Prior to heading to the Hospital for the delivery of your child, the Daddy should have his bag packed. In most cases the time spent in the hospital is only a few days, but sometimes it may be longer such as when a Cesaritaion Section must be performed as was our case.
The military hospital that we gave birth to our child in allowed the daddy to spend the nights in the hospital room with the mother. There was no gift shop or shopette in our hospital, so I found that the following items were a welcome addition to my daddy bag.
Personal Hygiene Items:
- Toothbrush
- Tooth Paste
- Deodorant
- Razor and Shaving Cream or Electric Razor.
Clothing:
- Underwear
- T-Shirts
- Shorts or Pants
- Something to sleep in while in the hospital room
Miscellaneous:
- Reading material
- Call Card for making long-distance calls from the hospital room
- A list of phone numbers of people that you would like to contact to announce the birth
- Contact information for your chain of command if you are military
- Snacks
- Drinks such as bottled water, soda or juices for when the dining facility is not open.
** If you are military an plan on taking leave after the birth of your child, check with your chain of command to see how they would go about approving the leave form. Some units may allow you to submit a signed leave form without dates written in. This will allow them to add in the dates once the child is born and you want have to worry about rushing to your unit to submit a leave form immediately after the child is born. Although the excitement at the time of birth is immense, remember to keep your chain of command informed of the birth and to verify that you are still able to take the leave that you requested.
