1.Time your Contractions. You don’t want to head to the hospital TOO early. They may either send you home or have you labor in an area that is not so comfortable. You should head to the hospital once your contractions are 5-6 minutes apart.
2. Call close family and friends. If you have other children or pets who will need care while you head to the hospital, make those calls sooner rather than later. You will also want to notify those close to you that you are heading to the hospital. Once you arrive, it will be a whirlwind and you might not think to reach out. Better to do it before the craziness sets in!
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3. Make sure you have your birth plan. Chances are, the nurse who helps check you in and get you settled will ask you if you have brought any sort of written birth plan with you. Be sure to get this into your nurses hands as soon as possible! If you do not have a birth plan yet, be sure to grab this free printable Birth Plan written by a labor and delivery nurses.Â
4. Have a snack. Once you arrive at the hospital, there will be no food going into that belly of yours! Eat something light that won’t upset your stomach. Preferable something with good amounts of protein to last you through labor!
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5. Drink Water! Because a cup full of ice chips will be your only option of hydration until baby arrives.
6. Add last-minute items to your hospital bag. Toothbrush. Phone Charger. Camera. Do one quick check over. If you need a better idea of what to pack, be sure to check out the list of the things I really WISH I had thought to pack in my hospital bag, and what items were totally not needed!
7. Snap a photo. I know… you are probably thinking ‘NOW?! I’m in LABOR!’ But if you can manage to capture some of those last moments of your sweet baby in your belly, you’ll be thankful you did. If you are anything like me, you’ll miss that baby bump and will cherish the photos of your time pregnant.
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