The Definitive Product Guide for a Newborn*
* If your name is Jessica Versaw and you gave birth to a baby named Adelaide on December 10th at 11:27pm.
Seriously, it’s weird how much one baby/parent can take to product xyz, and a different baby is all, “thank u, next.” But, it’s also really effing hard to make a baby registry, and I’ve been asked quite a bit for my thoughts on different items, and I wanted as much info and real-life testimonials as I could get my hands on when I was creating my registry. So, here we are. All opinions are my own, nothing sponsored, yada yada. Like for real — I post on here once every few months, who is going to sponsor this post? My mother?
Mom Clothes
Dwell & Slumber Caftan Gowns — I loved these for third trimester, and I’m still loving them (I’m actually wearing one right now). They’re super soft and comfortable. They have POCKETS, which is even MORE exciting when you’re carting a newborn around (common items found in mine — breast pad, burp cloth, a whole onesie, my cell phone I’m actively looking for at that moment). They also have snaps all the way down the front, which make it pretty easy to feed.
Bralido Nursing Tanks — Nice and long, so you can use them in the third trimester as well. They also have molded removable cups, so you don’t have to wear a bra with them. One of these tanks, some Lululemon Align Leggings, and a drape-y cardigan are basically my uniform right now. Which brings me to….
Lululemon Align Leggings — I got tipped off to these during my second trimester, and wore them until the last two months or so of my pregnancy, and they came right back after. High waisted, soft, stretchy legging perfection.
Baby Clothes
H&M Kimono Onesies — These are fantastic. Not only do they look cute, you don’t have to feel like a dick pulling a onesie over your baby’s head, because I promise you feel like a dick every single time you do it. Also, it’s way easier to thread little arms through.
Oh So Vera Knotted Gowns — I wish all baby clothes were made of this fabric. Stretchy and soft, the quality really makes putting these on way easier. They’re also flipping adorable, and you don’t have to eff with socks. Diaper changes are a breeze, just unknot, change, knot it back up, and go. Cute, functional, comfortable. The only downside is riding in a carseat in them gets weird.
B.E. Rosie Bows — I really like Oh So Vera’s bamboo bows, but they’re still a little big for a newborn. Enter these cute bows from B.E. Rosie. They’re based in Hickman, so they’re still local, but have way more small infant bows. They’ve got great fabrics — I got a donut bow I’m obsessed with. You can get these in Lincoln at Circle Me Boutique.
Old Navy Footed One Pieces — Best footie pajamas in the game. The zipper zips from the bottom up to make diaper changes easier, and the colors come outside of the standard pastels. Ada has similar coloring to me, so she looks really nice in deep jewel tones. That said, you know what also shines on dark colors? Spitup. She looks great for ten minutes, but after that I, uh, wouldn’t want CPS at my door, because they’d think we hadn’t bathed her since birth.
House Things
As Many Smart Switches as Humanly Possible — Nobody has time to turn off seven downstairs lights with a newborn in their arms. Tell your robot overlords to do it instead.
Sous Vide Cooker — This thing is about the only thing standing between me and living on pizza at the moment. Considering I did that through like…. most of my pregnancy, it’s probably time to cut that shit out. Throw four chicken breasts in the water bath, cook for two hours, then throw them in the fridge. When I’m ready to use them in some recipe, I pull them out, nuke them for a few minutes, and sear them. Cake.
Maintaining Your Sanity At Night
An adjustable source of warm light — I’m using my Phillips Sunrise Simulation Clock for nighttime wakeups. It’s a life saver to have a soft, low source of light, vs. turning on a lamp that makes you feel like you just got caught in a prison break. Before I remembered that my clock would work for this, I had a lamp covered in an orange pillowcase. This comes with 100% fewer fire concerns.
The Happiest Baby on the Block White Noise — These white noise sounds are like, effing terrible. But they work. And if I have to choose between listening to 20 minutes of what I’d imagine it would sound like if toddlers decided to start a band with only breast pumps and chainsaws as their instruments or my baby crying, I’m going with option A because it makes me feel significantly less guilty. They’re not my toddlers, after all.
Owlet Smart Sock — I went back and forth on getting this basically my whole pregnancy. I wasn’t sure if it would make my anxiety worse or would help. I’m not sure if having to be resuscitated at birth made my anxiety over suddenly stopping breathing worse, or if I would’ve had it anyway, but I barely slept until I got this thing. When my mother-in-law asked if there’s anything I wanted but didn’t get, the Owlet sock was the first thing that sprung to mind. I feel so reassured that I have some insight into her pulse and oxygen saturation, and I’m no longer tormenting my arm by keeping it on her chest to make sure she’s breathing at night. The connected care app also monitors her sleep patterns, so I know I’m not crazy if a night seems particularly bad.
Apparently Birth Is Hard On Your Body
I am going to talk about my vagina here, so if you don’t want to hear about vaginas, maybe just skip this part.
Frida MomWasher — I was a little scared of the bidet in the hospital (along with toilet paper, underwear, pads, and basically anything else that was going to touch my nether regions), so I preferred using this where I could control the water temperature and pressure. I tore pretty badly, so your fear level may vary, but I couldn’t have lived without this the first few weeks.
Tea Pads — The hospital had frozen tea-soaked diapers to shove in your underwear, and they were pretty vital to managing my pain for the first few days after birth. I didn’t make any for home in advance, which is probably one of my bigger pieces of advice I’d give to my past self.
This is starting to get really long, so I’ll make this a two part-er. Next time, more focus on baby things.