I've had a couple people ask me for recommendations when they were registering for their baby to be. Below is some of my thoughts on products I used in the first few months of Carson's life.

While your still pregnant I would recommend Palmer's tummy butter. It comes in a tub and is great. I used it on my tummy the whole time and didn't have problems with stretch marks. No one told me to put it on my thighs... and that's where I got my stretch marks. If I could do it again I would've used it all over my thighs and tummy especially as I got bigger. The marks showed up out of nowhere.

Summer Infant swaddler: I have fleece ones, but I think that they make just cotton ones. THIS WAS A LIFE SAVER FOR US! There are several types of swaddlers, but I found that the summer infant ones were the best. Carson needed to be swaddled to sleep well. And the author of Happiest baby on the block swears by it. Clearly you can use regular blankets to swaddle, but this product made it so much simpler. I would just forwarn not to dry it because the velcro gets stuck on everything.

Boppy - Overrated. I thought I would use it to help with breastfeeding. It wasn't really useful for that at all. If you plan to breastfeed, I found it's easiest just to prop up a pillow or two underneath your elbow. I do like the boppy for propping Carson up. She'll sit in in next to me on the couch and I use it a lot for tummy time as well. She doesn't like to be flat on the floor, so I put her hands up on the boppy and she'll push up against it.

Bibs - my daughter is a spitter. She spits up like it's her job. I got SO many bibs for my showers, especially because I didn't know what I was having so that's what people bought me. I even took some back. You can't have too many! you might want to wait to get some so that they can be gender specific, poor carson has to wear a bunch of monkey ones :) She goes through probably 3-4 a day. 

Receiving Blankets - Again, you cannot have too many! I thought we had way too many and I took some back to the store before Carson was born. We go through them like they are water. I use them to cover her up, to lay down on top of another blanket in case she spits up, as a burping cloth.... they are multi-faceted. I like to use them as burping clothes because you can drape it over your whole chest. The small burping clothes and cloth diapers only cover your shoulder. Well, Carson doesn't sit still, she's constantly wiggling and she inevitably spits up where the clothe is not. If you cover your entire chest, your much more likely to catch it before it gets your clothes. (Don't worry it'll still get your clothes plenty)

Lavender lotion - love it. I think it's more for me than her, but I do think that it helps with our bedtime routine. That's the only time we use it.

Target nursing tank tops - they are a God send. I wear them day and night. They're great because I wear them underneath other shirts and when it's time to nurse, I just have to lift up one layer and the tank unhooks at the bra so I'm not sitting there half naked. They're comfortable and hold up pretty well. I've washed them a ton and they haven't fallen apart.

lanolin cream - MUST in the early weeks of nursing. It definitely helps your overworked nipples feel better.

Soothie pacifiers - Carson loves them too, she doesn't take the other kind either. I would recommend getting a couple extra. They will give you one in the hospital probably. You don't need a ton. We have three and two wubanubs (soothies with plush animals attached which we don't use much). Also, Buy Buy Baby (and I'm sure other stores) has a pacifier case that they sell that is perfect. I like it because it keeps it protected when in my diaper bag. I'm not a germ freak, but you know how crumbs and what not get into your purse.

And the list continues...

Swing - There have been days that the swing has saved my life. Carson naps well in the swing. She loves to be in movement and you can't carry her all the time, so I put her in the swing. THe swing in itself has allowed me to clean the house several times. Ours has noise options as well. One is a white noise that really soothes her.

Starry Night Turtle - Not a must, but I love it. Its a turtle that's made by the same people that make the sheep. It projects constellations on the ceiling. I like it because when Carson wakes up in the middle of the night I just press the button and turn that on and that way I don't turn on the bright light hopefully keeping her kind of in sleep mode. I will warn you, the first couple of weeks, it's nearly impossible to keep the lights off when you get up in the middle of the night because it took me a while to be able to change a diaper with low light :)

Bouncy seat - I like mine, it's simple just vibrates. I like it because some mornings I'll hook Carson into it on the kitchen counter and she just sits there while I clean, cook or fold laundry. She went in the bouncy seat as early as a week or so old. That's where we put her at dinner time sometimes too. (when she's not in the swing).

video monitor - it's worth the $200. I enjoy being able to see her and hear her. It also saves you some sleep when the baby goes into their room and makes noise, you can see if they're moving or just talking in their sleep. Carson cries a lot in her sleep. She'll fuss for a minute and then be sound asleep the next so I just watch her for a minute to see if it's for real or not.

Diaper Champ - it was recommended to us over the diaper genie because you can use regular trash bags in it. I think that that's good because you are filling up a bag once to twice a week. However, it doesn't keep the smell out as well as I thought it would. Her room doesn't smell like dirty diapers, but when you put a diaper in the smell leaks out and it takes a minute or two to dissipate. I don't know if that happens with the diaper genie, but it's something to ask other people that you might know who have the genie. I just didn't want to be tied down to buying a specific kind of bag for the diaper disposal

elastic bottom gowns - These were nice especially the first few weeks when you are constantly changing diapers. I put Carson in the gowns to sleep in. Then when I woke up in the middle of the night I would unswaddle and just hike up the gown to change her diaper. 

Pampers Bottles - I found that the level 1 has a pretty slow flow. This was important to me because I wanted to continue to breastfeed but I needed to supplement with some formula and the slow flow helps make it a little more like breastfeeding. I needed to try a couple types before I found these.
Socks - DON'T buy fuzzy cute socks... they don't stay on. I've found that the best socks are the plain cotton ones. They aren't fancy or expensive, but they stay on. The ones that look all cute and fuzzy... aren't worth the headache they create by constantly falling off.