This is the page I wish I had seen before Mia Grace was born! Before Mia arrived (4-22-08), I did lots of Googling to find out how to get prepared for bringing home a baby. I'm creating this page, since I wish I'd been able to find something like this for myself. Of course, everything here is geared toward what I ended up finding the most useful, but hopefully there's information here that can help out some other clueless mothers-to-be.

IN THE HOSPITAL

Eat. If you have a chance before checking yourself in, eat something. Once you're in, they're not going to let you eat in case you need a c-section.

Get the epidural. I was terrified about delivery for weeks beforehand, afraid of how I'd handle the worst pain I'd ever experience. It wasn't actually that bad. I got the epidural, and what you need to know, if you don't already, is that all the screaming women in labor that you see on tv, in movies, or in the educational hospital videos did NOT get the epidural.

What to wear. For me, the best thing was comfy sweatpants and nursing tank tops. See below for where to get the best, least expensive nursing bras and tanks.

Send baby to the nursery. At night, when the nurse asks you if you want the baby to stay in your room or go to the nursery... send the baby to the nursery. If you will be breastfeeding, they'll bring the baby to you when she needs feeding. This could be the last interrupted sleep you get for a long time, think of it as a free night nurse.

Bring your laptop, camera, and camera cables. If possible! My computer was great for keeping in touch, emailing photos... and googling all sorts of baby-related things. It was great to take pictures in the hospital, upload them and send them out right away. It helped fill the downtime too.... in between feedings, there's not much to do in the hospital.

Take the mesh underwear and pads. I heard this advice from many people before I went into the hospital, but didn't think I'd feel right "stealing." You'll get over the guilt. You'll want to grab as many of those mesh undies and pads as you can, since it's not something you can find anywhere else. Leave extra room in your suitcase for these - they're bulky. Stuff your suitcase full of whatever is in your room in between nurse shifts, and the new nurse will bring you a fresh supply. Don't feel guilty... you'll be glad you did this. Grab some swaddlers too if you can.

Bring something for the baby to wear home. See below for my opinion on the easiest baby clothes.

AT HOME

Diapers. Consider getting 2 different sizes of diapers ahead of time for your home. I thought my baby was going to be enormous, and we got the 8-12lb diapers, plus newborn and 0-3 month clothes. She was just 5-9 when we took her home, and we needed to get preemie diapers and clothing. The preemie clothes weren't even small enough. The hospital gave us some packs of preemies diapers, which was great, since otherwise we wouldn't have been prepared. She's 5 weeks old today, and is only just about to outgrow the preemie diapers (she's probably about 8 pounds now, but has skinny legs the diapers like to slide off)

Clothes for baby. Lots of people told me that gowns were the way to go - easy to lift at night to change a diaper. However, if your baby has skinny legs like Mia, the diapers will slide right off. We've found that the best outfits, day or night, are the snap up onesies. They are easy to put on (don't go over the head) and since they snap together under her crotch area, they hold up the diaper.

My suggestions for some basic layette essentials - this is largely based on personal preference:

• 8-10 snap up onesies
• 6 pants, to wear over onesies and keep legs warm
• 8 Hand mittens, to keep baby from scratching
• 10 Socks, although slightly pointless since they don't stay on
• 4 Long sleeve Kimono tops - to go over a onesie or wear with pants, they are easy to secure
• 4-6 Sleepers - if they fit well, they'll keep diapers up.
• LOTS of Bibs, with a plastic back - we're now going through literally about 10-15 per day, due to the spit up.
• 4-6 Hats - especially for early on, to help keep baby warm.

Bassinet. Personally, we love having Mia sleep in a bassinet. She sleeps right next to me at night, and this early, it's more comforting for us to have her this close instead of in her room. We got one that comes with a mobile and sound/vibrating mechanism. Also, it can either be still or set up to be a rocker - the ability for the bassinet to rock is a must, for me - it helps calm her down when needed.

We got the Kolcraft Easy Reach Rocking Bassinet w/ Light Vibes Mobile. It's currently out of stock at Target, but you can look elsewhere or get a similar on there.

Nursing bras/tanks. Target, Target, Target! (online) After buying some expensive nursing bras I found much prettier, more comfortable, inexpensuve ones on Target.com. The brand I love is Gilligan and O'Malley, here are my favorites:

	Gilligan & O'Malley® Nursing Tank - $16.99
	Comfortable night bra - $14.99
	Pink comfy pretty lace bra - $14.99

ACCESSORIES

My Brest Friend. This is WAY better than the boppy. You strap it to your body, and it's like a tray for carrying drinks, but you put the baby on it. It's tight up against your body, it's a flat surface, and the surface goes far enough around you so baby's feet don't dangle. It allows you to breastfeed pretty much hands-free. This is a lifesaver. From MyBrestFriend.

Sleep Positioner. The Boppy sleep positioner, for $19.99 at Target. This is a great way to make baby feel more secure when sleeping. Also, it keeps your baby from developing that flatness on the back of her head - there's actually a name for this condition. You put baby in it, and just put her on a slight angle so she's not flat on her back. It's also nice because when she spits up, it will be off to the side.

White noise machine. Either one especially for baby, or regular white noise machines. Babies love the white noise, it calms them down.

Aden and Anais Swaddlers. Babies love to be swaddles, especially early on because they're not used to their little limbs moving around. We discovered that some swaddlers are just not big enough - get ones that are at least 40x40. We got some flannel ones at Target that were great, but then, a few weeks later, we got the BEST swaddlers as a gift - from two different mom friends of mine. They're muslin, so really lightweight and soft, so you can wrap baby without worrying about her overheating. Plus, they're pretty! They're from Aden and Anais.

Note - you might find the velcro swaddlers out there, we got a couple of those but they don't hold the baby too well. They might just be too big, but we haven't found these useful yet.

Graco Pack n Play with changing table. If you have a second area in the house other than your baby's room, this is a MUST. We got this for our downstairs, and this way we can have Mia sleep and get changed downstairs. You can get this at Target.

Fisher Price papasan swing. Calms a baby, as it mimics the rocking sensations that they had in the womb. Babies love to be jiggled and swayed.

Changing pad protectors. Your baby is going to pee on you. A lot. Even if it's a girl. The plastic changing pad protectors keep the pee from soaking your nice changing pad cover. When it gets wet, just remove it and put a new one on (always have a clean one handy!) It's the white oval below, placed on top of the changing pad.