My favorite things to take to the hospital when having a baby

I am about three and a half weeks away from my due date so as I was thinking about getting my bags packed for the hospital I decided I would put together a post of some of my favorite things to take to the hospital when I have a baby. Everyone is different so maybe not everything on my list will be on your list but I thought sharing my favorites, might be helpful to especially first time moms, and maybe those of you who already have kids but are planning on having more will see something you’ll want to pack for next time. New babies are so wonderful and packing these things together really makes it feel real. I am getting so excited for our little girl to get here.

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For Baby:

The hospital will have most of the things for the baby but there will be a few things you’ll want to take.

Outfit for baby (or 2): I like to take a couple of outfits. The hospital will usually let you put them in clothes you bring shortly after they are born if you want to and you’ll need an outfit to take the baby home in.  My three year old can’t get over the fact that this baby is naked in my stomach; she is sure she has at least a swimming suit on.  She will be so happy when we put some clothes on this baby;).

Diaper bag: you don’t really need diapers, the hospital will provide you with some.  Take advantage of this since really you paid for them, but you will want a bag to put all the babies stuff in. I am so excited to try this skip hop diaper bag (mine’s a different print than the link – you can check out the link on amazon if you want to see what they look like and read the reviews).  Right now I am using a petunia pickle bottom diaper bag (the colors are a little different than this one) and I have really liked it but I am excited to try this new one – I’ll have to let you know if it becomes one of my favorites. I like to get a new diaper bag when I have a new baby, something about squished cheerios, fruit snacks, granola bars etc. in the bottom of my bag that motivates me to buy something clean and new.

Swaddle Blankets: I can’t say enough good things about these swaddle blankets.  There are lots of different brands, these are swaddle designs but I love aden and anais ones too and I have heard good things about the Hudson brand. They started to get popular a little over 3 or so years ago and I have used them with my last 2 kids and LOVE them.  My 18 month old only carries these around; he loves them. I’ll do another post on them another day to give you more details but they are perfect for swaddling those tiny babies, a favorite for sure.

Pacifiers: I think they have some there but I like to bring my own so I get to choose what kind they get attached to. I really like the MAM kind which are orthodontic approved.  My last couple of kids have taken well to them plus I think they are cute so I stick with what works for us but there are so many different kinds out there; pick what works best for you.

Onesies: I always buy new undershirts for my babies; they get so grungy after one kid so I buy new ones every time. I always like to put onesies on my babies. A lot of places carry onesies: Wal-mart, Target, Carter’s store etc.

Wipes: You don’t need to bring these they will have some there but I always like to have wipes so I stuck some in my bag, plus the hospital usually uses ones you have to get wet before using which aren’t my favorite. I do love these new wipes clutches, (don’t buy them on amazon they are a lot cheaper at Wal-Mart or Target). They are cute and easy to refill plus they have a handle on them if you need to slip them on your wrist or attach them to a stroller etc. They aren’t super durable but they work great for on the go.  Even if you don’t have babies, wipes are essential. I will buy them and have them on hand forever; they are a go to item for me often, not for just wiping bums:).

Car seat: don’t forget this or the hospital won’t let you take your baby home until you bring one.

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For Mom:

Your own blanket: I am a blanket snob so I really like to bring my own, plus it makes it feel more like home instead of a hospital (I know I am weird but blankets do that for me, I have 7 almost 8 kids and I am still attached to a blanket, my kids have no hope). You don’t have to bring a blanket, they will have some there I just like my buttery soft one to snuggle with).

Zip up hoodie, yoga pants, pj’s or comfy outfit: you will want something comfy to wear, especially when you go home.

Nursing bra: (if you plan on nursing) Motherhood is my favorite place to get my nursing bra’s at.

Travel size shampoo, conditioner and lotion: the hospital usually has shampoo but not conditioner. I just feel safe if I bring my own stuff. I take some we have saved from hotel stays or you can buy some travel sized ones.

Chapstick: It’s so nice to have if your lips get so dry like mine do. We LOVE EOS at our house but I’ll do another post on this one and give you the details as to why I like this kind but take whatever kind you want:).

Brush or comb and hair ties, anything you’ll need to fix your hair and makeup: It is so nice after a baby to shower, put a little makeup on and fix your hair, it will make you feel like a new person.

Toothbrush and Tooth paste: you’ll want to brush your teeth:).

