You just found out your pregnant and you are ecstatic to begin this new chapter in your life! Whether you got pregnant on the first try or it took a few years this is truly a magical time.
There are probably so many items on your to do list, try not to get overwhelmed but enjoy the next 9 months. Sometimes our day to day life is too hectic to really sit back and realize that you have a miracle growing inside you and that time is fleeting.
In between all the doctor appointments, shower registries and preparing for your new arrival here are a few ideas to not only track your pregnancy but to record the next 9 months of your journey with your little one.
While doing each of these may be too demanding on your schedule, if you can fit in one or two you will appreciate it as those little miracles grow up.
Weekly/ Monthly Pictures of Baby Bump
Create a calendar invite for each week, mine was set for Sunday. Take a few pictures each week to watch your belly grow.
Short Videos of Mommy and Daddy to Baby
Make short videos (1-2 minutes) after doctor appointments or anytime for your baby as time allows. We plan to string these together and share with our daughter when she is old enough.
Baby Board
Highlights can include the baby’s developments this week or even just what you did with your baby bump the past week. You can do this weekly or monthly. Bed Bath and Beyond sells a good board to use for this, Pearhead Pregnancy Chalkboard.
Pregnancy Journal
You can create your own, or buy one in store or online. They help keep track of how you felt physically and emotionally during your pregnancy, as well as Doctor appointments, ultrasounds and your baby’s first movements. You can really add any additional details you want as well. I used The Belly Book.
Pregnancy Book
Every first time mother wants to know what she should be doing, eating, activities that should be stopped and so much more. Your Doctor will probably provide you with packets or a booklet with some general guidelines, but it is also great to buy a book to read alongside that. I have enjoyed reading “What to expect when you are expecting.” It discusses developments that happen every week, answers to common questions, what to expect during each month of pregnancy, food safety and much more.
Pregnancy App
I used Ovia Pregnancy, which was great! I first used the Ovia Fertility & Cycle Tracker while we were trying to conceive, which was very helpful. Once we became pregnant I added this app to my phone. It gives daily updates on baby’s developments, includes relevant articles and videos, tracks progress through pregnancy, has a food safety lookup feature which is so convenient and perhaps my favorite part of the app. It is especially helpful when you are out at a restaurant. There is a lookup feature for medication safety, as well as symptoms you may be having (to make sure they are normal). The app has many other great features too, so be sure to check it out.
Before baby arrives and after you will be inundated with items your family, friends, co-workers, and of course advertisers say you will need. As a parent you want to make sure your baby has everything they need and it can become expensive quick. Luckily, a newborn baby doesn’t need much more than love, milk, sleep, diapers, wipes and of course diaper rash cream. Below are some items that I have found essential as a first-time Mom.
The Essentials
Diapers– We have used Pampers Swaddlers from the beginning for little K. The hospital used these and gave us a few packages to take home. These worked perfectly for our baby and caused no irritation. We tried the pure pampers but since we didn’t notice any difference we stayed with the regular swaddlers as they were cheaper. Unfortunately, Costco does not carry these, so we buy them from Target or Walmart.
Wipes– We first bought the Huggies Natural Care wipes from Costco. They were great and caused no irritation on little K’s skin. Then one day I decided to try the cheaper Kirkland Baby wipes. They still work great and still do not irritate little K’s skin. The one complaint is that they are not quite as wet as the Huggies. We are still using them though, I think it’s nice to not have too much moisture on the wipes since it can then lead to the babies skin being left wet. We buy these in-store at Costco.
Desitin– We use the Maximum Strength Desitin, we used to buy the 3 pack from Costco. Yes we are Costco frequenters… Diaper rash was one of our biggest concerns, so we wanted to be extra vigilant. Luckily, this has worked perfectly with no diaper rash yet. Our Costco unfortunately does not carry the 3-pack anymore, but you can order a smaller single tube from the pharmacy. Amazon, Target and Walmart all carry these and depending on what sales are going on you may be able to get these cheaper there.
Best Purchases
The Boppy– Hands down, this has been by far our best purchase! It is like a cozy recliner for a baby. We have used it every day since little K was born. She absolutely loves it! We even use it for bottle feeding. We wanted to make a clear distinction between breast feeding and bottle feeding so there would be no nipple confusion. It has worked very well and little K has no problem taking one bottle a day and breastfeeding the rest of the time. This was her favorite place to be for the first 3-4 months of her life. She is getting too big for it now but still loves to take a rest in it every now and then. We bought this from Bed Bath & Beyond but many other stores carry it too.
