I think, depending on your insurance, using the things the hospital provides is better than bringing & using your own (like toothpaste, pads, creams). Our insurance required us to pay 20% for these items so I used as much of my own as I could, but some insurance companies cover a blanket amount for hospital births. I really liked the huge mamba-jamba pads they have at the hospital for those first few days of gushing. Ack.
Our hospital provided almost everything we needed, though. I can't think of one thing we had to have that they did not give us or would have provided us with. Good thing since I was apparently in labor when I showed up to my 36 week checkup and the OB sent me right over, and Truman was born 2 hours later.
Best of luck to all the expecting mommies! This thread is making me miss pegnancy.... I better stop reading.
I hardly needed any of it when DS was born!
