Beyond The Kitchen #5: Nurse Gifts!

As a continuation of Y's birthday week celebrations at itsy bitsy balebusta, what better way to celebrate than a post all about gifts?

In my last post, I described how M had to run home to get our bags. Well there was a very special bag that he brought along with everything else, that I'd made sure to prep and set aside!

I had a wonderful experience with our hospital from our very first appointment. From patient and sensitive doctors, to a very sweet receptionist who made me look forward to every appointment, I really loved my entire experience! Given these interactions, I was confident that the nurses and doctors present when the big day came, would also be amazing.

I wasn't wrong!

I wanted to mark our baby's "birth" day with a token of gratitude to those who helped bring him into the world. I prepared four gift bags with an array of items ranging from practical things I thought our nurses would appreciate as well as little treats. I didn't want to go too crazy with it, since for starters the weather was awful and at 8 months pregnant I couldn't stand being out for so long in crowded stores! Also, I knew we'd basically be bringing the entire apartment with us when the time came and asking M to carry gift bags on top of everything else wasn't fair! So four small bags it was!

Since we didn't know the gender of the baby, and the hospital had the word "Sunny" right in its name, we opted for neutral bright yellow bags with silver dots!

Each bag contained*:

• One glossy lip balm
• One mini bottle of hand cream
• One mini bottle of hand sanitizer
• A mini package of tissues
• Three chocolate truffles (obviously, it's not a gift unless there's chocolate involved).
• Three bags of tea (Pomegranate, Cinnamon Vanilla & Strawberry)

Even though it wasn't much, the nurses were incredibly sweet and grateful. We gave one to the nurse who was with me the entire night I was in labor (but who's shift was unfortunately over before Y arrived), one to each of the two nurses present for the delivery and one to the nurse we had overnight. They were so touched at the thought of being remembered and celebrated on our baby's special day, that one of them even kept saying, "but for me? Why??" and just stared at the bag!

These nurses helped get me through one of the most physically challenging days of my life. They pushed me, were supportive, smiled and reassured me every time I asked, "it's gotta happen soon, right?" made me laugh and literally held me when I panicked. These women switch shifts and run back and forth and push themselves so hard and the thought that we'd let them leave our room without knowing how much we appreciated their involvement and effort, wasn't an option!

Here are some notes of what I'd change or include now, in hindsight!

• More gifts! I really thought 4 would be enough, but given the fact that I was in labor for 26 hours and in the hospital an additional day and a half for recovery, we were unfortunately short on gifts! I think 6 or 8 would have been a more suitable number to prepare!
• It wasn't the easiest thing to carry M's backpack, my overnight bag, the baby's diaper bag and the bag with all the gift bags around the hospital as we moved from hallway to hallway, to triage, to finally being admitted! Preparing a bunch of gift cards (in small but reasonable denominations) to one of the coffee shops in the hospital is a great alternative. Fits easily into the overnight bag and is one less thing to schlep around on an already chaotic day!
• One basket in your room for nurses and staff to take from is another alternative! Be careful with food, some hospitals have policies that they only accept prepackaged items, with any status or allergy information clearly labelled! Picking up coffee, donuts, muffins etc from one of the cafes in the hospital is another option! 

Thank you to all of the incredible nurses, staff and doctors who make this experience so much easier, less scary and as comfortable as possible for families everyday!

*I purchased all of the items in the bags independently. None of the brands or products visible in the image, are associated with this blog or sponsored in any way!

*Check out the Beyond The Kitchen tab for more posts on the ups and downs of my adventures, what I'm learning as I go along, tips and tricks that make our lives easier/ keep the home together, and my milestones as a Mommy, a wife and an itsy bitsy balebusta!