Coffee, Books & Yoga

Every postpartum mom: Alexa, remind me to drink a glass of water every hour. 😉

Alright moms, you just gave birth or brought your new baby home for the first time. It’s a pretty big life change. So, what do YOU need? So much of the focus in the fourth trimester is on the baby. And while more gifts for baby are generous and often so thoughtful, I’ve been thinking (especially after birthing my 3rd baby) about what’s most important for MOTHERS in the postpartum season. And I can tell you that it’s not more baby clothes and cute stuffed animals and packages of diapers…though, all of those things are nice too. But we already showered the baby, right? 😉

More than anything, after giving birth, coming home, changing my own pads every hour, learning how to breastfeed and remembering to feed myself too, what I wanted more than anything was: someone to do my dishes, change a load of laundry, put my clothes away, hold my baby while I showered, and maybe a little house elf bringing me endless snacks without asking.

My best friend of forever is delivering her first baby any time now, and while I was putting together a postpartum basket for her to come home to after she leaves the hospital, I thought it might be nice to share some of my absolute favorite must-haves for that blissful, magical, sometimes stressful and tearful and scary, 4th trimester.

When you’re thinking of what to do for new moms, consider something FOR moms. Things that make life with a newborn easier. This basket is full of items hand-selected from my favorite brands that got me through those first days back at home. This is also my first post in awhile that’s not paid or sponsored. No one asked me to add their product to my basket. I don’t have any coupons or codes. Just lots of love for my very favorite things for postpartum moms.

• Nyssa’s Fourthwear — Time to ditch the mesh undies! This is a women-owned company based out of Chicago and their new Fourthwear is incredibly comfortable, perfectly stretchy, and comes with a discreet pocket right by your lady bits for an ice pack…can you think of anything more heavenly after birth? These are made to change with your body and can be pulled up or rolled down under your navel. You can also throw a heat pack in the pocket for your periods later down the line.
  
  
• Food Delivery Gift Cards — This is a gamechanger. Other than bringing freezable home-cooked meals, this is pretty much the next best thing. I chose Door Dash because it’s pretty popular in our area, but there are tons of food delivery services out there now that bring restaurant meals right to your door.
  
  
• Lactation Goodies — There’s so much out there when it comes to supporting and increasing a healthy milk supply. Some of my favorites were the single serve berry drink mix packets (think yummy flavored water) & cookies (I thought the dry mixes from MilkBliss and UpSpring tasted the best, and I tried about 784029085892 different brands!)
  
  
• Lullabuddy — I actually was gifted one of these from the brand, and it quickly became my #1 for baby showers and gifts for new parents. It’s a tiny music-playing cube preloaded with some of the most relaxing lullabies you’ll ever hear. I’m including it in my postpartum basket for moms because if you have a fussy baby (I swear my 5 month old is still crying throughout entire car rides) this little device quiets a crying baby quicker than anything else. Plus, it’s portable. I throw mine in my son’s carseat carrier for long (and short) trips, and I couldn’t go without it.
  
  
• ALL THE COFFEE — Seriously, is there anything better than pushing a baby out and being able to enjoy caffeine again? You can go any direction with this, but I popped over to Target and grabbed a cute mama mug and my bestie’s favorite KCups from Starbucks.
  
  
• SwipenSnap — Another item that instantly came to mind when I was brainstorming things that make mom life easier. You can twist any diaper cream into the applicator, and it makes for one-handed diaper cream application. There’s nothing I hated more than getting that gross diaper cream that’s impossible to wash off all over my hands. This is a parent must-have, and it’s universal so it will work with any tubes of diaper cream that you already have at home. Super soft on the bum, too!
  
  
• Icy Cold Vagina — OK, since I can’t actually gift my girlfriend a nice cool vag, I stocked her up on the essentials: pads (any store-brand kind for incontinance…way better than menstrual pads for all the postpartum bleeding!) and TUCKS TUCKS TUCKS!

I added a few other things in too, like her favorite munchies that can be easily enjoyed one-handed and on the couch, and some cute little baby things, like the munch mitt teething mitten (a favorite in our house) because well…I can’t help myself. You get it though: The focus is still on MOM. Feel free to bookmark any of these for future gifting, and I’d love to hear if you have any MUST-ADD items that I can include for next time.

It really does in fact take a village, and nothing gives me more joy than moms supporting moms in the moments and seasons we need it most.