Enjoy every minute of it all. Soon enough you'll be wondering how the last 25 years went by so quickly, and how you're going to avoid crying at the wedding! Enjoy.
Enjoy every minute of it all. Soon enough you'll be wondering how the last 25 years went by so quickly, and how you're going to avoid crying at the wedding! Enjoy.
digdug18 wrote: It's our first child and we'll be trying both disposable and non disposable diapers, friends have told us how easy it can be. Hopefully I'll get over my sensitive gag reflex as well. Yeah, we have already talked about it, my job during the delivery is to make margaritas, its the one thing she's been craving for the past 9 months. As for using a condom, no, they're too small. That's why they invented the pill. please keep the advice coming! I really do appreciate it.
We used cotton diapers with a liner (like heavy duty TP). No problem. After a while crap just becomes an every day occurance. Disposables cost a fortune if you add it all up.
If it is a boy, keep the willy covered until you are ready and be quick. Something about the cool air hitting it makes em go. Nothing like a face full of pee to make you better at this. (And it will happen!)
barnca wrote: not that i dont love bein a dad to a lil guy that almost didnt make it. was born with a heart defect. but def sleep.. sleep sleep sleep.. and i also cast a vote for talkin to the lil one while in moms belly.. i tickled my sons feet while he was blooming. and now he still likes it and he is 6 yrs old.. weird yet cool all at the same time.
What kind of heart defect? I have a son that was born with one. To top it off, the open heart surgery gave him colic. I don't think we slept for two years.
bamalama wrote:barnca wrote: not that i dont love bein a dad to a lil guy that almost didnt make it. was born with a heart defect. but def sleep.. sleep sleep sleep.. and i also cast a vote for talkin to the lil one while in moms belly.. i tickled my sons feet while he was blooming. and now he still likes it and he is 6 yrs old.. weird yet cool all at the same time.What kind of heart defect? I have a son that was born with one. To top it off, the open heart surgery gave him colic. I don't think we slept for two years.
he was born with transposition of the great vessels.. had surgery at 3 days old.. c section delivery and transferred immediatly to childrens in boston.
E36 M3 washes off. You will learn that the hard way quickly. 
Kids go through a LOT of formula. Be prepared. The stuff is not cheap and people will steal it, many grocery stores keep it locked up for that reason. I got really curious because the kid LOVED it, I tried a little bit and to me it tasted like cardboard. 
We did disposables, the best thing about that is if you are out somewhere and a poop attack comes on the, er, package can be disposed of in a trash can, it doesn't have to ride home with you.
A baby takes up very little space. The accessories; well, it's a lot like the support system NASA uses for shuttles and takes up about as much room.
Margie's comments about the parenting magazines generating fears is right on the money. It's done so you will grab it and while reading about the next terrifying thing that could happen to YOUR BABY! you will also see the ad for the $600 stroller that all the cool 'rents are wheeling their progeny around in.
You are also going to find that some of the finest moments of your life will come when you are dog tired, worn to a complete frazzle, have no idea what in the hell you are going to do next, you nod off and then wake up with the little one snuggled up next to you. 
barnca wrote:bamalama wrote:he was born with transposition of the great vessels.. had surgery at 3 days old.. c section delivery and transferred immediatly to childrens in boston.barnca wrote: not that i dont love bein a dad to a lil guy that almost didnt make it. was born with a heart defect. but def sleep.. sleep sleep sleep.. and i also cast a vote for talkin to the lil one while in moms belly.. i tickled my sons feet while he was blooming. and now he still likes it and he is 6 yrs old.. weird yet cool all at the same time.What kind of heart defect? I have a son that was born with one. To top it off, the open heart surgery gave him colic. I don't think we slept for two years.
Our cardiologist thought that was a possibility (he got called over a couple hours after the birth), but it turned out to be TAPVR.
it was scary and amazing all inone. you figure they operated on something that was about the size of a quarter.. we were lucky that we knew ahead of time.. found out at 26 screening ultrasound.. if we didnt know, it would have been fatal.
Make sure you keep the 5 year old involved and don't ignore it just because you have a new baby that takes ALL of your time. Talk to the baby in your normal voice. It seems like the right thing to do when you talk to it in baby talk, and yes, it is cute, but the baby will learn how to talk by listening to everyone around it, and YOU may be the only person that doesn't talk in baby talk to the poor thing, so help it learn language skills yourself. Babies are tough little critters, they can't survive abuse AT ALL, but once it starts crawling and walking, it's going to fall. A mix of fatherly help along with getting up on its own will do the job. you'll know when to help it and when not to. Play, play, play with the baby, thats how they learn. Hold it a LOT for the first six months, those are critical months for the baby's development of self.
You'll know you're a dad when you try to catch puke in your hands so it doesn't get on the carpet.
Despite what the latest trends or child services might want you to believe, scheduling your kid's feeding schedule is good.
A new-born's needs are small - so are your skills. You will grow with the kid, and you'll get the hang of it in no time.
When they get a bit older, win ALL the arguments now so that you can win MOST of the arguments when they are a teen.
Don't rely on the school system to raise your kid - that's ~your~ job. I teach high school. I will not be your kid's dad for you.
Spend time with your kid. Almost ALL the "difficult" or "messed up" kids in my classes are from families with an absent or uninvolved dad. Spend time with your kid. It doesn't have to be doing anything special - just TIME.
Never use a pacifier...You'll thank me later...
Nothing to add constructive to this, but its an interesting thing to think about:
My mom had three kids over 5 years. She said that for each child, the "experts" were telling something different as to whether to put the kid to sleep on their stomach or on their back. For my older brother, he puked so much that he would have drowned if it were on his back and not stomach.
Cloth diapers are amazingly easy and save a ton of money, as does breast feeding. Breast fed babies also mean dad can still get decent sleep.
