I had all that stuff in my bad too, including:

- Travel size shampoo and body wash. Hospital stuff gets ya clean, but it doesn't smell delightful.
- Pen and notepad. You never know what you might wanna write down
- Camera, but I assume that's a given
- Bobby pins. There's nothing worse than having your hair in your face when you've got work to do.

And just a word of caution: if you're bringing your own pads, make sure they're really really big ones. Just sayin'.

@gwenstylez - 

word. i got some monster size fuckers. i've had to wear the stuff they use in the mat ward before and the things i have are the same size? but gasp! THEY DON"T FEEL LIKE BRICKS IN YER UNDERWEAR!!! and they don't have to be worn with mesh underwear. seriously. i've already lost all my privacy. i at least want something comfortable to wear. also - hair clips - excellent. i hate hair in my face. and yes to the soaps. might be comforting to have my own stuff as well. thanks dude. wouldn't have thought of these, but they're good to have.

@gwenstylez - 

stephen's in charge of tech stuff. camera(s) will be charged, will have extra batteries, etc. he's already thoguht of that stuff. he's good.

A couple of things I highly suggest in case you stay overnight like I did:

- scratch gloves for baby (you'd be amazed how long their nails can be right after birth, and they'll do a number on themselves without them)
- a small portable fan if you have one... my hormones went sky-high during and after labour, and I overheated soooo bad. That fan was a lifesaver.
- gatorade/powerade... the perfect stuff to replenish lost electrolytes. If you get an IV, they'll take it out early if you drink that stuff.
- slip-on, no-slip slippers! I hate those crappy blue hospital booties.

Hope that helps :)

@neko_nog - 

moccasins will be had. also, gatorade is a good tip. i don't like not being able to move freely and i'm REALLY hoping for a HELL NO grade on the strep b, here. i mean, anyone would, of course, but yeah. i'll bring a bottle of that just for me, afterwards. i didn't know about scratch gloves... do you think they'd have something like that there? i did notice them on dante... i can't remember, was he really late? i know you went over your due date but i can't recall by how much. did you know that stephen's brother went over his due date by like, three and a half weeks?!?! all of them were almost two weeks over i think. jesus christ. baby? you listnin? you come out early as you can coz you can come any time now. and pls to not have a head circumference like your dad and nanacat k thx. the fan we can grab if we need it from home, but i think it should be fine otherwise, they probably have something that will work there. the beauty of a small hospital.

@WhiskeyJac - 

Yeah... Danté was a week late... and his nails weren't TOO bad, but they were long enough to give himself a few good scratches. You're not supposed to cut their nails for the first month at least, because they're so close to the quick you can cut the baby's fingers easily. But they peel off 'cause they're so soft. Still... I made Marco run to Sears the day he was born because he just kept scratching himself. They came in really handy. If you don't have any, even a spare set of socks on her hands should do the trick ;)

@neko_nog - 

ohhh, were those scratches on his face from his nails?! i thought forceps maybe but jeeze. poor baby. poor mama, baha. my mom used to just bite our nails off. i think i would be too nervous to use a nail clipper until they were much older, i will probably do the same. COZ I"M A DIRTY HIPPIE

@WhiskeyJac - 

no no.. the ones in the pics were the forceps, haha. The ones he gave himself were mostly small ones on his cheeks and arms... nothing too bad, but still, you won't want ANYTHING hurting your brand new little baby, haha. I was seriously over-protective, lol.

@neko_nog - 

no kidding who wouldn't be. and thank god, i was horrified for a minute there - baby nails can do THAT?!? doesn't take much to freak me out baha