Receiving blankets– You can’t buy too many of these! I had no idea how handy these would be. One of our friends had given us a lot of their leftover baby items. They had included stacks of these in the bag. We decided to keep them just in case we needed them, but had no idea how much of a necessity these were, let alone how many we would use on a daily basis! They can be used for spit up, burp clothes, a changing pad, a cover for a changing pad, blanket, and so much more. We use these all day every day! These can be bought anywhere, we use the flannel ones.
Burp Cloths– Another major necessity. The more you buy the less times you will have to do laundry daily. Little K goes through these quick! We bought these from buybuy Baby and Target.
Hooded bath towels– These are great for keeping your little ones head warm after bath time. We got ours from Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Chicco Keyfit Caddy– This was also one of those amazing purchases. We bought this because of how compact it is. It is quick and easy to fold down, light weight, has an adjustable padded handle and a large storage space underneath. The storage compartment can hold a large diaper bag, personal items and even a ton of groceries when shopping. Of course don’t forget to pull them out when you check out! A cashier checking me out said, “you fit all of that underneath that cart?!” she was truly amazed and frankly so was I. This is great for heading around town or for travelling. In order to purchase this you will need to have a Chicco car seat. We bought from Bed Bath & Beyond.
Playmat– I have the Tiny Love Deluxe Gymini, which has four toys and a mirror that dangle from the arches, and a bird that attaches to the top that lights up and plays music with different play modes. The mat is decently soft and the back of it has a material that has prevented little K’s spit up from seeping through. This can be used for playtime, tummy time and more. We detach some of the toys from the arches and use them during tummy time for visual stimulation even if we are not using the mat for tummy time. It was amazing to watch little K just look at the toys to grabbing them with both hands! I think the mat has helped with her hand eye coordination. We bought from Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Bottles, Pacifiers and Pumping
Pacifiers– I had bought several different pacifiers as I did not know which one little K would like. At first she enjoyed the one from the hospital, but it ended up causing more problems with breastfeeding so I decided to try the other ones we bought. The only one she liked was the MAM Night Pacifier. The button glows in the dark which is helpful, however that only works if the paci falls out and lands button up. I would suggest getting the ones with a pink or green shield as the clear ones fade into the crib, ground or wherever they happen to land. We bought these from buybuy Baby.
Bottles– Comotomo bottles are amazing! Little K has taken this bottle from the first day we introduced it when she was about 4-5 weeks old. They are small, slow flow and try to simulate the feeling of a breast. For 0-3 months there is a 5 oz bottle with slow flow and then 3-6 months there is an 8 oz bottle with medium flow available. There are also high flow tips available but we haven’t tried these yet. We recently changed to the medium flow and that was amazing. The slow flow is great up to 3 months and maybe even a little longer, but then you will need to upgrade to the medium flow tip. The tops of the bottle are interchangeable, so sometimes we will still use the 5 oz bottle with the medium flow tip as little K loves to hold her bottle and this is more her size for those cute little hands. Bottle feeding drastically decreased in time and little K was much happier with the flow. While not all babies are the same and I know some of my friends say they went through 10 different bottles before finding one they liked. I personally think this one is great.
Medela Pump– for many women the breast pump will unfortunately be your new best friend. Insurance typically covers a certain level of breast pumps and mine happened to cover this one along with others in its class. After reading reviews, talking to colleagues and friends I decided this one was for me. It works incredibly well. Typically each pumping session takes about 20-25 minutes, it can be shorter or longer depending on what level you set and how much you want to pump. The parts are easy to clean and it’s small so transporting it is not a big deal. While not always the most fun ladies, at least you can burn about 20 calories for each ounce of milk produced.
Medela Easy Expression Bustier– My pump did not come with anything to make it a hands free pumping experience. Who wants to use both hands while pumping? I bought this from Bed, Bath & Beyond and it has worked great.
Boon Grass Countertop Bottle Drying Rack– I use this all day every day. After pumping it is used to hold all the plastic pieces needed for pumping along with bottles. It works great as I carry it between floors in our home when I pump in a different room. I bought from Bed Bath & Beyond.
