At 33 weeks pregnant, I need to start thinking about what to pack in my hospital bag for labor, delivery, and postpartum. This is my third baby, so I guess you could say I’ve learned which items are a must.. the items that are nice to have, but not a necessity.. and the items I didn’t even touch during the two or three-day stay.

The necessities:

• New Mama Bottom Spray: This has already come in handy during my third trimester to soothe the swelling “down there” as baby puts more pressure on my lower regions. I didn’t have this product postpartum with my other two kids, but since it has provided relief during pregnancy, I won’t be leaving the house without it!!!

• Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter: I’ll be breastfeeding my little one and during those first few days, it takes some time for your nipples to roughen up and get used to baby’s latch. Nipple Butter is a literal lifesaver! It helps heal your nipples between nursing sessions and because it’s completely all-natural, you don’t need to wash it off before putting baby to the breast again.

• Nursing Bra: If you’re planning on nursing, this will make your life SO much easier. Baby will need to nurse often to help bring your milk in and a nursing bra of any kind will be easy access. I’ll be putting a comfortable nursing bra in my bag, maybe two just in case.  

• Take-Home Outfit: Baby needs an adorable outfit to wear home! Make sure you pack a comfortable take-home outfit for you too! 

• Don’t forget to grab a phone charger, camera, laptop or any other electronics you’ll want during those few days!

The nice-to-have, but not necessary:

• Nursing Pads: Sometimes, your milk will come in during your hospital stay. In that case, it’d be nice to have some nursing pads on hand. I’ll be using reusable and disposable nursing pads, depending on what I’m doing and how much I’m leaking.

• Baby Personal Hygiene Products: This is something you could leave at home and save until baby’s first bath. I’ll be packing some Earth Mama Angel Baby products with me for baby to be washed in the hospital. You will also want to grab some for yourself in case you’d like to shower. With my first, I wasn’t in the hospital long so I waited until I was home. With my second, I wanted to shower before people started visiting. You won’t know how you will feel, but it’s nice to be prepared either way.

• Swaddle Blankets: Sure, you can just swaddle baby in the hospital blankets, tut if you’re like me, you want to start using the cute stuff right away! Putting a swaddle blanket or two in your bag will keep baby comfortable and super-cute for all those pictures you’re bound to take!

• Cloth Diapers: If you’re planning on cloth diapering from the very beginning, don’t forget your newborn stash and a wet bag!

The don’t needs:

• A million newborn outfits:. I  didn’t see the point. I packed four outfits for baby boy, including the one he’d be wearing home. Over the first few days, poop explosions and spit up aren’t super bad, so you won’t necessarily need to change baby from head to toe. After a week or so, you’ll advance to a hundred outfit changes per day. 

• A breastfeeding pump: I am one of those women who starts pumping once we get home from the hospital. I need to have a good freezer stash set up, but I will not be bringing my pump to the hospital. Most likely, my milk won’t be in anyway, and baby boy will be learning how to latch. We need those first few days of just breastfeeding to get things going on the right track!

• Pacifiers: I won’t need to bring a pacifier, mostly because our hospital will provide one for us. We use the same type of pacifier the hospital does, so I don’t see a point in needing to have more than one during our stay. Once we get home, we’ll need to have pacifiers all over the house, so having multiple is a must. Since we’ll be in one room the whole time at the hospital,I don’t think we’ll be able to lose our pacifiers as easily.

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little guy. And getting our bags together makes everything feel real! In about two months, there will be a new baby in our arms again!

If you’re expecting, is there anything else you would add to your bag?