Babies don't need fancy toys. Despite having a few nice toys, my one year old's favorites are straws, empty bottles, cell phones (make sure you lock the buttons), and a packing strap he uses to play with our cat.
Our son loves teething crackers, and they keep him busy for a couple minutes.
As someone here told me, soon poop will mean nothing to you. Same goes for pee and barf. Also, NGDT nailed it with the keeping the willy covered thing.
The first few days with a newborn are absolutely terrifying. Don't worry, it gets better fast when you find a rhythm.
The days are long, the years are short. Mine is 9 already, and I swear he was born just last month.
All those grand projects and plans for the toddler and such, missed. Don't dawdle! If you're going to make a crib, do it now. Wooden toys, do it, don't wait.
And don't beat yourself for those misses. My son doesn't wake up on the morning and grouse at me for having slept in a crib I didn't make. He doesn't despise his HotWheels and lament for more wooden toys built by me. etc.
Embrace the changes that will take place in you. Thank god for hormones, and you've got them too. They cause you to find yourself fascinated by Dragon Tails and no longer very interested in Law and Order. You'll find running in playgrounds at slow speeds going "wee" to be great fun. That sky diving trip you were planning, just isn't so appealing any longer.
Kids start off immobile, and build up speed. Thank goodness. That gives you a chance to not fall too far behind. Oh, you'll never catch up, but you can keep them in sight.
I'll stick with my dog thanks.
You will never get another bike despite what your wife is telling you with dreams of a climate controlled Odyssey in her eyes.
Do not sell all your cool crap like motorcycles and cars to buy one expensive POS big enough to bring your whole house with you everywhere you go. Kids don't need that much E36 M3 and neither do you. I've managed to get 2 kids a wife & dog into a 911 and/or a 2 door M3 when the family wagon (Passat) was up on stands and we needed to be somewhere. In hindsight - we didn't even need the wagon - any old 5 passenger car with a decent trunk would have sufficed.
Costco for Formula and Diapers....it's unbelievable how much you can spend on both.
"The days are long, the years are short. Mine is 9 already, and I swear he was born just last month."
Quoted for truth. Mine turned 9 last month too and I for the life of me cannot figure out where the time went. Bank up on sleep. If you find that diaperchanging is a gag situation, a bit of Vaporub under your nose will help. Being self employed, I was/am the stayathome dad. Everyone comments on how articulate our kid has always been, I think it's cuz we didn't really see the need to babytalk to him. It's gonna be fun. My kid is a better person than I was when I was his age, so I figure things are going the right direction. Heh... his first word wasn't momma or da da, it was "Wheel"
Jay_W wrote: ...his first word wasn't momma or da da, it was "Wheel"
He mispronounced it, likely due to his age.
He meant, "Miata"
Grtechguy wrote: Costco for Formula and Diapers....it's unbelievable how much you can spend on both.
Target in-house brand formula and diapers are good and cheaper than the regular brand names. When friends who have had children offer clothes andthings, take them. They grow so quickly, most have only been worn a couple times at best.
mndsm wrote: Don't lose yourself to the kid. Sure, your life will revolve around that child, but don't give up your passion. If you have a project, keep at it, even if you only buff a fender for 5 minutes. It's the sanity you'll need. And when the time comes- you'll have a passion for something to share... instead of being rendered braindead by the Wiggles (seriously, I don't even have my own child, but those wiggles are worse than heroin)
+1 on this. Whenever I see an ad that starts with "Have a baby now so no time to work on car" I think really? I have two teenage Daughters and I've always had at least one hobby car undergoing restoration or upgrading. Kids take up a huge amount of time but you don't have to hover over them all day.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Every time someone tells me that they'd love to have a toy car but they don't have the time I ask them who won on the last series of Survivor or American Idol. They always have the answer.
Wayslow has it right---you make your priorities. I don't watch much TV that isn't populated by Muppets, but I still manage a full plate of project cars AND don't ask my wife to do more than her share of parenting.
Per
Cars are air, fuel, spark. Babies are food, sleep, diaper. At first you won't know why the baby is crying....usually it will be one of the three.
Wife had a c-section as our son was breach. Should this happen....the advice to your wife is the first time she gets up, to support the area near the stitches. She had the sensation that her guts were going to fall out.
As suggested up thread, constantly talk to the baby about what is going on around them. Think of your job as being a radio play by play announcer. If you do formula, pre scoop the mix into a container, and pre-measure the water, always having one ready to go. You'll have to learn to do everything one handed with the baby in the other...so pre-measuring the stuff will save you stress when your child is crying for hunger.
Battery operated swing can be a sanity saver. Figure out a way to get one.
If your car is 2002 or newer it should have the latch system in it for baby seats. If your car is older, it's worth finding some latches to retrofit into your car. Makes it so much easer to mount a seat well.
Trust your instincts.
Oh, and advice given to me by another racer. If you wear a wedding ring...don't give that hand/finger to your wife to squeeze during delivery, cause she'll crush your finger. It really isn't a good time to say "umm, honey, could you lighten up the grip, you are hurting me.
Jensenman wrote: You are also going to find that some of the finest moments of your life will come when you are dog tired, worn to a complete frazzle, have no idea what in the hell you are going to do next, you nod off and then wake up with the little one snuggled up next to you.
What he said. Talk to them like a child, not a baby. Some of my best memories are sitting in my sons room in the rocking chair reading a book to him before bed for the 100th time. Kids are hard work but there will be moments that will make your heat melt and laugh out loud. Enjoy it.
Also, around here we have these stores call Once Upon A Child, these kinds of stores will save you a ton of money on cloths and such.
also... never drop, throw or shake your baby. They are somewhat fragile for a while.
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