silverette cups

these are going to be my #1 recommendation always. if you are nursing, i swear by these things. you won’t need any creams, any products, the silver in these do all the healing so quickly you’ll need and once your nipples toughen up you can stop using them. 

WORTH EVERY PENNY! (and pretty sure you gotta get the legit expensive silver ones for them to actually work)

$59 on amazon

peri bottle

because i wasn’t planning on having a VBAC, i was not prepared for vaginal birth recovery. my sister in law was so thoughtful and left some essentials in my bathroom for me while i was still at the hospital and i used them for what felt like forever!

the peri bottle was CRUCIAL for the first 7 weeks or so PP.

$13 on amazon

milk saver

in those first few weeks, i had enough letdown to grow a little milk stash without having to pump (hate to pump more than most things). i ended up loving this milk saver because it fits comfortably in my bra and pours easily without spilling. 

i’ve tried the haaka but was never a fan, it felt awkward during nursing because of the size of it hanging off me and hitting the baby. i also like that you can wear these ones slightly discreetly if you have company over.

$15 on amazon

nursing pads

with both babies, i started out using the bamboo nursing pads but would eventually change to the disposable ones unfortunately. i love the bamboo ones theoretically but they just couldn’t stop the leakage and i was constantly having to change my pad and bra and shirt, multiple times a day. 

so instead i use these, not the greenest option but they work and i very rarely leak.

$20 on amazon

nara app

sadly, izzy never took to the SNOO so we weren’t able to monitor her sleeping with the SNOO app because i had it unplugged. in the early days, i wanted to keep track of her sleeping so i input her wake ups into this app and it was super helpful for me.

now that i’m not tracking her sleeping as routinely, i am still using it to track her growth and vaccines so i highly recommend! i scoured the app store for the prettiest one of course haha.

white noise machine

we use this CONSTANTLY! (we actually bought two so we’d always have one charged)

i love that it’s so portable and has tons of sound options (we use the pink / brown noise most– it’s way more pleasant than white noise to me). easy to charge and the strap makes it easy to attach to the car seat or stroller. rechargeable too!

$19 on amazon

infant lounger

what’s weird is that i would have never listed this as an essential with arlo. we had one but he was almost never in it! izzy however used hers a lot. and in those early days, it was really nice to have a place to plop her down. i always kept it covered with a nice swaddle or blanket for extra coziness (and protection in case)

$109 on nordstrom

snoo *

so actually, this wasn’t an essential this time around for us, but i had to include it because it was so much so for arlo! he loved it and slept amazingly in it until 6mo!

izzy however never wanted the motion and i think she felt less comfortable being swaddled because once we moved her to her crib at 4m she immediately slept way better.

since every baby is different, i still recommend it but i’m glad i didn’t have to buy it again! i also really like the app and being able to track their sleep. i wrote about it more here.

$1695 on pbkids

thank you cards

it was nice for me to have a pack of thank you cards in case i received anything after sending out a birth announcement. but it’s just something you maybe wouldn’t think of but totally might need!

i rounded up a lot of beautiful thank you card options on my amazon storefront.

$26 on amazon

water bottle

it’s so important to drink tons of water while you’re nursing, but i’m terrible at it. as you may already know, i way prefer drinking sparkling but i thought having a big pretty bottle would help.

i’m a straw person so i was very excited to find this beautiful bottle had the option to add a straw on too!

(and i am really not into those massive stanley cups that i can’t even hold in my tiny hand)

$38
use code almostmakesperfect

nursing pillow *

this time around i was experienced with breastfeeding and i wasn’t recovering from a c-section and my baby was waaay smaller and lighter weight, so i actually didn’t end up using it at all, but it was CRUCIAL for me the first time around so i had to include it.

i love this pillow because it felt secure attached to me and it felt secure with baby on top, i tried some other kinds and they were just way too wobbly and unstable.

$53 on amazon

period underwear

i wore diapers for a bit until i was way too bothered by the scent of them. it seems like they have this whisper of fragrance and i just couldn’t do it between that and the smell of the lochia (gross but real).

so i ended up switching to period underwear– the brand i’ve been wearing for years just got outed for using BFAs, so i’m sharing a different brand that i just purchased from recently to replace them, but these were life saving for me.

i hated the smell of the lochia so much (anyone else??) so i changed them frequently, so it was nice to have a bunch of pairs to rotate through!

$36+ on aisle
use this link for $20 off

breast pump

i hate the chore of pumping, but i had to include it since it’s obv an essential if you’re nursing. i was able to get a motif pump through my insurance for free, but i debated also getting a hands free pump as well. i didn’t, but i am still sort of debating it because pumping on the go would actually work well for me.

a few times a week i have to pickup arlo, etc while izzy is supposed to be eating and if i could pump in the car it would work out well. so this is the one i might buy!

$110 on amazon

pumping bra

there are lots of fancy pumping bras and there are lots of crappy ones, i like this one that was in between. it has two clips so you can do nursing mode or pumping mode. but i just wear it exclusively with for pumping and keep it in a basket with my pump.

$40 on amazon

nice loungewear

this one was really important for me this time around. in my hospital bag post, i talked about having nice things this time around to make me feel better and having stuff i looked forward to wearing was really nice for me.

you are going to feel like CRAP. your body hurts, you are exhausted, you feel like you look your worst, so whatever you can do to make yourself feel slightly nicer — do it!

for me that was soft lounge sets, cozy socks, brushing (and sometimes even curling) my hair, and a little bit of color on my cheeks and lips.

$64 lounge pants
$39 matching top