Wow, what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been! We welcomed our sweet baby boy Augie, on September 16th and since then my life has forever changed. It all still feels so surreal. One day you are pregnant unsure of what is to come and the next you are holding your baby and can’t imagine a world without him in it. As hectic as this time and transition has been mostly due to running on very little sleep, I love connecting with all of you and find some sense of normalcy in still trying to create when time allows. I received various motherhood questions on Instagram and requests to share my favorite baby registry products, so I thought I would put it all here in one post.

I am almost three weeks in, so obviously this is all incredibly new to me and I am in the thick of figuring out our new normal, which changes daily. As I type this, my son is clinging to my chest fast asleep – completely heart melting and my mind is so far from where it was even a year ago. My journey to motherhood is quite personal (as they all are) and sharing some of these things feels a bit exposed, but I realized while I was going through my own mental hurdles of wanting to have children, there wasn’t always the information out there that I was looking for. Manly because I fell into the category of completely unsure which can feel isolating. Most of my closest friends already have kids or are struggling to conceive, but always knew they wanted to be a mother or they don’t and adamantly never want them. I was always on the fence, struggling with the idea of if I would mentally be able to handle the demand of a baby while trying to juggle a business and a life that felt very full already. As a women you almost feel other when you tell people “I’m not sure if we want kids” especially when you are married. It is almost looked at as an expectation which made me feel like something was wrong with me for not knowing and pushed me away from the idea even further. I worried that I wouldn’t fall in love with being a mom and I wanted to be all in before making such a life altering decision. The main question I get asked is did you always know you wanted to be a mom or how did you know you were ready. Short answer is no I did not know. What changed? Possibly getting a little bit older and having that ever present biological clock, but also the idea that I really did want a family of my own. I am so lucky to have such an incredible husband and the thought of us having our own immediate family with new traditions and life moments made me so happy and helped a lot of those fears dissipate. I knew we would be in it together and the love we now have for our son far outweighs all of the what ifs going into it. Of course it is such a transition and it is hard to navigate this new life so to speak, but the addition of Augie has already transformed my outlook on life and my perspective on what matters. I realized there was never going to be a perfect time. There was always going to be something with work or my personal life left unchecked, but I gained a deeper understanding that your life does not stop when you have a child, it begins all over again in a new way. Sure we can’t go off on a trip on a whim, but I am so excited to eventually travel with him and show him all of the places I love. What a gift to see the world through brand new eyes. This can all be very hard to navigate, so if you are struggling with some of these monumental life decisions yourself, be easy on yourself!

Baby Products

As many of you know we stayed in our small one bedroom apartment for now, so the baby supplies needed to be more on the minimal side. We now have a garage for storage, but apart from that we don’t have room for a lot of clutter. I have loved everything we bought or registered for and I did wait to get some things until after he was here to see what we really needed. So far this is my list of favorites, which will definitely be added to over time.

Bassinet: I went with the popular Halo swivel bassinet and I love it! No it is not the most aesthetically pleasing, but I wanted something that swiveled to make it easier to see him as he rolls onto his side and it fits perfectly next to our bed. The adjustable height is also great. I did buy the nicer mattress pad, which feels slightly nicer than the one it comes with. Eventually we will upgrade to a crib when we move into a two bedroom, but this works so well for now.

Diaper Bag: I use the LL Bean Boat & Tote bags for everything so it was a no brainer to use as a diaper bag. I got the medium size in the olive color and it fits under the stroller perfectly. Obviously this is not ideal for travel or if you prefer to wear on your shoulder, but for everyday use it is wonderful. I use these pouches (in the accessory size) to separate all the contents like diapers, wipes, etc.

Diaper Care: I had seen a lot about Coterie diapers on Instagram and they have great reviews so I decided to give them a try despite the high price tag. I have to say, they are great! I don’t have a ton to compare it to other than the Huggies we used in the hospital, but they are very high quality and hold everything in very well. I also love that they offer a subscription option and they ship SO quickly. We already had to order more and they came in two days. I also found out about Propre baby on Instagram and love their diaper cream which is an alternative to traditional wipes that can be pretty harsh on the skin. The bottle is small, but you don’t need to use a lot and it seems to work great for diaper rash and hydrating his skin. I do have regular Huggies wipes for when we are out and about and those work totally fine too!

Sound: I registered for both the Hatch Rest and the portable Hatch Go which we used right away at the hospital and on his car seat for the drive home. Both are great and the red light on the rest is such a nice option for middle of the night diaper changes. We also use the Hatch changing pad because it is SO easy to wipe down and it’s also a scale which is so helpful for these early days of checking his weight obsessively.

Stroller: This was one of the harder components for me to decide on and I did a lot of research. I really did not want an UPPAbaby Vista or Cruz simply because they seem to be the go to and I see them everywhere! Obviously if they are so beloved they are good, but I was determined to find something different. I went for the SilverCross Reef stroller in color stone with the bassinet and I LOVE it! It had some mixed reviews about the quality, but I went and looked at it in person (they carry it at Aldea in SF if you are local) and thought it was beautifully made and such a smooth push. Of course we are still so new to using it, but I ordered over the summer and nothing has fallen apart, it is really beautiful. For a car seat/travel stroller, we got the Nuna Pipa Urbn system because it is so lightweight and my mom keeps that stroller at her house so we don’t have to trade off down the road when she is watching him more. The carseat works great with the Silver Cross stroller base for easy newborn outings, you just need the attachment piece.

Other items we use daily are the Snuggle Me Organic lounger (with this cheap cover), these muslin burp cloths, Nursing Pillow, Sleep Sack Swaddle (this works best for us because he likes his arms free and comes in a ton of pattern options), Blankets, these baskets for storage – I have one in my open nightstand filled with burp cloths for late night feedings. I also got this tub and the towel/washcloth set from Lalo which we really like so far! I also got this caddy to keep in the back of my car where I have extra diapers and supplies.