Mommies - April 2014

Sorry - just another tip - take dark towels & face cloths with - you are going to bleed and a white towel (or any light colour for that matter) is not the best colour.

If you are going for a C-section insist that you want the catheter after the spinal

With my daughter I bought brand new navy towels - washed them out once and I was ready to go. After my first shower I had navy fluff all over myself - normally happens with new towels but I never though of it - wash the towels a couple of times or tumble dry them before packing.

For the first two weeks or so I turned the baby vests inside out when dressing my daughter - just to avoid a scratchy seam from irritating her

* Saline nose drops - there is a sample in the Discovery bag

Please feel free to add anything else

Wina - here is a couple of lists on what to pack for the hospital

THE HOSPITAL BAG CHECKLIST -
(www.parent24.com/Pregnant/think_about/Ho...ag-for-real-20130619)

Suitcase – take a dinky one with roller wheels, trust me on this

Identity document
Copy of medical aid certificate
Registration of Newborn forms (can usually be downloaded off your medical aid’s website)
Black pen (for filling out forms)
iPad, plus charger
Camera, plus charger or batteries
Spectacles + glasses case (because hospital TVs are teeny tiny)
Earphones

3 x PJ tops (with buttons down the front, so you can pop out a boob to breastfeed)
3 x PJ bottoms (dark-coloured in case you are bleeding)
5 x maternity bras (the kind with a clip on each cup)
5 x pairs of comfy cotton panties
Slippers and gown
Going-home outfit

Shower gel
Face wash and moisturiser
Fluffy towel and facecloth (plus a plastic bag to put a wet face cloth in)
Hairbrush and hairbands, scrunchies, clips
Very basic make-up: power foundation, mascara, lip balm
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Antiperspirant (don’t take your perfume!)
Breast pads and nipple cream
Maternity pads (those giant ones with loop thingies)
Linen protectors

Toiletries for baby – the pharmacy in your hospital usually pre-packs everything you need for baby into a single bag that you can buy. My hospital just gives you a bag of sample-size baby goodies for free

Wet wipes
Packet of newborn (size 1) nappies
5 x baby outfits

Snacks! Gummy bears, cola-flavoured Mentos, whatever
Plus, one or two juice boxes or bottles of water

•Do I need to tell you that you need to do pre-admission at your hospital a couple of weeks before your baby is due? Cause those nurses won’t care if your baby is halfway out your va-jay-jay if you haven’t filled in all the paperwork yet.
•Save your medical aid number and pre-authorisation number to your phone for easy reference. You’ll be surprised how many times you’ll need it.
•Take off your wedding ring and other jewellery and leave at home.
•Camera tips: Obviously make sure it’s charged before the birth, check that you have enough space on the SD card, and get permission beforehand from the gynae to take photos.
•Photo tips: 1) If your man insists on uploading a photo of your goop-covered newborn to Facebook as it leaves the birth canal, for goodness sake make sure he checks that your nether regions are not in the pic. 2) If you feel naked without your make-up, just know that every second cousin and drinking buddy in your social circle will be taking photos of your bloated face and uploading that shizz. This is why it’s good if you’re at a hospital where they have a viewing window so that your man can display your new cub Lion King style, instead of you receiving visitors.
•Write down your baby’s name. On a piece of paper. Don’t laugh; when my husband told me he’d gone ahead and filled in the birth registration forms for Home Affairs for Ryan, I had a moment of panic when I realised we hadn’t talked about how we’d be spelling his middle name ‘Sebastian’. (PS: He spelled it correctly.)
•Download a couple of digital magazines or eBooks to your iPad to keep you occupied while recovering (have you tried The Bundle?). You can even load some episodes of your flavour-of-the-month TV series, and take earphones. I’m thinking Girls season 2 for me.
•Do not make eye contact with the tannie in the bed next to yours unless you’re sure you’ll get along. Otherwise you’re stuck making polite chit-chat to her for the next 72 hours.
•Why no perfume? Because you’ll probably go off the one you wore while you were pregnant. Also, baby needs to smells your skin.
•A note on baby outfits: take a mix of newborn size and 0-3 month size, in case your baby comes out bigger than expected.
•If you are a wash-your-hair-every-second-day kind of girl, forget it. There’s no washing hair in hospital. Slick it back into a ponytail and don’t give it a second thought.
•Snacks. No one tells you to take a secret stash of snacks! Hide them well in your hospital bag, as you’ll be conked out when you come back from the delivery room, and the nurses will have been scrounging around in your bag for a set of clothes for baby. No chocolates that can melt or anything that will leak.
•There are two types of nurses: grim, no-nonsense types. And (strangely often) big-bosomed cheerful types. Slip the second type a little something from your snack stash. Think of it as a down-payment on renting her bosom to cry on when those third-day blues touchdown.
•Take a really plush, glamorous gown. I’ll never forget when I had Travis in Parklane, there was an Indian mommy there who had just had her third baby. She swanned around the maternity ward in a silky, flower-print gown looking fabulous.
•Don’t leave the hospital without two things – your baby’s immunisation card, and confirming what is happening with regards to registering your sprog at Home Affairs. Most private hospitals do the latter for you and you can pick up the birth certificate a few days later.
•For your going home outfit, make sure it’s something loose-fitting, like sweatpants with a top you’d have worn mid-pregnancy as you’ll still have a post-baby bump. For instant going-home-with-a-celebrity-baby glam al la E! Entertainment, add some oversized sunnies and a wrap scarf.
Tips sent in from Twitter moms
•Birth plan
•Lipstick
•Ear plugs
•Alarm - to remind you to feed 3/4 hourly
•6-pack of apple juice, if you get sick of H20
•Telament drops (for formula bottles)
•Dry hair shampoo
•Two-point plug
•Breastfeeding pillow and breastpump (although our hospital supplies these)
•Blanket for baby
•Nail polish remover, in case your doc thinks French or clear polish is a no-no
•Small bag of salt (for a healing salt bath)
•Vodka (this made me cackle)