Glider/ Rocking chair– I always wanted a wooden rocking chair, like the one my Mom used when I was little. After looking around I decided the wooden rockers didn’t fit into our nursery. In opening my mind to other options I started looking at gliders, which in general were fairly expensive. Then I came across the Angel Line Windsor Glider and Ottoman, Gray w/ Gray Cushion at Walmart. It was only $130, which was significantly cheaper than gliders I had seen elsewhere. At first we were a little hesitant on going for the cheapest chair due to quality concerns. However, this was such a great purchase. Not only was the quality great, it matched our baby furniture (crib, dresser and changing table) from Costco and it is fairly easy to clean. Typically we spot clean the cushions, which works fine. After so many spit ups, we decided to put the cushions into our front load washer (I would probably not put it in a top load washer) and the two main cushions came out fine, while the arm cushions came out a little distorted. If I had to do it over I probably wouldn’t have washed the arm cushions, but now they are clean at least. I believe the cushions are dry clean only but the front load washer worked for me on a delicate setting.
Clothing
Onesies and Sleepers– In buying clothing for little K it seems every brand has different sizing. I look at a 3 month from Gerber, Carter’s, Little Me and and they all look so different. Be aware when buying these as there are huge discrepancies. Also, remember depending on the size of your baby they may be out of newborn clothing shortly after they are born so try not to overbuy that size. Having said that you will need several of these between spit ups and blow outs, we typically sized up so Little K would be more comfortable and we would be able to use them for longer.
Halo Sleepsack– These were great! Unfortunately you cannot have your newborn sleep with a blanket, so this is a cozy alternative to keep them warm at night. We tried swaddling little K like the nurses at the hospital showed us, but she was able to slowly break out of those through the night. We tried this as an alternative to swaddling and they worked great. They save time and little K loved it. The Halo sleep-sack multi-way is adjustable so you can wrap the baby tighter or looser depending on your preference. You can also wrap around the arms to prevent the newborn startle reflex, or you can let their arms free. We also used the regular Halo sleep-sack too.
Sleeping
Crib– We bought a convertible crib set from Costco so the furniture can grow with little K as she grows. The crib can convert to a bed, and a dresser and changing table came with the set. We opted for all 3 pieces as it is so hard to find another matching piece if you decide later that you need more drawers for storage. Luckily, we did this as our set is no longer sold, nor are the individual pieces sold and this is only 6 months after purchasing. The changing table has two large drawers, and two smaller ones. The dresser has 4 large drawers. We use all the drawers and I could use more! More storage is always better to hold all those burp cloths, receiving blankets, onesies and more!
Bassinet– While a bassinet is not cheap, I believe every penny was worth it on this item. It helped solidify our sleep routine with little K. She was sleeping through the night by 10 weeks and we were able to transition little K to her crib at 13 weeks with no issues.
The Halo bassinet was given to us at our shower and was essential in little K’s first few weeks. This particular bassinet swivels 360 degrees and it’s height can be adjusted so the baby will be at your eye level while sleeping. The legs of the bassinet can go under the bed, so I was able to sleep right next to little K but without the risk of putting her in our bed. I absolutely loved it! It made those first few nerve wrecking weeks of having a new baby so much easier being able to have her right next to me. The walls are a mesh, so they are breathable and I could see right through them. The bassinet plays music, vibrates and has soothing sounds. Little K especially loved one of the soothing sounds, similar to white noise and rushing water so we played this each night for her. This became part of her go to bed routine and ultimately helped her sleep better. If she woke up in the middle of the night it was very easy to comfort her without even leaving the bed. For feedings she was so close that it made it seamless to pick her up quickly as she was right next to me.
There are many more products that have been useful, but these are the ones I would start off with. I will be adding additional posts to discuss toys, books and more items that I have found useful as little K continues to grow.
In buying products I always look at the return policy prior to buying as so many toys and items you buy may look different in person when ordering them, or your baby may even grow out of them by the time you receive them. My favorite stores to buy from are Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy Baby due to their return policies, helpful customer service and 20% off coupons (Bed, Bath & Beyond & buybuy Baby). I also buy from Target and Amazon for convenience.
You will notice I bought a lot of the products above from Bed, Bath & Beyond (online, not in stores) instead of buybuy Baby. I did this due to the number of Bed, Bath & Beyond stores that are located near me (in the case I had to return in item), the buybuy Baby is a little further away. If looking to buy in store you will need to go to buybuy Baby as Bed, Bath & Beyond does not carry most of these items in store. Buybuy Baby also has an amazing selection of clothing, just like Target does. If you are lucky to live in a city with a buybuy Baby definitely go check it out! Happy shopping!
