Diaper Caddy

A coworker gave me this diaper caddy (blue) at my work shower. She said she loves it for her child. I didn't know what to think of it but gave it a try. I am very glad I have this. It would be fine without it but since I have it, great!
Our crib has the changing table attached. During the day, this basket sits in the crib by the changing table. It holds the diapers, the box of wipes sit in the center of the basket and we have a thing of baby powder in there. When he goes to sleep, we just set the basket on the changing table.
When I give him a bath, I set his jammies in there and bring the basket to the bathroom. It seemed that if I just brought one diaper with me. I'd need two.

Car Mirror

I LOVE having this mirror. Although the "fancy" features of the light and music does not work. It worked for about 2 seconds. Which doesn't matter. I love being able to see what he's doing back there. It is set so the driver can see the mirror thru the rear view mirror. As the passenger, just turn your head and you can see him. There are times when we're in the other vehicle and there is no mirror there. I feel lost not know what he's doing back there!

It's nice to know if he's sleeping. If he is crying, if I'm the passenger, I'll try reaching back there. With the mirror I can see where my hand is, ya know, so ya don't poke him in the eye! He never took the pacifier. At the beginning we tried some. When he did cry, I tried putting the pacifier in his mouth. Again, the mirror helped from poking the pacifier in his mouth, not his eye!

Once he can be in a carseat where he can face forward, the mirror can be put on the back of the front seat so he can see himself. Which I'm not sure if that's worth it or not. We'll see later on.

I have a picture on my phone. If I can get it on here, I'll add it.

Exersaucer

Actually ours is a Megasaucer.
My mom kept this from when my brother's youngest kid grew out of it. I'm glad! We didn't use it until he could support his head. The first time I put him in there, I had to use a heavy blanket and wrap him in there so he wouldn't topple over. After a short time we didn't need the blanket anymore. This is probably my #1 thing that is a must have. It's nice to put him in there when we're eating, or doing dishes, he watches. It's been a wonderful way for him to play, entertain himself some, there's no pressure on his head. He can kick his legs. After awhile he finally figured out how to move himself in there. He can be sitting facing me, then next thing you know he has his back to you. We both have even used to to take a shower when the other wasn't home. Just place it in the doorway.

Swing

We have one that is a bouncer chair that can come off, it can vibrate, it can play music, nature sounds, and swing. This has been wonderful. We use it for a lot of naps, he will sleep a long time. Where sometimes he doesn't sleep very long in the crib or at all. Don't know if we really needed the vibrating bouncy chair. The music part can be helpful cause sometimes he won't fall asleep but once that's on he might. My mom had bought a basic swing at the thrift store for $6, it has come in handy when we're over there, or when the baby is at her houses once a week while we're both at work.
My mom had warned me that when I was a baby, the swing did nothing for me. I don't use the swing for nighttime sleep.

Pump

Since breastfeeding has worked well for me and so has the actually nursing part, I do that majority of the time. A pump is a must have. One that works. I had trouble finding a good pump with not wanting to pay an arm and leg for. There are times where I wake up in the morning and the baby feeds, at this time he only feeds one side since there's a good 5 oz there. Sometimes the other side needs to be releaved from pain, so pump. If I'm just running up to the store, leaving the baby home with hubby, unless it's a for sure 10 minute run I don't need to worry, just feed him before I leave. Otherwise, leave a bottle so there's no dealing with a hungry baby and I'm not home yet. I'm not one that wants to BF in public, even under a hider, so I'll bring a bottle. For going back to work, this way bottles are left with him and I'm able to pump at work so my supply isn't affected.

I bought this pump first. The First Years miPump Double Electric Breast Pump

I had trouble with the milk went into the tubes, to the motor. Customer Service was good and sent new parts quickly. They'd inform you on how to use it properly. Next time around I tried to sit EXACTLY how they say (which is a pain) and around the same lifespan, milk in the tubes again. I got 3 replacement parts, when I only needed one.

Since I just headed back to work I decided to use a giftcard I had and bought a hand pump until the replacement came. Avent Manual Breast Pump

I hated this thing. You have to pump the trigger to get milk. My wrists couldn't handle that, 15 minutes on each side! I couldn't get nearly enough and I knew from having the electric that I produce more than what I was getting. I was worried this will make my supply tank, even though I work part time, still can hurt it.

I broke down and got a new pump. I got this pump, Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump

I use the bag that the first pump came with to store my Ameda pump. So far I haven't had any problems with this . I use it a lot more than the first pump since I have returned to work (3 months now!). You don't have to sit perfectly still with this one. The parts just seem better.

I don't know how long I plan on breastfeeding but I knew I didn't want the first pump to be the boss of me. I would like to make the call when I stop breastfeeding, not the pump. My baby is almost 6 months old and things are still going great.

Monitor

For me with being hard of hearing, I worried I wouldn't be able to hear the baby cry. Its one thing when the hubby is home, but when he leaves for work, I'm on my own. I have a monitor that blinks a little light when he's making a noise, the light will turn red when he's loud. It can also vibrate, which is great. Our headboard is a bookshelf, the monitor sits right behind my head. Not only can I hear him fine, I can hear the vibrate on the wood. Usually I can hear him before it vibrates.
Also our monitor indicates the temperature. It's great. Whether we're at the cabin, the in-law's, my parents, or just his own room, we can see if it's too warm or cold.

Graco Direct Connect Digital Monitor with 2 Parent Receivers

Boppy Pillow

I didn't bring it to the hospital and if I have another, I will. I had a c-section and at the beginning it helped keep the baby off my incision while feeding. (At the hospital I used pillows) I didn't use it very long for this purpose. For me it seemed that he got longer and I just didn't know how to position him in there comfortably (for me) anymore.

It was nice to sit him in there, it supported his head. Of course not let unattended. At the beginning he napped a lot, I'd position him in the next to me while he napped.
It came in handy when the young cousins first met him and wanted to hold them. Since the baby is heavy and flimsy for them, just stick the Boppy around their waist while they sat helped keep the position of the baby better.
Now, the baby sits in the boppy to practice sitting.

Headsupport for carseat

The carseat, at least mine (Graco) came with a flimsy head support. I had gotten a head support to attach. It had 2 layers. You don't know how big or small the baby is going to be! We didn't need the 2nd part, since I had an 8lb baby with a good size head. We did need the one piece. It was cotton, so nice and soft. When he got bigger we did put the one that came with the carseat back in, since he didn't really need it as much.

Bassinet

We had received the pack 'n play that sister in law used with her babies, that are no longer babies. It has the bassinet attachment. We planned on using that as the baby's bed until he was bigger and go into his crib.
My cousin had offered her bassinet for us to borrow. I took her up on the offer. Figured, why not? This was a huge plus!

I think I would've liked this for any kind of birth. I had an unplanned c-section. With having had a c-section, the height of the bassinet was great. I barely had to bend over to pick him up or lay him down. It's also on wheels. During the day he slept in there in the living room. I was able to keep an eye on him, also didn't have to go to the end of the hall to tend to him. The first two nights, the bassinet was in our room. Then we decided to move it into his own bedroom. Where the pack 'n play, it pretty much stays where you set it up. It doesn't fit thru the door either.
We used the pack 'n play when we went to the cabin and it worked great. The bassinet part seems more like a hammock to me, sags a little. I like that the bassinet was firm. It was also very easy to clean. There's a waterproof pad and a fitted sheet on it. It was wiped down often with a clorox wipe and the sheet washed easily.