My godsis is due really soon, and talking to her made me recall how nervous and excited I was back then, before I gave birth. I visited numerous websites to get an idea of what to pack in my hospital bag, checked the list given by the hospital, and consulted a few of my other mummy friends, just to be safe. For those of you who are trying to come up with your own list, I thought I’d share mine here.
Documents
– Marriage certificate – Both husband’s and wife’s ICs – Prenatal medical receipts (You can claim up to $450 under the Medisave Maternity Package) – Admission letter from gynae – Printed copy of baby’s full name, in dialect, hanyu pinyin, and Chinese characters, to prevent C from registering the wrong name (which he did at Noah’s first visit to the PD) – Certified true copy of your bank book (page with account number and name)/latest bank statement or with the bank’s endorsement in Section F – Completed CDA application form of either OCBC Bank or Standard Chartered attached with certified true copies of your NRIC, your child’s birth certificate and your bank book (page with account name and number)/latest bank statement – Cord Blood Banking box (Not everyone believes in this, and if you choose not to bank your baby’s cord blood, please do ask your gynae about how you can go about donating it. There’s an application form that you need to fill out a few weeks BEFORE you deliver. We used Cordlife, but I can’t remember why we chose it.)
For Baby
– Going home outfit (This is optional, as most hospitals will provide your baby with the top, and a swaddle cloth.) – Car seat (We brought this, and foolishly brought our baby home in it, even though he was so tiny, and couldn’t even be strapped in. The experienced mummies all told me that I should have just carried him instead. Oops.)
Noah in his car seat for the very first time
For Mummy
– Handphone – Handphone charger – Camera – Spare camera battery and charger – Comb and hair rubberbands – Shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel (usually provided by the hospital, unless you are fussy and prefer to use your own) – Toothbrush and toothpaste (also usually provided by the hospital) – Dental floss – Face wash – Nursing bras (depending on how long you plan to stay in the hospital) – Breast pads (I was really optimistic and thought I would have milk immediately after I delivered. Ha. But many of my friends did, so you never know!) – Nursing pyjamas (I wanted to look presentable when visitors came, and bought some pretty ones from Spring Maternity.) – Disposable panties (I’m extremely kiasu, and brought quite a few, because I had heard horror stories of super heavy bleeding (lochia). On hindsight, I didn’t need that many, and even if I ran out of my own disposable panties, I could have purchased them from the hospital. I liked the TMC ones so much that I bought some to wear there too.) – Maternity sanitary pads (You won’t need the whole pack at the hospital, but I couldn’t be bothered to figure out how many pieces I would need, so I brought the whole pack along, even though it took up a lot of space in my bag.) – Sweater – Dress for discharge (I know I’m not Kate Middleton, and that there were no photographers waiting outside the hospital for us, but I still wanted to look decent. For the record, I left in one of my nursing pyjamas, which looked like a normal dress. Please do NOT bring one of your pre-pregnancy outfits, as unless you have super powers, you’ll still have the baby belly after three days. I still have mine after a year.) – Socks (I’m not traditional, and didn’t follow every single one of the confinement rules, so the socks were merely just in case the hospital room got too cold for my liking. I went without them throughout my stay there.) – Breast pump (I didn’t bring mine, and the lactation consultant made C go home to get it for me. You won’t need to sterilise it, unless you’re one of the fortunate few who produce milk immediately after delivery. It’s more to help stimulate your boobs and to get your supply to come in faster. Check out my shopping list on breast pumps below if you want to know which model I got.) – Ring swimming float (I didn’t have this, and it was really, really painful for me to sit or move around after the delivery. KKH provides it, so you don’t have to bring it if you’re delivering there.)
For Daddy
– Camera – Spare camera battery and charger (You are the only person available to take photos of the baby when he/she is born, so make sure you’re prepared. Please also ensure that your camera flash is switched off. I’m not sure why, but we were told by the nurse to do so. Perhaps the newborn’s eyes are too sensitive? Anyway, C was instructed to take a practice shot of the digital clock before I delivered, and when Noah was born, the nurse reminded him to take a photo of the clock too.) – iPad / Laptop (It can get boring while waiting for your wife to give birth to your child. Do note that you should only use these devices to entertain yourself if your wife has had an epidural and is comfortably waiting to be fully dilated, or if she is resting. If she is bored and twiddling her thumbs, feel free to offer a neck massage, and to entertain her in whatever way she wants. Dance if she asks you to.) – Clothes (You’re not the one giving birth, so you can always go home to get more clothes.) – Toiletries (Usually provided by the hospital.)
PS. I use WorkFlowy to create online lists that I can share with anyone and everyone. It’s quite simple and user-friendly, so if you’re looking for a website/app to create or share to-do lists, do check it out.
PPS. Did I miss out anything crucial in this list? Please share your ‘must-have’ items that I’ve missed, okay?
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