The Expectant Father

What to expect…for dads

You’re now the expectant father to a new life, your legacy, wow! What an honour! How’re you holding up? By now you’re most likely through the first trimester and are free and safe to share the news with extended family, friends and all those people you went to high school with but haven’t talked to since prom night. Way to go! You’ve made it to this point which I consider to be a major right of passage. The big announcement! Good for you, dad! It’s at this point in the pregnancy that you will also start to see an increase in belly fat, breasts become enlarged, irritability sets in, headaches, mood swings, and chronic fatigue become the norm. Your wife may also experience similar symptoms. (I’ve used that joke probably 6 or 7 times. Kills every time…)

…anyway

Back to the important stuff – Seriously? How are you? How’s mom? Have you started picking names and crossing some off the list? Has your MIL started texting you every day to see how her daughter and grandbaby are doing? Have you started shopping yet for a crib, glider, onesies, sleepers, diapers, wipes, bottles, bottle warmer (but what if she breastfeeds?), nursery colours, soothers, blankets, stuffed animals, change table with matching dresser set from IKEA? A lot, right?

My advice? Slow it down. Don’t over think things. One, you’ve got lots of time to ease into all that and oh what a beautiful thing it is to have those conversations with the mother of you child and make those decisions together? Trust me, nothing is greater than having hypothetical chats with your partner about your unborn child. You know they’re coming and you’ll meet them soon enough but something about it doesn’t seem real yet. After all, mom is feeling all kinds of things, her body is physically changing, her emotions are all over the place and in some cases she is scared yet excited for the long road still ahead.

ENJOY EVERY SECOND OF IT.

I’ll repeat. This blog is designed to give you a guideline and a real life account based on what my wife and I found to be useful and helpful tips to live by. The bottom line is this. As you’ve already found out, babies are expensive and require a lot of “things”. There are different ways to hold them, feed them, they sleep differently, and each parent…parents differently. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, try things out and see how baby likes them. Like I said you still have lots of time, so don’t listen to me, well… do listen to me. Please keep reading my posts. Please. But honestly, you’ll figure things out as you go. Right now mom just needs you with her, beside her, encouraging her, rubbing her feet or shoulders now and again but mostly feet. So many feet rubs. For real…

Enjoy each other and get some rest because those days are coming to a close. Don’t sweat the small stuff but enjoy this journey that you’re both on. One day you can look back to when you used to be able to sleep in or go to the movies without having to think twice and (hopefully) you’ll feel good about where you’re at, enjoying your new little family.

Don’t forget to leave a comment! I’d love to know how things are going! Past stories of “The In-between” are also welcome!

Until next time…

The Unfit Dad