6 Things We Used Immediately and Often With a Newborn

Swaddles. Two of my students this past spring gave me SwaddleMe swaddles with velcro sides and more than one parent told me they were absolutely necessary and the best. We agree. Wells loves to be swaddled. There were many nurses who swaddled him up so well in the the hospital in regular blankets (once he was even double-swaddled). Scott spent a lot of time on Youtube that first night trying to figure out the best method. Finally I told him there were velcro swaddles in the bottom drawer of the changing table and to just bring one back to the hospital, please. They are definitely a game-changer.
They have all types on Amazon, but I'd just buy them at Wal-Mart. You can get two for about $15. We bought extras there because we generally go through three a day when it comes to diapers leaking on them.

Dr. Brown's Bottles. We started giving Wells a bottle on day 3 of his little life. That wasn't exactly in my plan, but feeding him in general is more important than how I feed him. A student had also given me a set of Dr. Brown's bottles as a gift, and my cousin had gifted us some off of our Amazon registry. We really like them. We also have the bottle warmer, which people told me was unnecessary, initially. However, I babysat for a 5 month old years ago in Alaska and I remember using the bottle warmer every time I fed her, so I knew we'd need one. We use it about 10-12 times a day.

Ubbi diaper pail. Friends told me that the Ubbi was better than the diaper genie because it's made of steel and doesn't hold odor like plastic does, plus you don't need the special bags. I agree.

Fisher-Price Snugapuppy Swing. Holy cow. I don't actually know what we'd do without this. He sleeps in it, listens to the sounds, rocks for contentment, can look around, and can be checked on by Jett at the same time.

This bottle station set-up. I saw this on Pinterest months and months ago and thought What a good idea.

The Boppy Lounger. We use this for everything. I also bought a waterproof cover because, stupidly, I somehow thought a white pillow would be a good idea. But he eats in this, he naps in this, he lounges and looks around while sucking on his pacifier, etc.  My mom bought it for us and it's more than paid for itself. I know he'll be not able to use it the same way once he learns to roll over, so we're using the heck out of it right now.

Anything you would add to this list?