Another nod to Green Mountain Diapers, I got my prefolds and other things from them almost 9 years ago and they lasted through my singleton and twins.
You really do have to be prepared though to consider different body shapes when you CD. You can invest in prefolds, but I'm glad I didn't overly invest in covers at first, because the ones that worked great for DD and one of her brothers did NOT work for the other brother.
I would also see if you can hook up with a MOTC in your area. Yes, it will reflect the crunchiness of your surrounding community, but frankly, it's also nice to be able to talk and meet people FTF who have been there and done that. I actually found it much more relaxing to be around mainstreamer MOTs than AP MOSes on many occasions, once you got past the stage where people talk about sleep training. (It's probably the area that I'm in, most most people I know, singleton moms or multiples moms, breastfeed their kids at least for some period of time, so I received nothing but encouragement even from mainstreamers).
We didn't get much baby equipment with firstborn singleton DD, but we did get one swing and one exersaucer, bouncy chairs, and a playyard/baby fence for the boys. (well, actually the playyard was for my daughter once the boys got mobile--she could set up her elaborate animal and doll arrangments without having to worry about her brothers destroying them and eating them). It was very helpful for when I needed to attend to DD (17 months older) or do something that involved both hands, like nursing. We could have lived without all but the bouncy chairs though.
My only TRULY essential piece of equipment was many La-Z-Boy recliner chair. I took my 30 weeks pregnant but down to the store, and sat in every single chair on disply until I found The One. I slept in The One the last month of pregnancy, pretty much stayed in it full time for the first weeks of constantly nursing babies (I did not put my boys on a feeding schedule and they didn't nurse at the same time very often--I detested that sensation, hopefully you won't because it's much more efficient to nurse them simultaneously, at least before they start grabbing each other and stuff).
I think you also ideally should learn how to accept and direct help. When people ask to help, you should utilize them at all possible. I pooh-poohed the idea of meals being brought to me--until the babies were 3 weeks old and I was sick of takeout and no-prep pantry meals. So when people asked what they could do, I asked one if she could organize meals for us for a few weeks. Good friends I was able to be vulnerable enough to allow to help with some laundry (at least organizing clean laundry) and cleaning, and never got offended when I just dozed in my lovely chair.
)
