newborn necessities

When you're pregnant, they give you lists upon lists of stuff you'll need for baby. It's a bear to filter through and then you end up with some good buys, some crappy, and then a bunch of stuff you need immediately after baby that you don't have, and need to figure out how to take an hour to go out and get. Here's my list of stuff that we wished we had purchased pre-baby:

1. Baby mittens.
They seem silly when baby is still in the belly but are a real necessity. Babies have nails from birth and they are razor sharp. All babies scratch their face cause they aren't aware of their hands in the beginning. Mittens are a lifesaver. Now, if only they sold ones that actually stayed on...

2. Night lights.
After the first night home, we realized night lights are essential for midnight feedings and for being able to see the baby in the middle of the night when he makes a noise, or to just make sure he's still breathing (you know ALL first time parents do this!). We now have one in our room and one in the baby room.

3. Hand sanitizer, bottles of it.
In the hospital there are signs everywhere: "gel in, gel out." Clean hands ensure the baby doesn't get sick and with the countless visitors you'll likely have at your house to hold baby, easy-access hand sanitizers are key.

4. Nursing bras.
They warn you not to buy bras until after your milk comes in but by that time baby is here and who has time to go to the store to buy bras? Luckily, Brian stepped up to the plate and browsed the women's lingerie section at Target to find me some nursing bras. You'll need them for easy access as well as to clip on your breast pump if you plan on pumping.

5. Nursing tops.
Bras, check. But now what top to wear over it that provides easy boob access? I stand in my closet, stare at my clothes and am frustrated because I have two button down tops and maybe four others loose enough to pull down for boob exposure. I can only wear my G&M nursing tank tops so much before I get depressed. So, I went online and had to purchase a bunch of nursing tops from Gap and Old Navy. They should arrive in about 5 days. I'm pretty much screwed until then.

6. Cliff bars or other easy-to-grab snacks.
With baby and doc appointments and an endless list of other tasks and activities, eating falls to the bottom of the list. We just purchased a huge box of Cliff bars from Costco.