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Registry:

• Clothes: 0-3 size they grow out of so fast so buy sparingly. True! But if you plan to have another, then not as big a deal.
• Velcro swaddler, onesies and sleepers -- great the first few days. I was told swaddling was the way to go. But not all babies like it. There are many different types of sleepers though so find one and stick with it.
• Sleeper gowns with no snaps and pants are great for 2AM changings. Yes! There are the kinds that are basically little sacks that zip up the front. These are ideal, because the less you stir the baby the more (I feel) it lends to him developing those good sleep habits. You want him to stay drowsy in the middle of the night and not wake up fully.
• Feeding/kitchen: buy a dishwasher cage for nipples/pacifiers. No need to sterilize bottles anymore. No solid food until 4 months. Register for a high chair, but  you won’t need right away. We got the Inglesina portable seat that attaches to the table itself. You can take it out to eat with you and it puts the baby right at the table with you (once he has good control of his neck muscles). We use it on our counter at home too, so he can watch us as we prep dinner. Definitely a must have and something we have used every day since he was 4 months old. We also got the chicco high chair. No complaints whatsoever. Would buy it again.
• Nursery The basics are needed: mattress cover, light blankets, choose either a wedge or roll depending on sleep position.
• A curved changing pad on the change table is nice.
• Wipes warmer—for cold homes and late nights, it's gentler on the baby toosh than a cold wipe.
• I never used my diaper genie; just take dirty diaper to garage trash can. Genies still stink, then you have to empty 20 diapers at once; gross. Not true for us. I used the diaper genie and now have one for each nursery/room. Hides the smell very well. Don't overstuff as the bag will break and the smell WILL knock you over.
• Choose one crib item: mobile or music; don’t overstimulate. Stuffed animals work great, and now when Drew needs downtime but not ready to sleep we just put him in with a toy. So the crib entertainment systems haven't been useful for us. Plus, the one thing we did have (a mirror thingy) he ended up standing on to try to exit the crib.
• Toys: newborns don’t need toys!  For later choose: a swing, ultra saucer, jumper, or all moving activity stations.  Jumpers are cheap if you want two items. A newborn can use stimulation though and the icube is perfect for helping train the eyes, give them something that they can see, help with tracking...we used the icube frequently and have given them as gifts. People always tell us the baby really responds to it.
• Boppy! MUST HAVE! Along with some additional covers.
• Travel: diaper bag with style; you really don’t need to take the kitchen sink when you travel. Keep your diaper bag light. Pack a tote or Rubbermaid container with all baby essentials and keep it in the car.  Really, if you are shopping and baby makes a mess, just go back to the car. Choose a stroller that is light weight and has long handles so you don’t have to bend down to push. Im still torn on the diaper bag. We have one and use it but it mostly stays in the car. It's so bulky and I hate lugging so much around. I just put a diaper and snax in my (big) purse usually. True on the stroller. We got a Bumbleride. Love it and wouldn't change anything about it. Just now that we are going to have a second I need to figure out what dual stroller to get, if to get one, etc.
• Car seats are personal preference. The nicer they are, the more $$. For a fall/winter baby, buy the snuggly cover to slip over the newborn car seat: this was great. If you use a travel system with and infant car seat: buy one seat, but two bases: one for each car.  It is worth the money, to have one for each car. So true! And we used a Graco SnugRide. Drew is still in it and we have no complaints. Plus you can get the graco compact stroller that the seat sits in which is convenient too. It's the equivalent of the umbrella stroller which we use now that Drew's older, and when we want a more compact stroller than the bumbleride.
• Bath: buy a tub with a “sling” which is great for a newborn.  You will need towels/washcloths, tear-free soap, and lotion. Hooded towels are a must have.
• Monitors
• 1st aid: mini-nail clippers and snot suckers! Pedialyte, thermometer that works quickly, teething tablets, children's tylenol
• Burp rags
• Carriers: I loved my baby wrap or sling, it's great for nursing. Men always like the chest carrier that is more firm.
• Bumbo: I did buy for my last baby.  It was not used for long and he learned to climb out. For the newborn, you really don’t put them down. Bumbo was good for us, it helped train Drew's neck muscles and gave him a spot to 'sit' before he really could sit upright himself. He seemed to like it for brief periods of time.

