Babies need a lot of crap. A crap-ton of expensive crap. At times, I’ve gotten overwhelmed by all the things we need to buy- from nursery furniture to car seats and a stroller to the everyday stuff like diapers.
I was relieved when a friend recommended a Craigslist posting her friend had posted with some beautiful, handmade nursery furniture (which also happened to be a steal of a deal). It was a relief knowing we had some of the “big” things out of the way, and at least my baby would have a place to sleep at night.
Then, a friend who was visiting brought me some ADORABLE, gently used clothes that her girls had outgrown, and it was a relief to have a few things to hang in her closet and put in her dresser (side note: there is a cherry-patterned swimsuit with a red ruffle and matching hat that I’m DYING to dress her in).
JD’s grandmother’s church does a huge kids’ consignment sale every year. I have no problem with consignment, so I gladly went, and was able to pick up some of the staple items like a high-end Graco Pack N Play (many thanks to Grandma Carol for putting this aside for us!) and a bouncer seat.
After that, we had friends swoop in with incredible generosity. Maybe because they’re all parents, and know that terrifying feeling of how are we ever going to acquire all we need? Maybe it’s just because we have amazing, supportive, loving friends. I think it’s a combination of both. We had a couple offer us a full-sized baby swing. Like, the mother of all baby swings. This thing goes side-to-side, front-to-back, plays music or nature sounds, and might even vibrate, if I remember it correctly. Basically, this swing covers anything your baby might find soothing.
The woman we found to do in-home day care even offered to let us borrow a bassinet. How sweet!
Thanks to a circle of women who meet once a month for ladies night (most of whom happen to be moms and have already proven a GREAT resource for scary pregnancy and baby-related stuff), a new mom offered us a high-end infant car seat that her son had outgrown. Pretty sure there’s no safer place for your baby to be than this car seat.
Then, a co-worker offered me a barely-used umbrella stroller- a brand name one that comes with its own carrying pouch! We won’t be needing that immediately since we have the infant carrier which will snap into a stroller base, but it only takes a few months for the babies to outgrow the infant seats, so I’m sure the time we will need it will sneak up on us, and it will be one less thing we have to buy.
Perhaps the most amazing thing to me is that none of these people asked for anything in return. They could have sold them to a second-hand store or put the items on Craigslist or offered to let me buy them (which I still would have taken advantage of, for sure), but they just wanted to help us out. I certainly plan to pay it forward. Hopefully, once we’re done with our baby gear, there will be another new mom feeling nauseous every time she enters a Babies R Us or a Buy Buy Baby who I can offer a few things to and make her life a little easier.
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