I’ve been promising this for awhile ….
and I probably forgot 700 things slash sound illiterate
from sleep deprivation, but ya know, LET’S DO IT.

A few things are twin specific so I’ll do that in a separate post next week!

As always, I know nothing about nothing 🙂
But the twins are 4.5 months and I have survived the early days!
preach.

 

It’s overwhelming when you have no idea about babies (which was ME!) and no idea where to start (ME!) and like zero experience doing anything whatsoever (ME!) But I promise, you figure it out.  Even when I read about things, it never made sense.  But you learn RULL quickly.  And they don’t need anything but YOU ….well maybe a few things…… but then they’re good to go! 

Parenting is like…… REAL easy.  

Ha…… no.
But really……
I already miss the early days so much.
Yes, I was much more tired than I am now, but in a way it was “easier” because they just eat and sleep and eat and sleep. Snuggle the hell out of them because it goes TOO FAST.

but I’ll stop before I start crying…… if I’m not already crying from going through photos to add to this post…… 
hormones. 
and it’s almost witching hour as I type this…..
which if you are a parent know is the most fun time of the day. It’s real fun.  Like, I don’t dread it ever.  Never. 
It’s fun when two babies can only be calmed by being up on my left shoulder- NOT the right only the LEFT –  and you realize, I DON’T HAVE FOUR HANDS AND TWO LEFT SHOULDERS but ya know….. it all works out. 

OKAY. Let’s get down to business.

EVERYTHING IN THIS POST CAN BE FOUND IN THIS LINK!
in my AMAZON SHOP under “NEWBORN ESSENTIALS“

Diaper Pail – this one is AMAZING. It hides odors with an arm and hammer disk and also twists the bag every time you close the lid to trap odors.
Bottle Warmer – if you are bottle feeding at all, you need a warmer.
Bottle Sterilizer – this is the BEST thing a friend gave me. I pump into different bottles than I feed the girls so that I can batch their bottles the night before or morning of for the day so I go through A TON of bottles for the twins. This is a game changer. Sorry but people who say throw them in the dishwasher must not have nearly as many bottles and parts and I do because it would be running constantly!

Swaddles – first we loved The Swaddle Me Up and Love to Dream, and now that they’re bigger we love Halo swaddles. Ain’t nobody got time for wrapping with swaddle blankets because those Houdini’s bust-out-Thotiana in 5 seconds flat. But they’re good to have for early days and to put on top of boppy’s, etc.

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The Best Diaper Rash Cream Ever: Triple Paste – Poor Collins had horrid diaper rash because she was ALWAYS having a round the clock dirty diaper the first 4-6 she was home with us and nothing could cure it. Like…. red bumps that were turning into pustules. It was horrible. No matter how often I changed her, let her “air dry”, how much cream I slathered on – nothing would fix it. This started healing it IMMEDIATELY and it was completely gone in about 2 days flat.
I don’t think you need this for every day – the Desitin is fine – but we swear by this and only use this now most of the time.

Pacifiers – We love the Soothie. This is what the give them in the NICU. Our girls love them. Get a bunch because they will drop them and you will lose them.

Play Mat – a must for early days of playtime/tummy time/etc.
(I love this pretty one! But the girls love this ugly but effective colorful one so yaknow, it is what it is :D)

Boppy Lounger – when they are small these are perfect for them to lay in. The twins still fall asleep in them before I transfer them to their crib. I also use it behind my back on the couch, etc.

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Papablic Bottle Sterilizer – I exclusively pump, and pump into different bottles than the babies drink out of (don’t ask, there’s a method to this madness) so there are A LOT of bottles throughout the day to wash and clean. 18 I think…. but it used to be 24 so this is a major improvement.  I can’t live without this bottle sterilizer. 

Pack and Play with Changing Table Topper – this is in our living room and we use it all damn day and night. We have a a changing table in the nursery and maybe it’s because there’s 2 babies and can’t walk away from one but I always change them in the living room

Bibs – lots of em. We have some reflux in our house. The hot pink ones with the tight neck were a gift and we LOVE called A Mom Who Knows but when I looked online they were a fortune.
I like the easy pull on and off Burts Bees Bibs a ton. (Again, I pump and bottle feed so we need lots of bibs!)

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Burp Cloths, particularly the Cloth Diapers as Burp Cloths – because if yours are anything like mine, there will be LOTS of spit up. These are amazing to wipe and toss and wash easily.
Oh, and extra swaddles on hand for when they throw up everywhere and a burp cloth ain’t gonna cover it, like below (and this was my baby that DOES NOT throw up.)

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NoseFrida – that bulb syringe they give you in the hospital is GARBAGE. You may think sucking snot out of your kids nose with your mouth is gross, but NOPE. It doesn’t go in your mouth calm down people….. and it’s actually strangely satisfying.

Zippered Onesies – don’t mess with snaps if you don’t have to. With Hadley’s apnea monitor we had her in snaps for months before finally cutting holes for her cords in her outfits. Middle of the night changes and feeds you want a ZIPPER. I love Carter’s clothes for soft inexpensive options.

Bathtub – Our original bathtub I registered for was great with a built in scale, etc and let me tell you : I would dread bath time. It sat on our kitchen counter it was so high up and hard for me to reach the babies and it killed my back. And with how small they were when we brought them home it was just too big and difficult to keep them in place safely. Luckily my friend told me about this under $20 option and it is PERFECT. Goes right in the kitchen sink and is easy and pie and weighs nothing. It comes with a newborn sling too for when your baby is still teeny tiny.
(amazon only has pink and blue but the white one we have from Target is here) Best $18 ever spent.

Dr. Brown’s Bottles – if you can avoid a bottle with 4 parts, for the love of God please do. If your baby has reflux, ugh my apologies, then these are great. I suggest not opening or ordering 9,000 of one of kind of bottle because babies may be picky!

Baby Brezza – we started supplementing with formula and if you are going to be doing formula at all – or even if you are unsure – register for this. You can always leave unopened and return. We can make the twins 3 AM bottles in 5 seconds flat. It’s a GODSEND. Truly. God. Send. You don’t want to be waiting for the bottle to warm up at 3 am I PROMISE.

Car Seat Cover : this doubles as a nursing cover too. You don’t want people looking at your baby or them being exposed to ANYTHING when you’re taking them to those doctors appointments.

Stroller Fan : This is rechargeable with a USB and the babies LOVE it. Just take a look at Collins down there on the right living her best life poolside.

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Stroller organizer – the fancy one is awful. This one works for any stroller and is GREAT.

Nail Trimmer : this is injury free! It’s a smooth disk that is soft to the touch so it can’t accidentally cut the baby. Those nails are TALONS and grow SO DAMN FAST.

Hatch Monitor : I used this in our room as my sound machine before the babies came home. I love it.

Bottle Brush – Bottle Soap – Hand Sanitizer –
the standard necessities. I like BabyOrganics for the soap and sanitizer and like the Dr Browns bottle brush the best.

 

I’m sure I’m leaving out 9,000 things I use and love, but you get the basics.
Everything can be found here under Newborn Essentials.

I hope you find this helpful!!!
Every mom and every baby is different.

In the end, you don’t need much the early days but the BASICS so don’t freak out if you’re pregnant about having certain things all together. They really just need you, diaper related items, and some milk! Eating and sleeping are the only necessities – for YOU and for baby.

TWINS!
Full post to come but my top things :
Twin Z Pillow // Twin Pack and Play // Table for 2 // Snap and Go Stroller
I’ll go into details about these next week!