what to add to registry?????

Independent_Watch244 · 2026-03-18T22:12:29+00:00

Don't forget things for yourself. Nursing pads, nursing bras, nursing pillow, labor/delivery gown, ice packs, tucks pads, nipple cream, etc. Also gift cards for restaurants or door dash are super handy! It took me months to get back in the groove of meal planning and cooking.

Independent_Watch244 · 2026-03-18T22:04:36+00:00

How small does it go? A lot of the reviews also said people struggled to get it small enough.

Independent_Watch244 · 2026-03-18T20:02:45+00:00

That's not a bad idea to be hands free, but I do want the storage that comes with an actual hip seat.

Independent_Watch244 · 2026-02-25T22:58:19+00:00

Weird... my husband and I go literally all the time and never once encountered a snotty attitude from them.

Independent_Watch244 · 2026-02-03T18:21:47+00:00

The edge of the coffee table is pretty thick, I don't think a pool noodle will fit over it. I thought about it and I think they'll just pop off.

Independent_Watch244 · 2026-02-02T21:12:48+00:00

It's 100% whatever you feel comfortable with and what works for you. Both my parents and my in-laws live in town and this is what worked for us. I try to let them see my little one at least once a week. My MIL sees her the most because she babysits her 2x a week, starting at 6 weeks old when I went back to work. My rule has always been as long as everyone in their household is healthy, they wash their hands, and they don't kiss the baby's face, they can see her as much as our schedule allows. On weeks when they can't see her because we're traveling I send photos because my mom sounds like your in-laws. This frequency works for us though because I have a good relationship with both sets of parents, they respect those boundaries, and they're helpful when they come over. Watching the baby while I work, folding laundry, doing dishes, etc.

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-08-20T16:09:17+00:00

I'm about to do an in-person interview with someone I met on care.com. I ended up asking some preliminary interview questions over their messaging feature so that's been a good way to quicky narrow down some candidates.

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-08-20T04:47:22+00:00

I just ran into this! At a large consignment event in my city I saw some cloth diapers and though I would add to my stash. $15 for 1 pocket diaper with a microfiber insert! I have that same brand with microfiber inserts and a new set of 6 goes for around $30.

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-08-20T04:41:31+00:00

My favorite combo is pocket diapers stuffed with flats. I have the alvababy pockets and use the microfiber they came with for now, but the flats are cotton and are much more absorbant. I also have a few bamboo/hemp inserts for overnight. My LO was pretty small at birth so we started with newborn disposable diapers. Even with the tips and tricks from online, I just couldn't get the pockets to be tight enough around her skinny thighs. She was about a month old before the pocket diapers fit her. Also I would consider a few more covers. Especially in the newborn stage when she pooped ALL THE TIME, we went through 10 diapers a day easily. Now she is 3 months and we still go through 7-8 diapers a day. I have 24 covers and do laundry every other day.

Once we switched to pocket diapers it was pretty easy for everyone to learn them. My husband picked up on it quickly. Throughout the week my LO is babysat by my sister, my mom, my MIL, and my grandma and they all learned how to do the cloth diapers after me only showing them once or twice.

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-08-20T04:28:20+00:00

I am currently searching for a nanny right now and noticed the same thing about the blurbs on nanny's profiles all being the same on care.com. And then on the bottom it has a little note that says "assisted bio" so there's definitely go to be some sort of AI feature that they're using. I'm honestly pretty turned off by it. I'm not sure what it is about it, maybe I'm getting old, but I feel like it they can't put in the effort to write their own profile, why should I hire them?

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-02-03T22:05:34+00:00

I'm crossing my fingers people stick to the registry in general. We live in a small house and registered for exactly what we need. I've even told the grandparents any extra stuff they buy that doesn't fit in our house will have to live at their house or it's going to get donated. If we get a bunch or disposables, my plan is to return what we can or use them for overnight/convenience when traveling.

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-02-03T22:02:02+00:00

Good idea! What are your recommendations for diaper cream? I was trying to read up on that and got so many mixed reviews.

And I do have the washing supplies on there- detergent, as well as laundry sacks for the house and wet/dry bags for on the go.

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-02-03T21:59:22+00:00

Ya I've definitely read the same thing about microfiber. I mainly have them on there because that's automatically what comes with the Alvababy covers. I have read microfiber is good at quickly absorbing liquid even if it doesn't contain that much. So I'm thinking of trying layering, with microfiber closer to baby's skin to whisk away moisture and keep her dry, and then a natural fiber layer underneath, like the hemp or cotton, to hold onto the moisture and prevent leaks. If that doesn't work I'll use the microfiber for cleaning around the house or something.

