Baby Registry Advice... Help!

I might be a little ahead of the game, but I'm starting to gather my thoughts as far as a baby registry. While my showers are still three months away, I'll need to have everything in place by the time the hosts ask where I'm registered for invitation purposes.

18 weeks yesterday. Not the best picture, but you can see the bump is growing!

If you haven't created a registry before, it's kind of overwhelming. Personally, I think the baby registry is tougher to navigate than a wedding one. When we registered for our wedding, it was more "I like that pretty china pattern" than "what is safest/has the best features/is super helpful for baby?" Babies seem to require more research.

But I also know that you simply can't anticipate everything. While the wedding registry items were things we chose for our own use, the baby registry includes items for a baby who may have particular opinions and preferences. And we won't know until the baby arrives what he/she'll like—or what we'll like. To continue with the wedding registry comparison, I know what kind of plates I like, but I'm not sure which type of swaddle blankets or baby carrier I'll prefer. I've never used those kinds of products before (at least not on a regular basis).

Don't worry though, I'm not going nuts over here. My plan is to get informed via friends' recommendations, online reviews, and some other Internet browsing and then just make a choice. We'll get what we get and figure it out as we go. There's no such thing as perfection when it comes to something like preparing for a baby. It's just not possible. So like many times in life, I have to simply do my best, do what I think is right, and see what happens.

This post is a long, winding way of asking for your advice. Moms or moms-to-be out there who have tips on registering: please feel free to share your thoughts! I've received some amazing recommendations from a few mommy friends of mine, but I'm open to any and all advice at this point—products/brands/models/quantities as well as general tips on building a registry, best places to register, etc. I'm in the info-gathering stage here!

Which items could you not live without?
Which products were a waste of money?
What do you wish you had registered for originally?