1. Fisher Price My Little Lamb Cradle and Swing. Buy no other swing, this is the ONLY one in my opinion. It has great movement, sure you have to switch the batteries a lot, but it kept one happy peanut in the early days. Mega napping ensued in this swing. We also had a portable one and it was pretty much useless. As were some of my friend's other ones, cough cough, the Graco soothing sweetpeace center. And the FB lamb one is only $100 on amazon now! What a deal... You can thank me later! Just kidding. Brink says this is the "one item your life might be hell without when you have a newborn". 
2. Luna Lullaby Muslin Swadding blanket. Adan and Anais make some, too. And maybe a few others. The luna ones come with a nice CD to teach how to swaddle - made dad watch that prior to giving birth, it was helpful! Thumbs up for the DVD inclusion. Also - you can use these lightweight blankets in the beginning to swaddle, to cover the carseat at dr. appts, and to just use as a soft blanket down the road. They are super thin, soft and lightweight. Perfect for Houston. I see no need for any other receiving blanket besides these pups anymore. And when your baby starts to break out of this swaddle you can move on to Number 3. Thanks AJJ.
3. The miracle blanket. I was a little weary of this "baby straight jacket" at first because I thought "why in the world would my baby ever need to be that constricted?" I'll tell you why: it's all fun and games with the swaddle in the beginning. Then they begin to get a little wiggly-er and bust out of that swaddle, but aren't ready to sleep without a swaddle b/c they still scratch themselves and wake themselves up. In comes the miracle blanket. And they aren't getting out anytime soon. Don't bother with any other little swaddlers (cough cough the swaddle me one from BRU), they are a waste of money. Step 1: muslin swadding blankets, Step 2: miracle blanket, Step 3: halo sleep sacks. Thank you Lindy, thank you KK. 
4. Bosom Baby nursing pillow. Here it is. Erin gets props for starting this trend. Get rid of your boppy now - it's nothing compared to this baby. This pillow actually fits around dad's lap if he is giving a bottle, comes in a great easily washable minky fabric (love us some minky around here), and is still being used in our house 2 years later. Can be a toddler TV pillow, a preggo mom pillow - the uses are endless. Skip using your first for your second child, we've already bought a 2nd - don't expect AB to give hers up to BBB anytime soon!
5. Kissy Kissy burp cloths. You bring this tiny baby with the softest skin home from the hospital and the last thing you want to be wiping spit up off their sweet soft lips is with a scratchy large burp cloth. Go with these until later in the game when they are older, then use those large monogram ones that you got as gifts! They couldn't be any softer, they are a great size. And they hold up really well. We used at least once a day. $7-9 gold in my opinion. Search them out, you won't be dissapointed. Thanks again, Erin! 
6. I'm going to lump (the pump) these next products into one because if you are breatsfeeding, they all come together at some point, though I used all 3 both to get through my crazy breast feeding days. First off, I rented a pump from the hospital and glad I did. Prior to this the talk was amongst friends that it was gross to rent a pump. Well I disagree. This Medela Symphony pump is about $1300+ retail and you buy the pumping parts seperately, so everything you use is new and sterile. The only part that is rented is the motor. Not so with a purchased pump, there is no way to keep milk out of some parts of it, so borrowing one of these is not sterile. So we rented the Medela Symphony straight home from the hospital. It was great for a couple of reasons. At the hospital, a breastfeeding nurse came and set it all up for me so I knew the details and ins and outs of pumping right away. I also could get starting pumping in the hospital. ***get a second set of "parts" if you plan to do a lot of pumping - will cut down on the cleaning*** The rental Symphony is great b/c if you are a mega pumper, you don't have to worry about your motor going out, having to replace it if it breaks, etc. and not to metion the power it has in it compared to the smaller purchased ones. Then I moved on to a store purchased Medela. I have the Freestyle, but there is the Pump in Style, too. These are great for travel, working moms, and home. It gives you the freedom to pump on the go. Wahoo. And the best part about it, you can pump milk straight into the Dr. Brown's bottles with any of the medela pumps (always good to cut out that middle man!). I highly recommend this. Cuts down on muchas cleaning. And get as many bottles as you will use in a day (maybe a lot if you are bottle feeding!), so you only have to clean once. I know this sounds crazy, but it's true. It's all one big happy baby feeding family and you should be a part of it. I should know, I was the pumping queen. We started off with the small 4 oz. Dr. Brown's bottles and actually, they were great b/c they encouraged AB to hold a bottle at a pretty young age b/c they weren't too big or heavy. Or you can skip ahead to the Dr. Brown's 8 oz. Just don't go with the wide ones if you want to be a part of the pump family.