Morning Ladies

Hope you are all well?

Jay - the only info I can find on Google re ready mix formula is that it is for now only available for ages 1-3 years - this is the blog that I found regarding this - www.harassedmom.co.za/tag/ready-to-feed-formula/

Wina - the telephonic booking (with Discovery) was to get your "pre-authorisation nr" for 1) the Discovery bag; 2) when you book your bed. Your dr will tell you when you can book your bed - normally from 22 weeks. You will go to the hospital and at Admin they will give you forms to fill in with your "pre-authorisation nr". The day that you go to the hospital to have your baby there will be a couple of forms but not as much as when you book your bed. Also with Netcare once you book your room you can book your 4D scan.

Pregnant Fairy - hope you are well?

Goggatjie - congrats again on team blue

Stella; MakatK; Hasie - hope you are all well

AFM - not much happening - just the normal Silly Season rush at work

Have a great day Ladies

They provide baby clothes, just bring going home outfit. Netcare kuilsriver. When i was at my appointment last week, doctor gave me card to take to hosptal and a forn to complete. By that the time i left dotcors rooms, the person who does bed booking was gone home already, they said i needed to come back the next day. I thought let me skip a few days before galavanting, as i don't put in leave to go for my appointments

Wow Jay what hospital are you at again? I think its just normal formula? I've never heard of ready made formula either. And what about baby clothes? You didn't mention that.

How did you do this kind of booking and the rest of us did the telephonic booking?

I'm confused.

Hi Ladies
Just come from booking my hospital bed, bed is booked. 3D scan booked for the 14th Jan same day as my appointment.
They gave me list of the things that i must bring for me and baby:
Baby
Aqueous cream
Cotton wool
Cotton buds
Vaseline non perfumed
Wet wipes
Surgical spirits
1 pACK disposable nappies
Marked bottle, teats and 6 cartons of ready mix newborn baby formula( infacare gold if you plan to bottle feed ( never heard of ready made formula)

Mom
Medical aid card
netbaby passport
id
feeding bras
maternity pads
nipple cream
slippers
toiletries
strecth panties
Linen savers x5
Pjs

What is this ready made formula mix? anybody ever used that?

Goggatjies, so glad that the scan went well. and congrats on team blue those are lovely pics.
enjoy the plannig for this little guy

Makat, Jay congrats on winnig those hampers

apart fraom being very busy at work, thing are going well. i just have the most terrible back ache since yesterday.

big hug to all of you