Registry Re-Do: Nathalie Walton of Expectful

If there is one product that has given me peace of mind during my son’s first year, it would be the Nanit system. In the early days, I relied on the breathing monitoring system to alert us of any discrepancies in my son’s breathing. Nowadays, Nanit enables me to monitor my baby from wherever. If I’m out for a girls’ night and I can’t make it home by bedtime, I can still say good night through Nanit with their two-way audio feature. And because it simply connects to Wi-Fi, it makes a great travel monitor too.

An eye mask with earplugs is essential to getting sleep as a new mom. My favorite ritual during the newborn days was to listen to an Expectful Sleep Meditation, throw on my eye mask and earplugs, and get a few minutes of rest whenever I could.

Sleep is such a precious resource for new parents, and I’ve invested in finding the right tools that help support me in getting the best quality sleep possible. For those middle-of-the-night feedings I really appreciated the soft-glow of the Hatch Restore, the ultimate adult nightlight. As an added bonus, it dimly shines without eye-straining blue hues, helping us all get back to sleep as quickly as possible. I also try my best to disconnect from technology 90 minutes before bedtime, so I take advantage of the Hatch’s ability to slowly dim the lights at the time I want to go to bed. It acts as a signal to my body that it’s time to wind down—and it works.

As someone who struggled with breastfeeding, I was eager to find solutions to help produce more milk. I didn’t have time to make my own lactation cookies, and I was grateful for Majka Lactation Bites in the early days of postpartum. The best part? They taste delicious.

For me, journaling is a lifelong practice. Not only is the process of contemplating and writing meditative in and of itself, but there’s something so powerful about being able to go back and reflect on my experiences months and years later. I’ve especially loved journaling in postpartum, even if it’s just a few lines at the end of the day.

Expectful has already helped hundreds of thousands of hopeful, expectant and new families with the tools they need to nurture their mental and emotional health. I’m now the CEO of Expectful, but my journey began as an everyday user of the app during my high-risk pregnancy. Expectful’s meditations, in combination with other wellness resources, helped me adopt a warrior’s mentality and cope with my harrowing journey. In addition to a library of do-anytime, -anywhere meditations, we also offer shared stories and expert interviews, birth support, Pre & Postnatal Movement & Fitness classes and more. You can check it out with a no-risk 7-day free trial.

I’ve long held a life philosophy of trying to live Eastern values in a Western culture. For my postpartum phase, I was eager to learn more about the period of “confinement” observed in Eastern cultures and to see what lessons could be applied in my own settings today. I enjoyed the recipes themselves—the peanut butter & honey rice crispy treats are my favorite!—and especially benefited from the wisdom and inspiration this book provided about how I could incorporate some of these healing and mindfulness principles into my first 40 days as a new parent.