Changing pads are a pretty prominent feature of any nursery. A piece of advice we got before baby came was to get multiple sets of changing pad covers. But changing pad covers were so expensive, at $30 each! And the baby was constantly peeing all over the pad every time he was changed, that we literally had to do laundry constantly to launder those changing pad covers. Then, we discovered these awesome pads.

So, you thought breastfeeding would be simple! No bottles, less stuff, right? Turns out, actually, there is a whole host of products out there built to support breastfeeding in one way or another, and some of them actually are really great and do make it a little easier. One of these is the breastfeeding pillow.

It turns out that there are many different breastfeeding positions and holds (who knew!?) and that you and your baby will find the one(s) that are most convenient and comfortable to you. I highly recommend having a breastfeeding pillow to help support the baby’s weight as you may be holding the baby in one position for quite long stretches at a time. With a breastfeeding pillow, you might gain one (or two!) hands free to browse your phone, drink a glass of water, push the remote control buttons, etc.

Elvie first came on my radar through a Facebook Mom’s group and since then I’ve been so excited to be able to try it out. It finally came back in stock in the US mid-July of 2019 so I finally was able to get my hands on it. Here are my first impressions and (very thorough) initial review.

By now, it’s a bit of a cliche to say that the postpartum period is seriously not discussed enough. But it’s still true. We get all prepared for the baby with the nursery and the clothing and even the pump, but nobody talks about what the mom really needs to get through those early weeks. I had almost daily deliveries from Amazon after baby boy arrived, because I kept discovering things I needed and wanted to help me recover. Here is my list of the most useful things I found for recovering from (a vaginal) birth.

Recently on my international work trip I found myself thinking a lot about how I would bring all my mom stuff (e.g., pumping stuff) with me everywhere and on the plane for a 15 hour flight. I needed something big enough to to fit all my pump stuff, including a large industrial strength milk cooler to keep everything cold, and ideally be able to carry on beside me in addition to a very large backpack I intended to keep in the overhead compartment. It had to be durable and lightweight. Something fashionable would be a bonus, as well as something expandable (in case I needed to bring back more than I brought over), and shrinkable to a reasonable size to double as a daybag if needed.