OT - Calling MgoDads!

just be there for your girls. Both of them. Always.

None of the things you are afraid of can compare to all of the great things that are about to happen to. Be there as much as you can. I think you will surprise yourself.

Make sure you look at the picture of mom and baby before you send it out. My wife's breast was hanging out in the pic I sent our parents and siblings after our first daughter was born. Six years and two kids later she still isn't happy about that. Also, tell people NO. Who you might ask? Family, friends, random people who think (unsolicited) they know what's best for you and your kid. You'll know when you encounter them and people aren't shy about telling you what to do. All that matters is what you and your wife think.

wakes up every day knowing that you love them than you will be a great Dad.

It's a great journey of imperfection. Good days will make the bad ones worth it. You will laugh at the bad days someday. Always remember the diaper bag when you take your child out. If you forget, you are guaranteed to have a diaper explosion. And be there for mom. She will worry about every little thing. Tell her it will be ok. Ignore 95% of internet advice

Best advice. Bring extra socks for yourself. Extra warm ones. Your feet will for sure be cold as hell. Someone told me this beforehand. So helpful.

Make sure carseat is installed today. Also make sure it's done right. Where I live some police and fire stations will inspect for you. Look up to see if that's a thing.

Before you go to the hospital (so like today cause who knows if baby comes early) get a small basket the size of like two shoeboxes. Put everything you'd need for a baby diaper change in it: diapers, cream, extra set of clothes, towels, wipes, etc. You will always keep this full to immediatly be able to change diapers and not have to look for every thing on the list. When there is screaming and poop you don't want to have to look for 4 things scattered about the living room to fix the screaming and poop. You want 1 thing and you want to know where it is and be able to grab it with one hand.

If you're using disposable diapers, still buy dozen or so cloth. They're better than pretty much everything for wiping things up. 

If using disposable: sample lots of different kinds of diapers: you'll find one or two tend to work best for your daughter. Some may cause rashes. Some may leak not cause they're bad, but cause of your kid's shape. Some may annoy you for whatever reason. Figure out what kind works best before stocking up. 

 

"I hope you're smarter than me and it doesn't take you 4 more to figure out how this is happening."

 

(Being the 4th that stung a bit)

forutunetly, the babies start out simple. you always know where they are. if they are crying they are either tired, hungry or wet. change the diaper right before you feed them. they fall asleep after their tummies are full. enjoy it. she will be a teenager in a blink of an eye.

that said, get over it. seeing the blood and other stuff is one thing, but remember that seeing it is way more pleasant than having to go through it. so get over it and just do what needs doing. take your cues from your wife, nurses, and doctor. don't push back, argue, or suggest alternatives. just do it.

parent even while you know you should savor it as a most important part of your life.  Really like the way you describe already being excited.  Kids grow up so fast.  By high school, they have to be increasingly independent, and busy with school work and their extraciricular activities.  You sound like you will be a very caring dad, and a terrific one.   Good luck and warmest congratulations.  

I have only one child, he's 19 now.  He was born 7 weeks early, but by the grace of God he was healthy and all organs were developed.  He was born 5 lbs, 1oz. and 21 inches long.  He's 6'4" and 300 (too much sitting around playing video games).

The best advice I can give you - teach them right from wrong, good from bad and to always make good choices.  If you say it enough it actually sticks.

I have always told my son, my dad's best advice - Always tell the truth, that way you don't have to remember anything.  Teach your kids to look people in the eye when talking to others.  This crap of younger people always looking away when they talk or are talked to is so annoying.

Most of all, tell them every day you love them and how proud you are of them.  You can't say it enough.

This is advice for a little bit later:

There is a golden period from when your child sleeps through the night until she is mobile that you need to take advantege of.

At first your baby won't sleep through the night and will wake up and cry to be fed every couple of hours.  You will be sleep deprived and hate the entire planet.

But once your baby sleeps mostly through the night and you catch up on sleep, you are in a golden period.  Your baby is not mobile yet, so you can take her everywhere . . . and she'll stay where you put her.

We used to take my son everywhere in his car seat   We would eat in a fancy restaurant and just put the car seat on the table.  As long as he was fed, he would just look around or sleep.

One New Year's Eve we went out with a bunch of people and just put him on the table with us.  He was like a brick . . . he just stayed there.

