Hospital expenses

[jIM_Ohio]

Not talking about insurance costs or the actual charges the doctors, labs or hospital charges, I am talking about the incidentals.

My wife has been in hospital for weeks now (at risk of giving premature birth to twins, been in since Feb 4 or 5).

We have had to purchase
books
humidifier for room
food (water, candy, meals, snacks)

I have brought from home:
blankets, pillows, egg crate (to make mattress softer), clothes, toilet paper and hygiene supplies.

Curious- if any of you have had a prolonged hospital stay, what types of things did you need to buy for additional comfort?

[sweeps]

Things to make you feel productive--

- Sewing supplies (needles and yarn)
- Laptop or notepad and paper for doing work
- Stationary, greeting cards, envelopes, stamps (catch up on letters and cards to people)
- Pictures and albums (catch up on labeling pictures, putting them into albums, etc.)
- Materials for researching baby items like cribs, car seats, baby monitors, etc.
- Vacation material (plan a future vacation)

[PrincessPerky]

Sorry to hear about your wifes troubles, I hope all the rest helps!

food is the only extra cost we ever had (as in bringing decent food to the one in the hospital and buying convenience food for the one traveling back and forth and trying to work and ect.)

[Spud]

I was admitted to the hospital during my pregnancy for high blood pressure -- just one night though. After that they put me on modified bedrest... so I wasn't in the hospital, but I was told to not do anything I didn't have to. I spent a LOT of time sitting/laying on the couch. I started a cross-stitch project -- a stocking for my baby. I used a bunch of 40% off JoAnn's coupons (find them in the local sunday paper), and bought these:
Christmas Angel Stocking
Stitchbow Travel Bag to organize thread & project
A hoop, extra needles, needle threaders

I also couldn't live without my Snoogle.

Does your wife have a DVD player her room? Maybe a NetFlix subscription for these few months would be some $$ well spent.

I hope your wife is keeping her spirits up. Please let us know how she's doing.

[Broken Arrow]

Spud, I thought you were a guy this entire time....

I don't remember much from my hospital stays, even though my ex had to have a C-section for our 3rd child.... I remember bringing our laptop and playing games on it together until she felt too tired. I remember the ethernet jacks having internet access, and that helped a lot too because we were both net junkies. I also remember hospital food being ridiculously priced, and unless it couldn't be helped, we avoided that at all cost.