cotton wall balls to clean a meconium poo up. It's gross enough and hard enough as it is, save the hassle and know that your using something so sensitive anyway.
Last time, we also bought 2 bottles and ready made formula just in case I failed to breastfeed. This time, i'm not bothering as i'm determined to breastfeed, we have no steriliser, no bottles and no formula in the house as I want to make sure, that if I feel that i'm failing I have to keep trying and if my milk dries up like it did with Lucas, then we can go out and purchase those things if needed.
Last clothing items is Iris' coming home outfit; this one has a special story. The rose print romper was my coming home outfit. Over 23 years ago my mum and dad bought me home in this outfit and it's amazing and lovely that Brad and I, will be bringing home our daughter in this outfit. It's been soaked in vanish as it was a little off coloured and had some mould stains on the collar from storage, which couldn't have been helped but thank goodness for Vanish Gold, and it's almighty power. (I think Vanish need to sponsor me, as they've had far too much free publicity from me now... i'm totally joking by the way.)
I can't wait to see her wear this, it has this lovely little headband to match too. I have purchased a little pink cardigan from ASDA and some little frilly socks also from ASDA and I think she's going to look like the most perfect little Dolly.
The last few items are extras that all depend on what you're planning on using. We're bring Ewan as a way to introduce him and his sounds to her. We used Ewan with Lucas and using him again this time. Ewan is from John Lewis and he's amazing, we had the purple one for Lucas and love the Grey colour, I think it's just so darling. Ewan made settling Lucas to sleep a lot easier, no rocking and he would settle on his own, without crying and being distressed, so really hoping Ewan works for Iris too.
The other thing is a cuskiboo. Once again this is something we had with Lucas and adored. I sleep with it for the next few weeks and once my milk comes in you rub it along your breast and it smells like me, so you put it next to baby and it settles them as it means she has a familiar smell. It's the only baby comforter in Europe with the NHS protocol and helps with the bonding process and milk flow. It also is made out of anti-bacterial bamboo and is honestly amazing. I love it. It's available from Amazon.
Finally we have these two super cute blankets, one for the carseat and one for in the hospital to cuddle in. We picked up one from the Next sale and the other one with the pom poms is from 'A little ray of crochet' on etsy. The pom pom crochet blanket is for her pram and car seat. It's going to look beautiful walking around on our autumn walks.
We also have the silvercross car seat from Mothercare, it's the same one we used for Lucas and it's so lovely.
You can watch the vlog below too and I am so excited to go into labour and have this little baby girl.
I'm so glad we're all packed and ready to go now.
