Tuesday, March 13, 2012

What do I do with this?

looking deceptively round

don't worry, same oddly shaped belly as always
37 weeks--full term! The last milestone before my due date.












So, I'm all packed for the hospital. I used this list as a guide, because it was so very comprehensive. Good news--it all fits in one bag. Well, except for the extra pillows. Those aren't *in* the bag. Oh, and neither is the laptop, since that's J's and lives with him 24/7 anyway. And I skipped the chocolate cigars/champagne & thank you notes. But everything else is in that bag. Yes, yes it is. Sitting in my back seat. Next to the car seat.

Which got me thinking about other bags to pack. Like a diaper bag. Which led me to realize that I have no idea what all to put in there.

Alright ladies, what do I put in a diaper bag, other than diapers/wipes/diaper cream?
For cloth diapers, how do you transport the coconut oil?
Do you put a change of clothes in there?
Hopefully I'll be feeding this kid from my own self, so shouldn't need a bottle, but do I need to pack other feeding-from-my-own-self supplies? What are those things, other than a cover?
Do newborns need toys?
How many blankets should I leave the house with?
How do you know if the baby is too hot or too cold? Can you just feel them up and make adjustments, or is there some super-secret mom-method of baby temperature control that I can only learn after I get the secret handshake?
Can you do the crib-lasagna thing in a pack and play type thing?
How big a hamper do you need for baby clothes?
I have some of the Bummis Fleece Liners. Are these the things I use if I have to use a non-cloth diaper friendly rash cream with the cloth diapers?
Did any of you do maternity photos? If so, what did you wear?

Seriously, I have questions. Feel free to e-mail me your fabulous answers with adorable anecdotal evidence and pictures of your babies! beanonparade @ gmail (someone's gonna have to show me how to do a fancy contact thing that will stop spam from taking over my universe someday).

7 comments:

Natalie Kemp said...

Here's a great link:
http://www.getsnazzy.com/2011/09/baby/

And my darling friend Jess, author of the above post, made me a comfort kit to take with me to the birthing center. My mom also packed me a relaxation kit.

You are so close! I'm working on getting the baby to turn, I'm 35 weeks tomorrow. Think turning thoughts for me. :(

LEBean said...

Thanks for the link, that's great info. I will send all my head-down thoughts your way!

Sarah in Ottawa said...

I find that the diaper bag evolves over time. Wait - are you asking for the diaper bag *for the hospital* or in general? In general, I like diapers, wipes, change pad, a change of clothes, nursing cover, some sort of small toy with which to distract, wet bag for cloth diapers/soiled clothes, my water bottle as nursing makes you PARCHED.

I'll throw some cloth diaper knowledge into the mix, as I've diapered both mine in cloth (T from 18 months, V from like 5 days). In the hospital and until the meconium (black tar poop) is done, we used disposables. Then, we moved on into cloth. The baby poop will stain your diapers, but put them in the sun and it will DISAPPEAR. It is shocking how well the sun works on baby poop before solids. As for fleece liners, we use them for non-cloth friendly diaper cream AND for general use when the kid starts eating solids and poops are nastier.

We have a huge hamper for us, and I end up throwing all the clothes in there. I've started using the cloth diaper (LOVE IT) on all our loads of laundry, so no irritants for anyone. Sorry I can't be of more help there.

I'm so excited for you, Linnea!

Temerity Jane said...

1. Bibs, clothes, extra shirt for you. Basically, you start out carrying everything ever, and end up eventually stuffing a diaper in your bra and some wipes in your pocket and heading out.

2. In the jar but you can probably scoop some into a small tupperware?

3. Yes, and you won't need it until the day you don't have it.

4. I personally had a VERY hard time feeding her w/o a nursing pillow, so if we went somewhere I actually took that in the car. Breast pads.

5. Nope.

6. A couple. We always have some floating around the car.

7. However you feel, plus one layer. If you're in a t-shirt, put the baby in a long sleeve onesie and a blanket. Etc. When in doubt, err on the cooler side.

