Are You Ready to be a Dad?

More news today. 6 cousins now. Crazy

That is kinda nuts. At least maybe sometimes you can do huge joint birthday celebrations!

My cuz and I had our babies within 20 days of each other.

Wow...SmootSmack...insanity.


Your family can have some fun party games at the first birthday party at least:
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44716000/jpg/_44716555_babies512.jpg

Congrats, SS. It appears I'm going to be experiencing the same event at the same time. My wife is due April 5th. I'm apparently going to be a father for the first time at the age of 42. Good lord . . .
Don't worry..I had my first just before my 44th birthday. So far (I turn 54 this month) I'm still alive...and a 5th (and last) just landed on Nov 1. Now if this last one had been our 4th boy I don't think I would be alive 2 years from now, but thankfully it was a girl.

Congrats SS for the baby.

A few notes:
1) Get the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" (which you've probably already done.)
2) Make sure your wife takes the pre-natal vitamins (especially for the folic acid needed for spinal development) and gets enough protein daily. This will help make sure that the baby is healthy at birth. (The above book talks about this, although I find their section on nutrition is a bit extreme.)
3) My wife had a lot of trouble breastfeeding, and using a breast pump was very painful for her (some fissures opened up on her aureolae). If this occurs and breastfeeding is important to you (very important for the development of the immune system of the baby) then I don't see any way that your wife can be leaving the baby for extended periods of time.
4) Our first pregnancy was the classic "surprise" pregnancy. Everything worked out just fine.
5) Be prepared to gain weight during the pregnancy. She will get full quickly at the end of the pregnancy and you will be called upon to finish...
6) If you need/want to save money, there's a consignment expo at Dulles Convention Center twice a year called Dani's Duds. In addition you should be able to get a lot of things at yard sales. Costco used to have very cheap diapers but no more.
7) Try out the Gerbers before you give them. Some of them have a HORRIBLE flavor. At one of the baby showers there was a game where everyone was supposed to taste the Gerbers and guess what type it was. There was one where 6 of the 7 tasters guessed it was pureed chalk. (It was actually "chicken and vegetables".)
8) I hope you can find formula your baby likes. Between our second and third kids they changed formula. I think the difference is that now all of them have DHEA (Damn Horrible Extra Additive). Our first and second children liked formula. With the newer stuff even our dogs won't touch it.

Most of the post-birth comments and recommendations were awesome, so I have nothing to add about that.

Good luck!

Don't worry..I had my first just before my 44th birthday. So far (I turn 54 this month) I'm still alive...and a 5th (and last) just landed on Nov 1. Now if this last one had been our 4th boy I don't think I would be alive 2 years from now, but thankfully it was a girl.

Congrats SS for the baby.

A few notes:
1) Get the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" (which you've probably already done.)
2) Make sure your wife takes the pre-natal vitamins (especially for the folic acid needed for spinal development) and gets enough protein daily. This will help make sure that the baby is healthy at birth. (The above book talks about this, although I find their section on nutrition is a bit extreme.)
3) My wife had a lot of trouble breastfeeding, and using a breast pump was very painful for her (some fissures opened up on her aureolae). If this occurs and breastfeeding is important to you (very important for the development of the immune system of the baby) then I don't see any way that your wife can be leaving the baby for extended periods of time.
4) Our first pregnancy was the classic "surprise" pregnancy. Everything worked out just fine.
5) Be prepared to gain weight during the pregnancy. She will get full quickly at the end of the pregnancy and you will be called upon to finish...
6) If you need/want to save money, there's a consignment expo at Dulles Convention Center twice a year called Dani's Duds. In addition you should be able to get a lot of things at yard sales. Costco used to have very cheap diapers but no more.
7) Try out the Gerbers before you give them. Some of them have a HORRIBLE flavor. At one of the baby showers there was a game where everyone was supposed to taste the Gerbers and guess what type it was. There was one where 6 of the 7 tasters guessed it was pureed chalk. (It was actually "chicken and vegetables".)
8) I hope you can find formula your baby likes. Between our second and third kids they changed formula. I think the difference is that now all of them have DHEA (Damn Horrible Extra Additive). Our first and second children liked formula. With the newer stuff even our dogs won't touch it.

Most of the post-birth comments and recommendations were awesome, so I have nothing to add about that.

Good luck!


Dude! God bless you!

