Reddit reviews myBaby SoundSpa Portable Machine, Plays 6 Natural Sounds, Auto-Off Timer, Portable for New Mother or Traveler, Battery or Adapter Operated, MYB-S200

White noise machine. i did hear about them pre-baby, but thought it would be totally unnecessary and didn't want to buy extra junk. Ended up ordering this - http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091E31KM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . That, along with swaddling, have been key and now I've got a 7 week old that sleeps 6-8 hrs in a row at night!

We began using a white noise machine when our daughter was 3 months and left it on all night and for each nap. She is 15 months and we still use it for both. It's this noise machine and it's been great thus far: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0091E31KM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1409431048&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40

Yay midwives! I loved my midwife care, here's hoping you have a similarly awesome experience! Here's a few things I found helpful. I won't promise it's everything I needed, but it should be a start:

For mom:

• Nursing pads, even if she's not planning to breastfeed, because leaking. I like Lansinoh Stay-Dry. They make an ultra-soft version but I don't find them softer, just less practical.
  
  
• Nursing sleep bras. I found nursing tanks kind of useless, but can't live without sleep bras.
  
  
• As someone else said, pads, more than you think you need. Ugly/old underwear to go with them.
  
  
• Preparation H wipes with witch hazel, and Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm. Useful for both vaginal and c-section births. Keep them by the toilet. Expect to leave some dignity in the bathroom with those first couple poops.
  
  
• Colace and prunes. See above.
  
  
• Regular strength Tylenol - not extra-strength in case she's also on Percocet
  
  
• Big ass water mug. Take the one the hospital gives you. (Take everything in your hospital room unless they say you can't take it. Ask for extras of stuff you know you need, like their giant pads and weird mesh underwear.)
  
  
• If planning to breastfeed, Medela brand lanolin. I find it much softer than the Lansinoh brand.
  
  
  For the house:
  
  
• White noise machine. This baby saved our sleep. Some people swear by the shusher, but I find the noise it makes super annoying and it only goes for half an hour max. Hahahhaha nooo.
  
  
• Tons of receiving blankets and a big bin to store them. I thought we had too many. We don't, they get spit up on a lot and we change them out frequently.
  
  
• Hands-free baby carrier. Sometimes babies need to be held beyond what your arms/sanity can handle. The k'tan is pretty cheap and has saved our sanity many times.
  
  
• Lots of food you can prepare and eat one handed. Frozen burritos, apples, grape tomatoes, granola bars, cracker & cheese trays, whatever you like. You're going to be hungry and tired and holding a kid all the time.
  
  
• Extra throw pillows. I like long rectangular ones to nurse with. They're also good for middle of the night baby-wants-to-play time. When kid does that we literally just put her on the playmat on the floor and lay down next to her until she gets fussy, then she goes back to bed.
  
  
• Crinkle books and toys that rattle.

Get a sound machine. Our son has never slept better! And it muffles the noise in the house so you aren't tip toeing around trying not to wake the baby.

We got this one on amazon for a good price.

We got a sound machine for when we transitioned our daughter since it helped drown out the noises and with our floors creaking. Here is a link for the one we purchased and our day care uses:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0091E31KM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I also give our daughter a pacifier when she is starting to show signs of being sleepy and it helps calm her down even more. I'm sure you have a routine, but if not start now and stick to it.

We also let our daughter doze off while laying with us and then moved her into her crib.

Good luck! And remember don't give up! It took about a good month from transitioning from our pack n play to the crib, but now she sleeps through the night.

Is your husband able to give you some time in the evenings? In the thick of it (my girl was an awful napper and sleeper, the hardest was 4-8 weeks for me), my husband took over from around 9-midnight. He brought her to me if she was hungry, but other than that I could eat, go to the restroom (ha!), and try to get a solid nap in before the night. He would also try to get her down for the night (I felt he was better at soothing for that) so my first wake up might be at 1 or 2. It was still so hard, some days I knew I couldn't drive or do much of anything because the exhaustion was real!

I think you're in the eye of the storm right now! I also ended up using other things to help my girl sleep around 6 weeks which felt necessary for us, but I know not everyone makes the same choices. Ex. We started using the swing for night sleep (swaddled and clipped in) and a bouncer that gently bounced itself (she was also swaddled). I think she just really needed some movement and swaddling and I couldn't safely hold her when I desperately needed to sleep too. The bouncer (this one) was ready helpful for visiting other places because I had somewhere safe that she was familiar with to put her down for naps. We also used white noise - either an app on our phone (I like the one called "white noise") or this one- you just might not want to turn it up too high- it's pretty loud.

As rough of a sleeper as she was (ex. 1.5 hour sleep chunks all night. No nap longer than 30 min if not held. Would wake without movement continuing, etc), we finally got 2 5 hours stretches in one night around 8.5 weeks using the tools I mentioned. There were other back slides- 4.5 months was rough- but the newborn part is some of the hardest.

Hang in there, mama! Get those laughs where ever you can!

We got a machine that has a bunch of different settings on it. Rainstorm, thunder, ocean waves, babbling river, fuzzy radio static. We tried a bunch and he liked the thunder when he was teeny, but now we do the radio static and have since about 2 months. It plugs into the wall, so we can run it all night, and it's been a miracle!

http://amzn.com/B0091E31KM

> Now that I'm mostly out of the first trimester woods, I'm anxious to start making some progress on the house and nursery and buying some baby things, but I feel like it's still too early for a lot of that.

I know that feeling! Yay on almost being out of the 1st trimester though!

I found what kept me mostly happy on the "I want to buy baby things but maybe it's still ridiculously early...?" front was to start sale shopping and building my registry. I told myself that if I found a really great deal on something I knew I wanted/needed for baby I'd go ahead and get it. And so far I haven't seen too many amazing sales. I got a car seat and a pack 'n' play on Black Friday. And since I've gotten a couple of diaper covers and prefolds but that's about it.

If you're planning to cloth diaper the Thirsties Duo Wrap cover in size 1 color Aqua is on sale right now on Amazon. It's $8 instead of the standard ~$13.

There is a white noise machine/baby soother that all the registry lists like lucies seem to like that's on sale right now. It's almost 50% off which is pretty nice.

But yeah so that's what I've been doing. Then when I buy things I don't feel silly because I can tell myself, and mostly my husband, "but I saved 50% by buying it now!"

ETA: Some other sales I've seen if you're interested: Carter's is having their twice a year "big sale."

Sound machine. This is the one I use

We've been using it since our son was a baby (3.5 yrs old now) and he can pretty much sleep through anything now.

This may not be up your alley because you can't customize the sounds at all, but my in-laws bought us a portable sound machine that works either plugged in or on batteries. We just use it for obnoxiously loud white noise, but there are other sounds too.

Here's the link to the exact one they bought us (myBaby SoundSpa Portable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091E31KM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_N4.CybTTC5QAP), but I know there are tons of them out there.