Fuzzy robe and slippers...check. Toiletries...check. Nursing bra...check. Hospital forms...check. Baby's bag...check.

For the last few weeks, I have been working on getting my hospital bag packed. You wouldn't think it would take that long, but I've been paying too much attention to all these checklists I receive (online, from friends and from our baby classes). Every time I think I'm ready to get it all contained, there are at least two more things I feel like I need to add. Yes, I'm anal (probably a bad choice of words as you'll understand from the paragraphs that follow), but I feel like getting this task done and getting it done "properly" will help ease some anxiety I've been having lately about not being prepared enough.

One thing that comes up all too often on these checklists is something I've been putting off buying. It's a product that brings me back to a commercial that was on all the time when I was younger. A lit match and a medicated pad...medicated pad smothers lit match...extinguished match...relief. I didn't necessarily know what the pad was for at that time which explains why when Leah and I tried to mimic this commercial with our Noxema facial cleansing pads (drenched in alcohol) and a match, a small fire started. Please do not try it for yourself. The pads may have looked the same, but obviously they weren't made of the same materials. What the commercial was actually for was Tucks medicated pads, and with all I've learned about pregnancy now, I am all too familiar with what they are for. Hemorrhoids. I hate to even write it!

I finally broke down at Target yesterday and bought a box for my hospital bag. It wasn't like I was a man buying a three pack of women's thongs in a triple XL or something but still, I felt so awkward. It's silly I know, but I pulled out every trick to save myself any shame. I purposely bought them on a day I did a major shopping at the store. I made sure to have plenty of items in my cart so I could hide them at the back of it in case I ran into anyone I knew. I picked the lane with the nice checkout lady that could possibly put it together that the only reason I was getting these things was because I was pregnant. I set the box on the belt and stacked a few things on top, all while trying not to be too obvious that I was completely bashful about buying them. And seriously, couldn't they make a smaller sized box than a pack of 100?

I don't even have hemorrhoids (I hope you're reading this, nice checkout lady)! But, like a good student of pregnancy knows, I've succumbed to the fact that I may become a victim during my delivery (since fortunately it has not happened up until this point). I'm sorry for bringing up the topic, but sadly it is a fact of several pregnant women's lives. (When I started this blog, didn't I apologize for giving too much information? Yes, I did.) I am really hoping buying these pads in advance though will mean I'm one of the lucky ones and they'll go to waste. However, what I have heard that they are also useful for is the cooling feeling they bring (how can I say this...) on the front end during the days after giving birth. So if that's why the package gets opened, I'm OK with that.


Hey, anything to relieve discomfort, which brings me to another subject for anyone wondering. If I am in pain and there is something that can help me feel better, I am not opposed. This means that I will get an epidural if I need it and will not feel the need to be a champion for any "I am woman, hear me roar" causes. I salute all you stronger women out there who are 100% certain about going the natural route, but if I am roaring, give me the drugs. We'll see what happens!