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Things you wish you knew

My godsends before/ during labour

So I had many lists when packing my hospital bag of the essentials e.g. maternity pads, variety of vest sizes and clothes for Alex, loose clothing for me, wipes, nappies (just to name a few). But my godsends were:
**Since COVID we weren’t allowed to leave the room, so everything we had, that was it**
- Exercise ball (the hospital had them so I didn’t need to take my own), it was all I could sit on during my contractions! I would lie down but cried to be up. The bouncing, moving really really did help.
- Snacks, when I wasn’t being sick or needing water I wanted snacks. I only packed healthy snacks and I really just wanted a bit of chocolate or my favourite food 😪
- TENS machine, I’m not sure how much it worked but I definitely think it took the edge of the already painful contractions.
- Lip balm, during labour my lips were soooo dry because of the gas and air so please take lip balm 😬
- Baby outfit, I’m not sure if it was the nerves or the fact it all happened quite quickly but my baby’s outfit was still in my bag when he arrived! My partner was going through the bag whilst our baby was wrapped in blankets. I was being operated on so couldn’t help, but I felt awful that I didn’t have his clothes out ready. We got there eventually but I would have wanted them out prepared if I could do it again.

If this has been helpful I can put my hospital list on too ☺️