I can honestly say the fourth trimester is real people.  It is real.  And it is real hard.  I am not sure that there is much that can make the sleep deprivation, and the nursing/feeding schedule while trying to recover from delivery any better.  But there are a few products that will make your life just a wee bit easier.

iBaby Feed Timer (AKA YOUR BRAIN!!!)

If there is one thing you need, you need this app. iBaby Feed Timer helps your remember what boob you need to use, when they had a dirty diaper, and you how much sleep your baby is getting (They also have a sleep app but you might be too tired two manage to apps. However, I am not sure I recommend that you find out your baby is sleeping 18 hours by you somehow only managed to get two.).

If you are a data person then you can have fun with the section that gives you a summary of how long between feedings, how long they feed, and so on.

You can get the iPhone/iPad version here.

Nesting Days Newborn Carrier

Hands down Nesting Days Newborn Carrier is the best carrier for you and your baby postpartum. No straps.  No trying to figure out some fancy wrapping method that you couldn’t figure out with that dang baby doll and now with a real live wiggle worm combine with sleep deprivation, you have no hope of mastering.

With the Nesting Days Newborn Carrier you just climb in and slip baby right into a comfortable position– in other words no long training videos to watch on how to get into the thing. It disputes the weight so that it is comfortable to wear for extended periods of time.

And when I say the best, I have loads of carrier experience. My first child had horrible reflux and had to be walked and carried day and night. I have at least 5 different carriers, and four different wraps.   I would have loved to have discovered this for the newborn stage with him.  Yup Nesting Days Newborn Carrier is kind like the holy grail of newborn carriers.  It may seem pricy till you realize that you can eat dinner with two hands, while snuggling and kissing your infant.

I think Daisy lived in this the first month. It was a great way for me to be able to interact with my son while she also got the cuddles she needed.

Nursing Gear

Not going to lie, nursing might be the hardest thing you ever do in your ENTIRE life. My second was easy (please don’t hate me).  She ate right away and has been eating like a champ ever since.

My first however was a different story.  We went to two lactation consultants because things just weren’t going well.  It was so hard both physically and emotionally (a story for another post or maybe a novel!).  We eventually got the nursing thing down pat but it was a long journey to get there.

I can’t make nursing around the clock easier during those first few months, but again having the right gear will make a huge difference in your ability to keep at it. You wouldn’t go up Mt. Everest in a swimsuit? So then invest a little bit in your nursing gear.

You can pick up cheap nursing shirts at Old Navy.

Infinity Scarves are also great. They look stylish but then when you need to nurse they cover you up- way better than those big nursing covers, and one less thing you need to have in your bag. They sell InfinityMOM Nursing Scarf on amazon.com, Etsy has a bunch of cute ones, and I have seen them at Target. Of course you can use even those that aren’t labeled nursing. And if you are crafty they are super easy to make.

Get a good nursing bra. There are a ton out there but I like Soma’s Nursing Bras.

A good baby carrier, like Nesting Days Newborn Carrier, that makes it easy to go from wearing to nursing.

Freezer Meals

You might be lucky enough to have a live in cook during the first month or two, but if not then spending the time before the baby comes to stock your freezer will be a life (and family) saver.  I didn’t do this for my first, but I have no idea how we would have managed, even with all of the wonderful meals our friends dropped off, if I hadn’t cooked 45 diners.  Yes, that is corrected, we had over a month of dinners ready to either pop in the oven, crockpot or microwave. HUGE sanity saver.

My favorite website for planning our Freezer Meals, is Once a Month Meals.  You can get a lot of what they offer for free, but I went ahead and upgraded to the Pro because it saved me time to be able to customize the monthly menu and portion size,  have one simple shopping list already generated from the recipes, and labels to out on the meals.  The time (and energy) it saves makes up for the cost of the membership.

Share with me?

What are your fourth trimester must haves?