Alright well as a first time father 6 month into my frist parenting job here is what we found when we were shopping.
We bought an Uppababy Vista stroller, it's phenomenal. My wife loves it, it folds down easily, doesn't weigh much and is amazingly maneuverable. When we were shopping for strollers my wife and I did the easiest test.....we just seen which model we liked would turn the easiest one handed loaded up. Sounds dumb but you would be amazing how many of the more popular 3 wheeled models are extremely difficult to turn one handed.
Toss in all the other extras you get with the Uppababy and it was the best bang for the buck we found. Bought it at Kacz Kids here in town.
As for the car seat we went with the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Sip. This was picked after we bought the stroller. Uppababy only has 3 or 4 compatable car seats that you can buy brackets for so they can just snap in. We have no complaints and the reviews we read on it were phenomenal. And realistically my child's safety can not have a price tag.
We also bought one of the Angel Care video monitors, it has the breathing sensor, 2 way talking abilities and video. The video wasn't a huge deal until the last few weeks when we can now see when the little dude rolls himself into the side of the crib in his sleep and straighten him out if need be.
Those are arguably 3 of the larger INVESTMENTS you will make but they are all things that we have found make our lives easier and us sleep better at night.
A couple other must haves we found:
Diaper Genie....good lord buy a Diaper Genie. Refills are cheapest at Costco and they last a long time.
My wife says to tell you her nursing pillow called the Baby Buddy found at E Children is a must have. We had a $35 nursing pillow from Babies R Us but it sucked as was a waste of money. My wife says this is now the ONLY thing she will buy anyone for their shower gift. Apparently she likes it.
A good Swing to rock the little guy/gal to sleep so your lady friend can have a moment to herself. We have a Mama-Roo that our little guy liked the first 6 weeks BUT after that he stopped liking it and we got a $100 Graco swing from Babies R Us and it's the only place our little guy will nap for longer than an hour.
Hope that helps......if not please humor me and say it does so I don't feel I wasted 10 minutes typing all that