You need to take advantage of this time and go out and do things.

Because once your daughter can crawl and walk, it's all over.  She'll want to get into everything until you physically stop her.  Then she will wail and scream because you stopped her.  

At this point it's a pain in the ass to go anywhere.  You are constantly playing defense.  Every time you go out it's a logistical Normandy Invasion.

This will last for a few years until your child is old enough to obey some simple rules and not hurt themselves if left unattended.

So take advantage of that golden period between infant and toddler when you can. 

and may be a bit misshapen if the birth is a bit difficult, as our daughter's was. When she emerged, I swear to God her noggin was shaped like E.T.'s—long and narrow. I flipped out thinking that her brain must have been irreparably damaged, but the nurses said not to worry, her head will quickly "round up."

They were right—before too long, it was basically normal looking, and her brain was fine, too.

Also important rule:

 

When baby is sleeping.... you should be as well.

Take all advice with a grain of salt, because this is a precious moment for you two and will be uniquely yours forever. Still, here's some advice.

If you have a birth plan, that's great, try to stick to it. But if things go a little sideways, just remember you're not there to execute the perfect birth plan. You're there to get the baby out, and this is usually not particularly easy.

Make sure your wife eats at the latest possible time before you check in to get induced. They probably won't let her eat until after the baby is born, and that could be 18 hours.

If you can, bring family that you both love and trust (wife's mom, sister, etc). It can get somewhat alarming, and having calming influences outside just the two of you may help.

If you have a birth/breast feeding/child rearing book by some Dutch person with very strong opinions, take what you want or what you can, and ignore everything else. Books can help you scratch the surface of this new reality, but YOU are everything. Be loving, be present, be aware, and be practical.

You will at some point be so tired you'll want to die. Survive.

stay north of the border...nothing will erase what you see south of the mason-dixon line...

...to the rest of your life! It's going to be like nothing else you ever experienced. It's awesome. Congratulations!

Peripheral vision is not your friend. For a guy that gets woosie in hospitals i did well. Youll be fine but keep eye contact with her.

My wife and I are expecting our first this September.

Last night I posted a joke about getting the operating manual, a joke based on the shock of getting home that first night and realizing, despite being really good with kids generally, we didn't have a clue. It turns out we knew more than we thought, and so will you.

I'm posting again because I notice you asked for advice, and MGoDads offered advice, but I missed a crucial point and I don't see anyone else offering it either. 

Ask your wife what she wants.

Your job as a parent will be limited for a while (most likely).  Take care of your wife.  She will be going through awesome and difficult things.  Be patient and I can't say this enough, take great care of her and her needs.

All I can say is, get ready for a fun, harrowing, and rewarding roller coaster ride in the coming years.

With all of the chaos that will be going on in your lives in the coming years, take some advice from the great philosopher Ferris Bueller - "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." In all seriousness, do that. Take time to stop and appreciate the moments. They grow up fast.

90% of being a good dad is just being there. The other half is up to you. Have fun; you're going to love it.

As for the delivery day itself - just be there for her and do whatever she wants. Buying a gift is a good idea (honestly this made no sense to me but for a few bucks it makes her happy). Don't check your phone or ask if you can turn the TV on or anything like that. Induced labor can still take a while - for us it took six hours! - so be ready for a long haul.

As for being a dad over the long haul, it's all about the hustle and the effort. It's kind of like defense in basketball. If you're willing to play as a team and put in the effort and the hustle, you'll usually be ok, even if you're not the #1 natural athlete on the floor. Hustle and effort count a lot for kids (and anyone, I suppose). Just show them that they're the most important thing in your life.

Be prepared for the absolute physical response you will have to the kid's needs. It's not just that you hear a baby crying and you want to make sure it's OK, you feel an overwhelming urgency to make sure the kid isn't being consumed by wolves.

Also, be prepared for some crazy stuff to pass through your head at 2 AM. I remember hearing a branch brush a window leading to my imagining how to kill multiple intruders to protect my son. 

But the main thing I wish I would have been warned about: babies poop in the tub. It's not quite as much of a problem until they get bigger, but there is nothing more disgusting that giving a baby a bath and realizing you have your hands and your kid sitting in shit soup. It leads to a whole rigamarole where you have to take your son out, clean yourself, clean the tub, then re-bathe your son.