Hand sanitizer: when 7 excited kids come to meet this baby girl I will be glad I packed this. The hospital will have some but I like to have some on had with me too.

Camera and video camera: don’t forget this; you’ll want to take a million pictures and video’s of your sweet baby.  One of my 3 year old’s favorite things to do is watch the home videos of when all the kids were born; she loves it and so will your baby when he/she gets bigger.

A magazine you are excited to read, and a good book or two: (I forgot to include this in the picture but I’ll be bringing a good book for sure).

An iPod: so you can listen to music.  This is so calming especially if your labors are long like mine, and I love good music so it makes things more enjoyable during tense moments.

Snacks/treats: I love bringing a few of my own snacks to snack on.  Our hospital has 24 hour room service but I still like to bring a few snacks of my own plus the Daddy gets super hungry too:).

Flip flops or easy on shoes: in case you want to take a stroll around the hospital (the floors are so dirty there).

Socks: to keep your feet warm. I like to take brand new socks, they just feel so nice and after a baby it’s a good reward right:).

Maxi pads: to your liking if you don’t want to use the huge diaper sized ones they have at the hospital. I usually just use theirs until I get home (but they are HUGE just so you know beforehand). I probably wont take any but if you are picky then I’d take your own.

Nursing pads: my milk never comes in before I leave the hospital so I don’t need these at the hospital but if yours does I’d take some. Lansionoh breast pads are my favorite. I’ve tried a few different kinds and I always come back to these. I’ll do a post on them after I have the baby.

Underwear: if you don’t want to wear the mesh ones they provide. I always use the ones they provide especially on my last which was my only c-section.  The mesh ones saved my life – any regular ones would have hurt my incision so bad (I even wore them after I went home for a while). But if you are picky about underwear then you can take your own.

The End: I am sure I have missed something but hopefully I covered most of it. Happy packing for that wonderful special moment in your life.  The details are important because this will be such a wonderful day so pack beforehand so you aren’t crazy rushing when it’s baby time.

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* I know some people don’t deliver at a hospital and I respect that these are just suggestions to take if you do.  If you deliver at a birthing center you’ll need a lot of the same things and if you deliver at home then everything you need will be right there:).

Plasma car (perfect gift for any age except infant)

Plasma car 2

I cant say enough good things about these fun little cars. I love coming across a toy like this. My kids love them from my 17 month old all the way up to my 13 year old. the little ones just push them with their feet and the older ones figure out how you can ride the car without ever putting your feet on the ground. My kids can ride these around for hours of fun, and I love that they are motored by nothing but feet and arms so they are good exercise. You can go here to see a video, on how kids ride them (look to the upper left). These are super fun and the perfect family gift or gift for any age, except infant. A for sure favorite at any house with kids and maybe even at houses with just adults:). With the 220lb weight limit they can work for adults too which is super fun. I bought mine on a baby steals deal but if I had to do it over I would go to amazon or an official place where they sell the actual plasma car brand. Mine aren’t plasma car brand and one of the wheels on one of ours broke. My husbands mom has the official ones and they have never broken after hours of use.

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I went to the official Plasma Car website, you can’t buy them there it doesn’t look like but you can get information on them there. Amazon sells them here and they come in lots of colors. I do think the price on amazon is pretty good. I think you can get them at some specialty toy stores but they will probably be a bit more pricey. I went to www.target.com and you can order them there as well. I am sure there are lots of places you can purchase them if you want to shop around.

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So for your next child’s birthday you already have the perfect gift to buy, no matter if they are big or small. (please excuse the little boy on the pink plasma car, he has 5 sisters so he uses lots of things that are pink, but obviously by the look on his face he doesn’t seem to mind).

Homemade Yogurt

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I don’t want my chicken post to get drowned out by this yogurt post but a few people have asked me about homemade yogurt and I was eager to share it with you, so if any of you know anything about chickens scroll down one more post and give me your tips on chickens and then hurry and scroll back up and make some delicious homemade yogurt.