YouTube - Garrison Keillor: Being a dad

Just found out now it's 5 cousins. Three of us got married in the same month. Now we're due the same month

I just saw this thread. Congrats, that's crazy news.
My wife and I are expecting our first child (a boy) on March 9th.
My oldest brother and his wife are expecting their first child in the first week of April; another brother and his wife are expecting their third child the same week; and another brother and his wife are expecting their first in July. It's crazy; four sisters-in-law all expecting. Can't wait.
Of course, my boy probably won't be a Redskins fan. My wife is a life long Giants fan, so we agreed to settle on a third team; possibly the Jets.

Well, was reading that "where the F youve been thread" and someone mentioned the baby daddy thread and I figured id find it and chime in.

Mr. and soon to be Mrs. OTM tentatively have a child on the way. still very early, we are guessing conception was around July 10th - ish.

I didnt need to see the double red line pee stick to know she was pregnant.

When she started refusing shots people would buy for us was the first clue for me. When she said "sherbert and pickles" in the same sentence at the grocery store i had all the confirmation i needed.

i am very scared but very excited. im 32 going to be 33 in august, really need to get my act together and this is the perfect reason. im going to stop all that crap i should have stopped doing a while ago and get my career back to where it should be.

i wanted to break the news in a long winded story narrative but im lazy. we are going to get free pregnancy care through the state of maryland and since we are dealing with balt city it should make for some funny stories such as yesterday when we went to sign her up (on balt ave of all places with the red light district and crack heads and heroin addicts doing the lean).
the lady behind the desk said we needed proof of pregnancy (among other things). my lady pulls out the pee stick. the lady said "ohh no no no" we need something from a doctor. my lady says i cant see a doctor until i get coverage and thats why im here". the lady so "ohh that makes sense, ok hold on..."

i may make a blog, with pics and all that jazz. i like writing about my life and experiences with a focus on the absurd parts.

^ Congrats, man!

Well, was reading that "where the F youve been thread" and someone mentioned the baby daddy thread and I figured id find it and chime in.

Mr. and soon to be Mrs. OTM tentatively have a child on the way. still very early, we are guessing conception was around July 10th - ish.

I didnt need to see the double red line pee stick to know she was pregnant.

When she started refusing shots people would buy for us was the first clue for me. When she said "sherbert and pickles" in the same sentence at the grocery store i had all the confirmation i needed.

i am very scared but very excited. im 32 going to be 33 in august, really need to get my act together and this is the perfect reason. im going to stop all that crap i should have stopped doing a while ago and get my career back to where it should be.

i wanted to break the news in a long winded story narrative but im lazy. we are going to get free pregnancy care through the state of maryland and since we are dealing with balt city it should make for some funny stories such as yesterday when we went to sign her up (on balt ave of all places with the red light district and crack heads and heroin addicts doing the lean).
the lady behind the desk said we needed proof of pregnancy (among other things). my lady pulls out the pee stick. the lady said "ohh no no no" we need something from a doctor. my lady says i cant see a doctor until i get coverage and thats why im here". the lady so "ohh that makes sense, ok hold on..."

i may make a blog, with pics and all that jazz. i like writing about my life and experiences with a focus on the absurd parts.

Congratulations! That's great to hear. So when is she due then?

thank you, very very scary (not quite the right word) . . maybe lifestyle altering. one morning you wake up and everything has to change. having a baby is very inopposite of our lifestyle.

at this time i have so many questions but its just too dizzying right now to concentrate on specifics. needless to say, ive been dealing with a crying, no strike that, a sobbing woman for the past couple days. anything i say to her is the wrong thing to say. im really good at zoing her out but shes really good on picking up on it and asking me to repeat what she just said.

i have a ton of questions to ask on how you deal with your irrational pregnant woman. i never thought it could be this bad this early.

SS- i guess 9 months from mid july. we havent been to see a doctor yet but she is getting her health access number on tuesday which will allow us to go see a doctor and i guess they will tell us then?

honestly, it soo early on and with her not-so-great health, im real worried things arent going to work out the first time. ive tried telling her about a friend of mine who had to try 3 times before a pregnancy/embryo actually took but she doesnt want to hear that. im just caught in a catch 22. i want to prepare her for the potential of an ecoptic pregnancy so that she wont be totally devastated if it doesnt work out but she is so moody right now i dont want to fill her head with future, yet to happen negative outcomes. on the day she took the HPT she had very slight spotting, which occurs in 30% of pregnancies and could just be a sign that the embryo is implanting .... (or it could be a sign her uterus tissue isnt the healthiest - thats my made up unspoken concern)

she is really blaming herself right now, she doesnt think she is healthy enough to have the baby . . its brutal right now. just brutal. on top of her going cold turkey like a champion. real proud of her for that.