New Moms in The Day To Day Ramblings

Hello Proseboxians! I just finished my big work stretch and am now diving face first into an eight day stretch off, full of couch and puppy and sleep (oh glorious sleep!) and oh.so.many family and friend holiday parties. What a wonderful time of the year!

I will be back soon with pictures and updates but wanted to ask something first...

I have so many friends having babies in early 2014. Something like 15 friends having babies before May. I want to get each of them something special and unique (beyond the standard onesies and little diapers) and, having no babies of my own, I'm stuck googling for ideas. That seems ridiculous. So I'm going to come to my favorite place for Real World advice and ask you guys. :)

In your first few days/weeks/months of motherhood, what things could someone do that would really help you out? I've heard come over and hold the baby while they shower or nap, clean up their house, buy groceries, walk the dog, etc. Are there other things? Less known things that did or would have made the newborn stage a little easier? I welcome any and all suggestions. Thank you!! :)

Thank you so much for the comments so far! I'm hoping to do something monetarily 'free' but functionally priceless, like holding the baby while they shower or nap or making food, cleaning the house, etc. Your ideas are all exactly what I was looking for. Just want to make sure I am actually useful to my friends when I visit and not just someone they feel they need to host or entertain. That is definitely the opposite of what I want! I'm going to be giving coupon books full of these things to my friends and hoping I can do a lot of baby snuggling in the next few months and help out some dear friends in the process. :) Thank you for all the help - keep the suggestions coming if you've got 'em!