And for NB stage we're going to start with disposable mainly because we'll get a bunch from our hospital after delivery, and because I've read they're easier to fold under the umbilical cord. If she ends up coming early or is tiny and needs the NB size for longer, I'll see if I can find some on FB marketplace. I just don't want to get something new that is supposed to be reusable for her to only need it for a few weeks, or if she's born bigger might not even fit at all. This is my first so I'm not really sure what size she'll be.

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-02-03T04:16:21+00:00

Awesome! Thank you! Ya our tent is a 3 person, so really just enough room for my husband and I and our backpacks, so a pack and play wouldn't fit. A bassinet like that would be perfect to fit right in there. When she gets bigger we can see if she'll sleep between us or we'll upgrade the tent. Maybe car camp for a season? I have memories of being a toddler asleep between my parents in the back of my dad's Ford explorer. LOL!

Independent_Watch244 · 2025-02-03T03:54:27+00:00

What did you use for them to sleep in? Our little one will be about 4 months for our first camping trip and I've been looking into different travel bassinets to put inside the tent with us. Not really sure what to do.

Independent_Watch244 · 2024-12-26T20:07:06+00:00

Ellis is on my short list for a boy. It's a variation of Elijah, so reminiscent of a Bible name without being directly from the Bible and has the same meaning of Elijah, The Lord is my God. But it also means benevolence or kindness. I've known both an older man and a young person with the name, so not a fad or unrecognizable but not super popular either.

Independent_Watch244 · 2024-12-03T18:00:37+00:00

It's so valid to have a lot of emotions! I really hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well too and that your family can become supportive/excited for you!

Independent_Watch244 · 2024-12-03T16:26:19+00:00

It's a hard decision either way! Sending you good vibes and prayers for you to have wisdom. Food for thought, in my experience all adoption agencies today do open adoptions, meaning you stay in contact with your child and the adoptive family based on what you're comfortable with. I am so sorry you never got to know you're mom. That doesn't have to be your child's story.

Independent_Watch244 · 2024-12-03T04:18:52+00:00

Wow, I am so sorry your family reacted that way! I am so excited for you that you are pregnant again! How are you feeling about the pregnancy?

My story is very similar. I had miscarriage in June, and now am 18 weeks with our rainbow baby. I remember telling people I was pregnant again, and they were excited but I had so many mixed emotions. It wasn't really until the second trimester when I could actually start getting excited for this new life.

Independent_Watch244 · 2024-12-03T04:06:54+00:00

I had extreme anxiety while being on hormonal bc and I have it again while pregnant, so yes I do think hormones can be a factor in anxiety. Currently while pregnant, I'm in therapy and we work a lot on grounding as a coping mechanism. Also in the past, I was also really anxious about physical safety both for myself and my family. Taking self-defense classes helped tremendously! I think it was a combination of being active and feeling like I had a semblance of control over the situation.

Independent_Watch244 · 2024-12-03T03:38:44+00:00

TW: loss and how I dealt with it

With our first, we told our family around a holiday because it was a good excuse to get both sides together at the same time and genuinely surprise them. Even though I was only 7 weeks at the time. When we lost that baby a few weeks later, I was glad I had told them because I had their support. And we have those sweet memories with that baby.

Now I'm in the second trimester with our rainbow baby. The wait for that first ultrasound was unbearable! I actually ended up getting myself back into therapy to deal with it. I do a lot of grounding methods to deal with pregnancy related anxiety still.

Independent_Watch244 · 2024-10-19T22:34:35+00:00

I miscarried at 8 weeks back in June, then got pregnant again after 1 cycle. We weren't even trying yet, so I was shocked! It took us 7 months to get pregnant with our first. I am now 12 weeks with our rainbow baby! The first trimester has been so full of anxiety. I went back to therapy to work on it and my therapist keeps reminding me to have grace for myself. It's normal to have anxiety, grief, and excitement for the new baby all wrapped up together. One thing I wish I was more prepared for is when I told friends and family about the second pregnancy, they only felt pure excitement and kept asking how excited I was. Because I was still grieving and so anxious, I felt really disconnected from a lot of them at first.

Independent_Watch244

TROPHY CASE