hi,

thought some of you might find it useful to hear the things i found useful during my labour:

during birth:

my tens machine - i dont know if it was because Sophia was back to back but nobody was taking that off me! i wanted a waterbirth but no chance with my tens, the boost button (elle) was perfect.

straws for drinks - my birth was long and having drinks given to me through a straw was good. just wish i'd got the bendy ones

pethadine - as i said i wanted a water birth therefore wasnt supposed to have this but it felt sooo good. it made me sleepy but made the contractions so much more bareable for the first few hourrs and calmed me down.

listening to the midwives - i couldnt have done it without listening to them calming me down and helping me visualise "breathing my baby out" and telling me to keep pushign and how well i was doing. i was begging for a general anesthetic and c section and they kept calm and didnt give it to me ( a good thing in the end as i've only got episiotomy stiches now and not recovering from a general anesthetic and c section).

on the ward after - having enough clothes for baby. within 24 hours i used 3 sleepsuits (she was sick on two as she had alot of mucus on her chest). oh and we needed to go to the hospital shop and get more scratch mitts and hats as i only had 1 pair of SM's and 2 hats whcih we went through
post labour:

as i've got an infection in my stiches and prob womb - tea tree oil in bathes has been so soothing

we didnt do it but homemade meals in freezer would've been great. luckily we've had parents bring them over but they're a godsend. you literally have no time for quite a while (i'm suprised i've found this long)

enough muslin squares (10 isnt enough for us)

loads of newborn babygrows (white makes washing easier)

outfits are useless - anything fussy to put on is not worth the hassle at the moment

EDIT:

loooads of maternity pads if you have stitches - you need th e thick ones and wont want to wait for them to be full before changing as you need to keep the area dry and clean.

also larger sized disposable pants - i'd go to 2 sizes bigger than your pre birth size at least

anyway, hope this is helpful for some. obviously you'll all have your own different labour to mine but this was what i was greatful for

Thanks muchly! Some good tips there

Thanks very helpful

are u allowed to plug phone chargers in in hositals? i dunno whether to pack it or not....

Very helpful thanks xx

Technically no, as they need to be checked first by the hospitals technicians to make sure they aren't a fire hazard, and also so they don't conflict with any machines.

However I'm sure you could sneak one in

i always let my patients have theirs. research shows that mobiles dont cause problems with the machinery anymore.

That was very helpful.Thank you xxx

thanks this is really helpful

I have been thinking about stocking up the freezer with things that can be taken out for dinners for the 1st week. When i used to travel out of the UK durning the week i used to bake once a month lasagnas, chillis, bags with roasted veg which can be just left to defrost overnight and chuck into a roasting dish with some chicken breasts and parboiled small potatoes. Family is all over an hour and a half away so there not going to be popping up with food but we have 10 take aways all under a mile away which we can use in emergencies.

Straws are a good tip i will add these onto the Ikea shopping list as you can get some bendy ones cheap there

Husband and I have the same phone (or will do after christmas) so if i get kept in and they dont allow a charger then he can charge his battery at home or in the car and swap with mine