8. Yes.

9. I use the floor.

10. Yes.

11. Hell no.

Jessica said...

What do I put in a diaper bag, other than diapers/wipes/diaper cream?
Change of clothes, but you’ve got that a couple questions down. Wet bag for cloth diapers, I suppose.

For cloth diapers, how do you transport the coconut oil?
Sorry, I don’t cloth diaper (yet! I’ve ordered some, so let me know if you get an answer!)

Do you put a change of clothes in there?
Yes. I would usually put in jammies, since they’re more compact.

Hopefully I'll be feeding this kid from my own self, so shouldn't need a bottle, but do I need to pack other feeding-from-my-own-self supplies? What are those things, other than a cover?
At the beginning, I carried around a tube of lanolin as I was VERY sore. Perhaps an extra shirt (and maybe even bra) for you in case the baby spits up all over you.

Do newborns need toys?
Probably not. The little littles almost always sleep when in the bucket seat.

How many blankets should I leave the house with?
Ehh. 1? Perhaps I am unqualified to answer this as I had summer babies.

How do you know if the baby is too hot or too cold? Can you just feel them up and make adjustments, or is there some super-secret mom-method of baby temperature control that I can only learn after I get the secret handshake?
The generally-used rule is 1 layer of clothing beyond what you’re wearing.

Can you do the crib-lasagna thing in a pack and play type thing? Yes

How big a hamper do you need for baby clothes?
We just put them in the regular hamper in our bedroom. We don’t have hampers in the kids’ rooms.

I have some of the Bummis Fleece Liners. Are these the things I use if I have to use a non-cloth diaper friendly rash cream with the cloth diapers? No idea.

Did any of you do maternity photos? If so, what did you wear? No, I would have liked to, but didn’t know how to go about finding a photographer. For belly shots I wore a black maternity tank top (often with cardigan-y things over it).

Kara Keenan said...

Alright ladies, what do I put in a diaper bag, other than diapers/wipes/diaper cream?
Change of clothes, extra blanket for the baby, burp cloths

Do you put a change of clothes in there? Yes. And if you have a puker, consider an extra shirt for yourself as well.

Hopefully I'll be feeding this kid from my own self, so shouldn't need a bottle, but do I need to pack other feeding-from-my-own-self supplies? What are those things, other than a cover? Bra inserts for leakage. I couldn't feed from one side without much leakage from the opposite side, especially at first.

Do newborns need toys? Not really.

How many blankets should I leave the house with? One or two- a spare never hurts

How do you know if the baby is too hot or too cold? Can you just feel them up and make adjustments, or is there some super-secret mom-method of baby temperature control that I can only learn after I get the secret handshake? You'll be able to figure it out pretty quickly. Generally what you're wearing, plus a layer.

Can you do the crib-lasagna thing in a pack and play type thing? That's genius! I wish I had thought of that! But, honestly, I don't know about the pack-n-play, we co-slept and then moved directly to a crib.

How big a hamper do you need for baby clothes? Regular sized? I have a laundry sorter in my laundry room, and baby clothes got washed separately in a small wash every 2-3 days, so they didn't stink of rotten milk. They had their own slot in the laundry sorter. The worst thing is finding a pukey onesie balled up at the bottom of your own hamper that's started to germinate, making all of the surrounding clothes stink. If the spit up or blow outs were too bad, we just tossed the onesie in the trash and didn't bother to wash it.

Did any of you do maternity photos? If so, what did you wear? My stretch marks were way too scary. I had my husband take ONE picture, just to prove to my Mom (3000 miles away) that I wasn't exaggerating that my stomach looked like I had been attached by a bear.

Jess- getSNAZZY.com said...

Congrats! Here's a link to the baby shower comfort kit I made for Natalie. http://www.getsnazzy.com/2012/04/birth-day-comfort-kit/

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