Question:
I started laying stuff out for it around 37w. I packed everything up themorning of my 40w0d appt. My water broke 2 hours after my appt. I thinkthat I packed way too much stuff. I didn't need anything that I brought forthe labor part.

Answer: I am so reminded of God's blessings just to read posts like this fromyou!

When I had Maya, we were given a huge plastic tub *full* of stuff, lotsof it advertisements, but some neat stuff--all kinds of samples, areceivingblanket, 2 medium sized vinyl (?) diaper bags (green Peter Rabbit one weuse all the time now), a huge bottle of formula (we gave that away). Ontop of that,I was given several pair of disposable undies, made from some kind ofstretchy net material, a huge bag of pads (those horrible bulky kinds),and a couple of packages of those thingies you put under you that arewhite paper on top and blue plasticon bottom to keep you from bleeding through...as far as things to take,I spent*months* planning and packing, and got to use very little. I had takensome crossword puzzle books, the newspaper, some crocheting, a specialmusic tape I made with my favorite relaxing Christian songs on it--allwent by the wayside becauseI just plain never had a moment by myself!!! My DH had his cousin (whogets on my nerves most of the time) there, and he kept turning off mymusic and switching to a radio station, and kept wanting to talk (thiswas in the morning before my water broke, things were going really slowwith my induction), the doula kept giving me tips and advice, DH wasgetting on my nerves, nurses kept coming in every few minutes to checkone thing or another, doula kept unhooking me from the monitorsto get up and go to the bathroom as much as possible...oy, I didn't geta moment'speace! If God ever blesses me again, and things are going normallywith thepg, when the time comes I am going to find a cave somewhere BY MYSELFand deliver the baby on my own! LOL! I never knew childbirth was such acommunity effort!As far as what to take--take things you might take if you were making aweekendtrip somewhere and could only take a carryon bag...I also took somebottled waterand snacks not only for DH (who was too excited to eat anyway) but forme as well,I remember telling the nurse when we arrived if I was thirsty or hungry,I wanted to be able to eat or drink something, quite adamantly. Herresponse? "Okay, whatever!" I felt a *little* empowerment overthat, at least. FWIW, I'm not a big makeup person, so I didn't take anything likethat--I hadwanted to wear contacts to look good in pictures but my pg changedmy eyesand I had to wear my old lady glasses. Make sure you have shampoo,conditioner, deoderant, toothbrush, mouthwash (those new Listerinebreathfreshener things are good, and don't take up any room), slippers. I tookafew new gowns, but never wore them after the birth, because of thebleeding,and they provided all the gowns I needed