This is hands down a huge favorite at this house, I love it, my husband loves it, and my kids LOVE it. I have to thank my sweet friend Mel for this one, she brought me over a quart of homemade yogurt last fall and it was so delicious I decided I better try making it myself, I had tried once before and failed miserably, she gave me the recipe and a few instructions and I decided to give it a go again because the yogurt she gave us was SO good. I tried her recipe and the first time I was successful and I have been making my own yogurt ever since (I make it every Monday, very religiously, someday I’ll share with you my weekly schedule, but another post for another day). I love that this yogurt is so pure and I know exactly what I am feeding my kids it means a lot to me, plus from scratch food is almost always better for you, and it usually tastes so much better too. The good news is making yogurt really isn’t hard, and I mean that, it takes a bit of time but really waiting mostly. You can do it I promise. Here are a few things you’ll need to get started, things that aren’t expensive and once you have them it will make your yogurt making a breeze. You may even have them in your kitchen already. Here’s the list and when you see the recipe you’ll see why you need each one.

  1. A food thermometer, here is the link to the one I have, I know there are a lot nicer ones out there but this works perfect for what I need. I read the reviews and liked the sounds of it plus it was cheap and it hasn’t failed me yet.
  2. Cheese cloth, or I really prefer these nut bags, I have never used cheese cloth because I found these while I was searching for cheese cloth and they got great reviews plus I like that you can make nut milk with them if you want and I have even used them to wring out Zucchini, I really like the endless possibilities, but since we are talking about yogurt here they are perfect for that. I have 2 so I can strain my whole batch of yogurt at the same time.
  3. A large pot like this, this is the one I have but you don’t need to buy this one you just need one that will fit a gallon and a half of milk or even a gallon if you want to make a smaller batch.
  4. 7-8 canning jars hopefully you have these laying around gathering dust and now you have a need for them, but here’s a link if you don’t or you can buy them at your local grocery store. I love, love, love these plastic canning jar lids (which I already did a post on) they are so handy when making yogurt, I like using wide mouth jars but you can use regular if you’d like.
  5. cooler, everyone has a cooler right? If you don’t here’s a link for one, but I am hoping you already have one.
  6. Yogurt starter, the plain Greek yogurt that comes in a 2 pack from Costco works perfect (i’ll post a picture for reference) and once you’ve made the yogurt once you can use that for starter the next time if you’d like. If you don’t have a Costco nearby you can look at your local grocery store for yogurt that doesn’t have anything but milk and live active cultures in it like Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, (weird names like that) you just want milk and those live active cultures in it. Nancy’s brand is a good one too.
  7. Milk, different brands make a difference in taste, my favorite is Costco’s milk but you can use whatever you have on hand or whatever brand you normally buy. I use whole milk when making yogurt, I like my yogurt creamy and I like whole milk for my own reasons, but use 1% or 2% if you’d like, they will both work. I don’t know about nonfat, give it a try and let me know if it works.

Please don’t let the things you need intimidate you, you can do this I know you can. Most of that stuff you probably already have in your kitchen and if you don’t just buy the couple things you need and let’s get started. Here’s the recipe and the step by step process, and then I posted some pictures below to show some of the process.

Homemade Yogurt

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 gallons of milk, I don't measure I just eyeball this (you can do a gallon of milk if you want to make less, a gallon will make roughly 2-3 quarts of yogurt depending on how long you strain it and a gallon and a half will make closer to 4 quarts of yogurt depending on how long you strain it). I always do a gallon and a half or even more sometimes but we have a big family.
  • 1 C of sweeter I prefer using organic cane sugar from Costco (i'll post a picture) but you can use agave, regular sugar, whatever you'd like best to sweeten it with. Reduce the sweetener just a little if you use 1 gallon of milk, I'd say to 3/4 C of sugar.
  • 1 Tablespoon of vanilla (reduce this to 3/4 teaspoon of vanilla if you only use a gallon of milk)
  • 1/2 C of yogurt starter (this can stay the same even if you only use a gallon of milk)

