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.

Nipple Cream

Lansinoh® HPA® Lanolin

I used this in the hospital, since I did crack and it was slightly painful. By the time I went home 3 days later, I never used it.

Nursing Pads

I breastfed from the get go. One thing that was totally fun (insert sarcasm) was the leakage. When it came close to the time that the baby would eat, I'd start leaking. If I just talked about breastfeeding or was reading up on it, I'd leak.
I was given some pads at my shower. NUK brand.

They came from someone I figured must've been what she used when she breastfed. The NUK brand did not work for me. I leaked thru them. Once I was done with those I got a different brand, Lansinoh Disposables.

These worked great for me. Never once leaked thru. I wore the 24/7. You don't want to be somewhere and all of a sudden you have your shirt wet. Always reminds me of that Roseanne episode when Jackie was getting married and she starts leaking. (If I could find a picture, I'd attach it).

With my pump, there was a couple pads that had lotion on them. I hated those!

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.

Bella Band

I purchased a Belly Band from Motherhood Maternity. I was glad to have this. I never used it for wearing jeans unbuttoned like they say you can.
At the beginning, my work pants, has a button on the inside. When the waist started getting tighter, the button irritated me. The band put a cushion there. There were times I just liked having the band on so that my skin didn't show when I bent over or lifted at work.
There were times I wore it under something that was thinner material. For instance, my shower dress, that material, you can see a little nub of my belly button. My belly button didn't totally pop out but a little nub. I wore the band and it made my button smooth. I didn't like people commenting on my belly button. Believe me, there were people who did.

For the most part I wore a tank top under the other tank top or shirt (I had a July baby) and that worked.