Preparation and Take to the hospital:

• Video camera, camera, etc.
• List of phone numbers, emails, etc. and who to call (if you are resting your husband will have to take on this assignment).
• Buy Colace (stool softener) and start taking prior to birth and continue as directed for a few days. Doctors never mention this as helpful, but the most painful thing is having bowel movements after birth. I didn't have this problem (and I had a natural birth), but worth having the stuff anyway.
• Buy and take medicated pads for hemorrhoids; you may or may not actually get these. I’ve heard that they are even good to use on the episiotomy area, since they numb the pain. Nitty gritty tip: After you use the bathroom, use a sitz bath to clean the area with warm water then line the industrial size pad they give you after the baby is born with two or three tucks pads and walk around with them. It helps a ton! (For a natural birth). THey gave me tucks at the hospital though.
• Take your own toiletries to make you more comfortable. Yes!
• Pack your robe and slippers: use the hospital gowns, but the robe is nice when you need to get up and around-no bare cheeks! Yes! But I brought my own pajamas - special pretty ones that made me feel special after the Big Event.
• Bring your Boppy and start using it to nurse and as an extra pillow. need for bringing baby outfits or blankets; use the hospital provided ones. The baby will mess the first few outfits until you figure out how to diaper properly. Yes!
• Also, use the hospital supply of diapers and wipes. Yes! And ask for more to take with you. You're paying for it after all!
• Take breast cream: use it from the beginning after each nursing as a preventative; don’t wait until you are chapped. Ouch. Lanolin is your friend. It heals and makes boobies feel better so quickly! You can get it at Babies R Us.
• Pack light, you won’t need too much; and your husband may want a break to go run errands. Yes!
• If your husband is spending the night: he needs extra pillows/blankets. The fold out is uncomfortable. Yes!
• Prepare dinners ahead of time (casseroles, etc) and freeze.  You won’t want to cook the first week and you will tire of fast food. Yes! I did the "DInners done right" and it was invaluable to just pull a full meal from the freezer those first few weeks.
• Set up the nursery; just the main items: larger/older items like swings and ultra saucers, set up later. Yes! You may not even decide to get them. We bought a jumper that Drew used about 4 times.
• Wash all baby clothes ahead of time in a hypo-allergenic detergent like Dreft or Such. Yes!
• No thick bedding for the crib or bassinette. Valboa sheets. So luxurious for your little one!

1st days home:

• Don’t fret over pets; they are part of the family and won’t give the baby germs.Yes!
  
• I was recovery from surgery, but I always found the first few night to be more comfortable in the “camp” in the family room.  We set up the area, so that everything we needed was close: a couch, a rocking chair, the bassinette, the supplies for changing baby and pumping.  The kitchen is close for drinks, washing bottles, etc. For natural birth, this wasn't necessary.
• We didn’t use the crib right away: we have used the pack-n-play, a bassinette, or even the infant care seat for the baby to sleep in.  Also, in desperate nights, the baby slept in our arms. I used a co-sleeper. Worked great, and the mini forced me to move Drew to his real crib when he was about 12 weeks old. Just the right time.
• The general rule is sleep on side, or back; to avoid SIDS.  But, don’t freak out. All my babies move to their stomachs.  They do sell newborn swings or gliders: very nice, but expensive and they only use for a short period of time. I would recommend don’t buy, and if you have a colic baby, then make a quick trip to the store.
  
• Sleep when the baby sleeps! YES! YES! YES!
• Use the log sheet the hospital gives you for: nursing times, nursing duration, pee and poo schedule and color/amount etc.: for one week.  This will help validate that baby is eating and thriving. And will help you stay calm and not freak out calling the doctor, thinking that your baby is starving. YES!