Instructions

  • Pour the milk into a large pot and turn stove on to medium heat, stir often, you don't have to stand there the whole time but be sure to stir often, I have burned the milk before and the yogurt tastes terrible when this happens. Heat the milk to 180 degrees, this is where your thermometer comes in handy. Once the milk is heated to 180 degrees remove it from heat and add the sweeter and vanilla. If you want the yogurt to be plain yogurt, don't add the vanilla or sweetener.
  • Let the milk cool to 120 degrees (again use your thermometer, testing it periodically to know when it has cooled to 120 degrees). After it has cooled to 120 degrees put about a half cup of yogurt starter in a bowl and scoop out one or two cups of the warm milk into the bowl with the yogurt starter whisk until it is smooth and then pour into the pot with the warm milk and whisk all together.
  • Pour the warm milk into 7 canning jars and seal with the plastic or metal lids, make sure they are pretty tight so water doesn't get into the milk. Set the jars in a cooler. Let your tap water run until it is as hot as it will come out of the tap and fill the cooler up to just under the lids of the jars with warm water, the water should be between 120 degrees and 110, if it cools off more than this during the process remove some of the water and put more warm water in, sometimes I microwave some of the water to make it just a bit warmer, not all of it though you don't want it to be to hot. After you pour the water in the cooler shut the lid and let the yogurt incubate for 8-10 hours, checking half way through to make sure the water has stayed warm enough. Once the yogurt has set you can strain it (you can tell when you tilt the jar and you see that the milk has gotten thick, or unscrew the lid and check it, you'll be able to tell).
  • Strain the yogurt, do this by pouring the yogurt in the nut milk bags 3 quarts in one and 4 in the other, I hang the bag from my kitchen hardware on my cabinet doors, but you can hang it anywhere. Strain over a bowl. After about 30 minutes pour the yogurt in a bowl and whisk until desired consistency is reached. pour or spoon the yogurt into clean canning jars and top with a lid. Put the yogurt in the fridge to cool.
  • *The liquid that has strained off the yogurt is whey and I save it most of the time, it is a great substitute for buttermilk or milk in pancakes or waffles or any recipe you would use buttermilk in, just remember it's a little sweet (if you added sweetener to the yogurt) so don't use it in a recipe you don't want a little sweetener in.
http://debsfaves.com/homemade-yogurt/

Here’s some pictures of the process to help you visualize how to do it.

SONY DSCHeat the milk to 180 degrees (okay so I went a little over). After it reaches 180 degrees turn off the heat and move the pot to the counter and add 1 Tablespoon of vanilla and 1 cup of sugar (a picture of the sugar I use is at the bottom of the post I really like this organic cane sugar, it’s a little better for you than regular sugar and it is exceptionally delicious in the yogurt. I got mine at Costco but you can also buy it here on Amazon) or you can use agave or regular sugar. Let the milk cool to 120 degrees. Put half a cup of yogurt starter in a bowl and spoon out some of the warm milk into the bowl, whisk until smooth and pour back into the pot of warm milk and mix.

SONY DSCPour the milk/yogurt starter mixture into 7 canning jars.

SONY DSCPut the Jars in a cooler and fill with as hot of water as you can get out of the tap. Don’t let the water cool to less than 110 degrees curing the incubation process, check it at about hour 3 or 4 and if it has cooled below 110 degrees take out some of the water and add some new warm water. Shut the lid and let the yogurt incubate for 8-10 hours.

SONY DSCOnce the yogurt has set up (it’s pretty obvious when it has set up to check just unscrew the lid and you can see it’s taken on a custard consistency) dump the jars into the nut milk bags to strain for about 30 minutes, longer if you want your yogurt thicker. I can get 4 quarts of yogurt in one bag but it is super full to the top but it works great just be careful when you are dumping in that last one. When it is strained empty the yogurt into a bowl from the bag and stir with a whisk until desired consistency is reached.

SONY DSCSpoon or pour the yogurt back into a clean quart jar and top with a lid and refrigerate. You can top the yogurt with fresh fruit, granola, whatever you’d like. My kids like to mix in homemade strawberry jam, it’s vanilla flavor so it tastes delicious just like that too. Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

This all may seem like a lot of work but really give it a try I mean it when I say it isn’t that hard and it’s so worth it, I don’t have time on my hands to spare and I know you don’t either but I really think you’ll find that this really isn’t that hard and it will be so worth your time.

*one more quick note… What you strain off from the yogurt is Whey, don’t throw this away, it works great in pancakes, waffles, frosting anything where you would use buttermilk just remember it is a little sweet so you don’t want to use it in a recipe where you don’t want a sweet flavor in your buttermilk.

SONY DSCHere’s a picture of the sugar I use, you can get it at Costco, or on Amazon here.

SONY DSCHere’s a picture of the yogurt starter I use, it’s from Costco.

Recipe source www.melskitchencafe.com

You’ll find out quickly that Mel is one of my favorites. I have been following her blog for about 4-5 years now and I LOVE her recipes.