7. Nap Nanny. Now this is a controversial item to some new moms. Do you need it? Is it an expensive short term item? It's every mom's individual call. I think some of my friends are still using theirs and their babies are a year old - not as a sleeper, but as a "chill" spot. AB was reading in hers the other day, even! Here is the deal - they say don't use them in the cribs. And I would probably agree with this for the most part. We used it in our bed in between Brink and I the first few weeks and used it as our take around the house item with us so we could have her sleeping near item. There are probably a lot of substitues, but if your baby has reflux, the incline is key and the nice MINKY cover is a huge selling point for the Underbrinks! Thanks, Stace - I think you were the first to go for this item.
8. Happiest Baby on the Block DVD. Now I did read the book before the baby came, and we did watch the DVD, too. But when your baby is crying and you can't figure out what to do at 2 a.m. - rewatching that DVD is not a bad idea! Once you have it down, it becomes clockwork, but this was great help when you are just home from the hospital! Run, don't walk, to buy this BEFORE your baby arrives!
9. Summer Infant Baby Monitor. Why not get a video monitor? I don't know why anyone would skip this item. I can't tell you how many times AB has made noise in her sleep. You can take a peek and then go back to sleep yourself, resting assured your baby is not crying and awake or stuck in some crazy position. We have the regular one, but some of my friends have cooler, newer models. I think we will be getting this one, when we need to enlist the vision of a busy todller in a big girl bed and a newbie in a crib. 
10. Ipod Nano and Bose Speaker. When you have 2 dogs, loud yard men at the neighbors house, or a doorbell happy fed ex lady you need "Baby White Noise". We sacrificed an ipodand a Bose Speaker for it, but I'm sure there are less invasive ways to go about this. Personally we liked electric fan off the CD. So it's on our ipad, phones, and ipods now and we can take it on the go anywhere we travel. It can even go to grandma's for naptime. There are some sound machines out there, the good old box fan and plenty of other methods to getting white noise for your baby's room. We think we have it down though with our versatility. And now on to 10.2 and one of the reasons why baby white noise is so important! Thanks, Lori for the orig tunes CD!
10.2 Yellow Lab. Period. This isn't a joke. Our baby laughed and was happy anytime that dog came in the room. Though I've threatened to give her and Rock away in the past 2 years as I can't stand to deal with a dog mess with a kid around, those dogs brought more laughter to AB and could instantly light a smile or a laugh on her face. When you find your "yellow lab" item - hang on for dear life!! 
10.3 other notables! Gosh - there are alot, so we will just list these pups. I had to dig deeper in the memory for these so they didn't make the "come hell or high water list". Kissy Kissy infant caps (heat leaves through the head!), Pacimals or Wubbanubs, Baby 411 (in addition to What to Expect the First Year), 100 hangers (I know this seems ridiculous, but trust me, you will use them. you will have clothes for a wide age range and though you probably won't have 100 hanging items for 3 months, you will get gifts in larger sizes and a large range etc. I'm not crazy - ask Swayze), 3 changing pad covers (blowouts happen!), car seat cover (this was a top 10 for us, but probably not everyone. My baby pooped in the car seat EVERY DAY. no joke. We like the Lexie Rose ones from Nest and Cot), moby wrap, sophie, nosefrida, boogie wipes, hands free pumping bra, bravado body silk seamless nursing bra, some good meals in the freezer, bath sponge or bath pad (beats putting them in a hard baby tub and they won't slip!), activity mat (we have this one), lily padz reusable nursing pads, head support positioner. I will probably have about 100 more come to mind. But if you make it home from the hospital (with a carseat!) the first 10 should have you set for a little while!
10.3 other notables! Gosh - there are alot, so we will just list these pups. I had to dig deeper in the memory for these so they didn't make the "come hell or high water list". Kissy Kissy infant caps (heat leaves through the head!), Pacimals or Wubbanubs, Baby 411 (in addition to What to Expect the First Year), 100 hangers (I know this seems ridiculous, but trust me, you will use them. you will have clothes for a wide age range and though you probably won't have 100 hanging items for 3 months, you will get gifts in larger sizes and a large range etc. I'm not crazy - ask Swayze), 3 changing pad covers (blowouts happen!), car seat cover (this was a top 10 for us, but probably not everyone. My baby pooped in the car seat EVERY DAY. no joke. We like the Lexie Rose ones from Nest and Cot), moby wrap, sophie, nosefrida, boogie wipes, hands free pumping bra, bravado body silk seamless nursing bra, some good meals in the freezer, bath sponge or bath pad (beats putting them in a hard baby tub and they won't slip!), activity mat (we have this one), lily padz reusable nursing pads, head support positioner. I will probably have about 100 more come to mind. But if you make it home from the hospital (with a carseat!) the first 10 should have you set for a little while!
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