Hey Mama, I see you.

Creating the registry, nesting and decorating the nursery, taking weekly bump pictures. Soak it all in. Enjoy this season. It is a sweet one. And though it feels like forever before you can kiss that sweet baby, I promise it will be here before you know it!

I have a few friends who are becoming moms for the first time and the question I keep hearing is, “How do I know what to get? What do I put on the registry?”

It’s a valid question. There are a million baby products on the market and all of them claiming to be “the best new” (fill in the blank) for your baby. I know it’s overwhelming. I could tell you all of the things I’ve loved and used or that I would never buy again.

But there’s something else on my heart that I want to lean in close, take your hand and speak into you.

Trust in your mom gut.

“But, this is my first baby. I don’t even have a mom gut yet. How do I know what’s best?”

You will learn.

And chances are, you already have some idea of how you want to raise your baby. That’s all you need. An idea and a willingness to learn as you go.

In the past decade, I have had 3 babies. All very different from each other but all needing the same basic things: clothing, a safe place to sleep, diapers, food and lots of love.

Going into this last pregnancy, I knew what products I loved and wanted to try out again. But making a registry and figuring out what to buy was still difficult for me. Why?

With my first baby (10 years ago), I found a set of bottles that were amazing for my gassy little one. They had a drop-in liner so you could squeeze all the air out of them. Loved them. So, naturally, when I got pregnant with my second (3 years ago), I knew I wanted to use those bottles. But they didn’t make them anymore.

Suddenly I was back in the bottle aisle at Target staring at 50 types of bottles and crippled by decision paralysis. I settled on Dr. Brown’s and fell in love with those. Fast forward to this baby, I bought a set of Dr. Brown’s bottles certain my little one would love them just as much. But this is my first breastfed baby and guess what, he refuses to take a bottle at all!

The point is, with each baby I have had to grow and adjust the items I’ve used based on the needs of my baby, the availability on the market and my own preferences about quality of the products. Some of these things have remained the same but over the course of a decade I have had to keep learning and growing and adapting. And that’s ok!

You are allowed to not know which baby soap or type of formula or brand of diapers work best for your baby. It’s ok to feel overwhelmed by the market that is telling you that you “need” everything in the baby aisles at Target (spoiler alert, you don’t!) It’s overwhelming for me too, even as a seasoned mom.

So, I want to give you the permission to get it wrong. To use trial and error. To not feel bad when someone recommends something they swear is the best, only to find out it doesn’t work for your baby. Please don’t get discouraged. I know it’s a lot and you just want what’s best and every decision seems daunting.

Pause. Breathe in. Imagine kissing that sweet baby’s face. Breathe out.

You have time to make all the decisions.

And here’s the best part, the fact that you are so worried over picking the best things, means you are already an amazing Mama. You will learn and grow right alongside your baby.

Even though I may have never met you, I am praying for you. Right now as I type this. I am praying abundant blessings upon you and your family. For wisdom and truth straight from the Holy Spirit to guide your decisions for your family and peace to overflow in your heart and ease all the anxiety you feel. I pray for your Mama heart and for your sweet baby. I pray you see His goodness in your life. God is with you. He is for you. He will never leave you.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.