Hospital Prep for the Type-A Lady: Part 1 (Templates Included)

Baby is almost to 24 weeks gestation!! Yay! With viability just around the corner, it is time for this mum to get started prepping. 

As I've said before, I'm pretty "Type-A". I am a person who feels more calm when I am in more control. The unknown makes me nervous (so, you can imagine this whole pregnancy thing has me going a little crazy!). I also know that some people are less inclined to be organized, or don't know where to start when it comes to prepping for a hospital visit. As both a single lady who has done hours of research on hospital prep, as well as a medical provider myself, I'm going to attempt to make this hospital prep something everyone can do:

I'm going to make this a 3-part series:

Prepping Papers (how to make sure your hospital check-in and home care are both well covered)

Prepping Bags (what to take TO the hospital)

Prepping Plan (how to make a birth plan that works for both you and your healthcare providers)

Today we are going to talk about prepping papers: AKA: What you can do in advance to make sure that both your hospital check in and your home care (if people are staying at your house/caring for your things) run smoothly. 

First of: Your medical information

This is one of the easiest things you can do that can make the biggest difference in your check-in at the hospital/birthing center. Provide your medical information. By having this all typed up, it allows you to focus on your labor, and not answering questions about your history. It also reduces the chance of you forgetting something important (aka: medication allergy) due to pain/distraction. 

As a former ER nurse who has checked in hundreds of patients, here is the info I find most helpful on a medical information sheet: 

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Your primary care provider
• Your Obstetrician 
• Your Perinatologist (if applicable)
• Your insurance provider (don't worry, as a laboring woman if you forget your insurance card hospitals in the US with Emergency Room services are still required to care for you). 
• Your emergency contact 
• Your medical history (Hypertension, High Cholesterol, Asthma, Gestational Diabetes, Preeclampsia, and bleeding disorders are all appropriate things to list).  
• Your surgical history (joint surgeries, abdominal surgeries, anything beyond basic stitches goes here)
• Your current medications (include name, dose, and frequency)
• Medication Allergies: (include name and reaction) NOTE: nausea/vomiting is not technically an allergy, however it can still be listed as an intolerance-just be sure to list the reaction. Listing something as an allergy when it is really an intolerance can have terrible, terrible consequences. It takes a tool from the medical professionals trying to help you. Yes, nausea and vomiting are ZERO fun, but medication can be given to counteract that. Sometimes the drugs that work the best are the meanest. *I now step down from my nurse soapbox*
• Your last menstrual period
• Your estimated due date

If you'd like, I've also made a template for a basic medical information sheet here. Italics or asterisks should be replaced with appropriate names and numbers. 

Next up: Your Home Plan

My family all lives out of town, and will be staying at my house while I am in the hospital. They will also be in charge of taking care of my fur baby, Brody:

Brody is an 8-year-old Border Collie/Boxer mix. He is the most stable man in my life ;-)

Needless to say, taking care of him is very important to me, so I like to leave detailed instructions. I have sent this out to all of "my people": Immediate family and best friend.  

So...I also think a short document of house and childcare do's and don'ts is within reason. On my home plan, (template here) I have included: 

• Important phone numbers (hospital, OB, perinatologist, doula, emergency contacts, work, daycare)
• Alarm code 
• Hospital bag info
• Spare key info
• WiFi Password 
• Food and other random info (aka: where to find linens)
• Honey-do list (take advantage of this time to have other people tidy the house before you return home. This will also allow my siblings/dad to do something useful without being in the delivery suite.)

Whew-you've done a couple of things that will make your life easier! Great job!

Now...where to put these lovely new documents, you ask? 

I have a pretty sweet folder I have been keeping all of my info in, and I highly recommend you spend the $5 to purchase one for yourself. As I will be travelling several hours to attend one of my baby showers, and earlier in my pregnancy was out of state twice, I wanted a place to keep all of my papers (especially since medical documents are notoriously slow to get). In this folder, I have several sections, including: 

• Check-In Info (this is where your Medical Information Sheet should go, as long as a copy of your birth plan. 
• Doula Info
• Medical Records (sono reports, perinatologist consultations)
• Hospital Bills

Now you can just toss your folder in with your hospital bags, and you will be good to go!

I hope you guys found this helpful, and maybe for those other Type-A ladies out there, this can give you something productive to do to help you relax!