Breast feeding:

• Buy or rent hospital grade pump; worth it! Pumping sucks. BUT - I made the mistake of not bottle feeding Drew enough and he stopped taking a bottle. Talk about feeling stranded! I highly recommend giving the baby one or two bottles per day, whether breast milk or formula.
• Drink a lot of water; always! This helps with milk production.
• In the hospital ask questions to lactation nurse and just focus on proper latching and sucking. Really doesn’t seem like much is coming out, but this is a critical time to try. It's all about the latch! If baby latches improperly - it hurts like heck. Take baby off and keeping adjusting till you get it right. And definitely use the lactation consultants while there, and get their numbers too to call from home. Vital!
• Don’t stress out; it is hard, painful, at times, but set small goals for yourself and be open minded. So true! It's moment by moment at times, just remember it will pass. And it does go fast!
• Sometime in the beginning, babies want to sleep through feedings; wake up during the day to feed, but let the baby sleep at night. Some nurses will say to wake them up; but COME ON. I woke Drew in the night because he was small. But I know now he's just a small kid so far. So I probably won't wake the next one.
• At day 4-6, your milk “comes in”; WOW nipples are swollen.  The babies hate this change in the feel. Drew didn't seem to notice. But I certainly had rock star boobs, that's for sure! They looked like implants they were so...well you understand.
• Prior to nursing, use heated pads to let the milk release.
  
• Use the pump, to start the flow, draining the milk and reduce the swelling and prepare the nipple. Sometimes the swelling creates inverted nipples. There are other solutions for this, but I found pumping to work.
• After feeding: keep ice packs on your breast; wear a loose sports bra.
• Just in the beginning milk let-down hurts, like tiny needles.  And you will feel uterus contractions.  This will help you get your shape back!  After a few weeks, this feeling goes away. Didn't bother me. A good indicator too when it's time for baby to eat.
• Always use your boppy for back support.
• Nurse on one breast for approx. 15 minutes, break to burp the baby, then switch to the other side for 15 minutes then burp.  I found that they fall asleep on second breast, not eating much, so to evenly produce milk, when you feed later start on the same breast that you left off on. I always wear a ring to remember what breast to feed off of next by keeping it on the corresponding left/right hand. The way the nurse explained it to me was that first breast is main course, second is dessert. So I didn't worry about timing it. And I used the itzbeen timer to know when it was time to feed, as well as which side I was on. The timer and the boppy were something I used every day and found invaluable.
• Feeding relaxes baby, and makes them poop; so to save time feed on one breast; let them poop; change the diaper, feed on the second side then place in bed.
• Don’t let the baby play favorites with a certain breast: or you will be uneven; yuck.
• Buy disposable breast pads for leaking; more convienent then cotton washables.
• Buy nursing bra, for after your milk swelling goes down, to ensure proper fit.  Use a big size nursing bra or sports bra for the first few days; big boobs!
• Practice different hold types with the lactation specialist; they know a few tricks to be more comfortable, pending breast/baby size.
• Anything you pump-- save and freeze cuz it's good for one month. You can mix with formula later, too.
• After awhile, you will feel your milk let down and know it is time to feed baby. Also, be warned, just when you get use to it and it gets easy, when the baby has a growth spurt, you will produce more milk and may have similar engorging or swollenness like the first few days.
• Use nursing friendly nuks and bottles, like Avent. Try not to use a bottle until three+ months, because once the baby feels the fast flow of a bottle they like it but don’t worry too much about “nipple” confusion as they call it. I had to do bottles a few times when I was sick. Disagree. As I said above, Drew didn't take the bottle at four months. I felt stranded because I couldn't leave him for more than 3 hours. And it's less than that actually, because you start to feed at the third hour. Anyway, I recommend using a bottle every day from the start (once or twice). This will also give Dad and others a chance to feed baby.
• I did 'parent directed feeding' rather than whenever the baby cries stick a boob in his mouth. I didn't want to create a habit that I felt I would be unsure how to get out of. So I timed it, and fed Drew every 3 hours. Of course, with growth spurts or fussiness, I threw that idea out the window and fed him. But aside from that, I didn't just feed him whenever he cried. I tried to manage the cries with other solutions (assuming he wasn't actually hungry).

    
Hope this helps!  Lots of Love!!!!!