as a new mom of twin girls, i knew that i wanted to document as much of their first moments of life as possible. one of the best ways to do that is to put together a memory album – which you can either hand-make or buy a pre-made version at any baby store. no matter what type you plan to use to document your baby’s “firsts,” you can still put together something that’s meaningful to you and your family. i’ve compiled a list of keepsakes to think about saving to include in your baby’s memory book!
this amazing baby book was made by my mother-in-law!
the usual
baby details – print off prompts to that you can fill in with all of baby’s details such as; time of birth, weight, length, birth story, etc.
ultrasound pictures – don’t forget to save those ultrasound pictures and include in your memory book from when your baby was an adorable grainy blip on a monitor! it’s neat to see how they grew throughout your pregnancy until their birth!
baby firsts – you can print off prompts of all of baby’s “firsts”. when did baby first smile? first rolled over? document those special moments all in your memory book!
hospital bracelets – one of the most special keepsakes from baby’s birth are the hospital bracelets that you and baby wear during your stay. keep those special items safe in your memory book. they will also help bring back those memories of that day when you share with baby as he/she gets older!
the extras
bump pictures – go the extra mile and include your “bump” pics from your pregnancy! it’s a special way to remember everything to do with baby, even before baby was born! it’s also a great idea on how to save all of those bump pics and still keep them on display after your pregnancy!
labor details/birth story – many moms love to write down their baby’s birth story as it’s fresh in their mind. detailing everything from the rush of when contractions first started, to the fumbling through the hospital doors, to the patient nurses and staff that assisted during labor – it’s a terrific thing to include in your memory book and a special way to lend your “mommy voice” as a keepsake, too!
the announcement – did you announce your pregnancy in a fun way? we did by snagging a family pic and capturing everyone’s reactions! in our memory book, which my mother-in-law handmade and started putting together for us – she included a special page dedicated to that awesome moment!
crib name tags – a special keepsake to snag before you head out the hospital doors with baby is their crib name tags. it’s one of their first things with their name (or even just “baby boy/girl last name”) written on it!
foot/hand prints – if you had foot-/hand prints done at the hospital, one way to save them as a keepsake is to include them in your memory book! you’ll be amazed, reflecting back, how tiny those little hands and feet really were!
the mementos
nicu progress – our twins spent almost 3 weeks in the nicu and one of the most special things for us was their “progress report” that was outside of their room. it told us where the staff felt their progress was on things like feeding, breathing, etc. and how close they were to coming home. we made sure to bring ours home with us and are including in our memory book as it shows what both girls had to “pass” before they could finally come home.
birth announcement – you can create a birth announcement using stationary websites like tiny prints to let all of your family and friends know of your precious arrival! we made sure to include a copy of our announcement in our memory album so that our girls can see how proud we were to show them off!
i hope these tips have helped you create a list of what to gather to include in your baby’s memory album! make sure to have fun with it and think of it as a way to really capture what that special day and first year were like for you and your family!