First Time Fatherhood

[Ruhskins]

Congrats skinsguy! I recently joined the fatherhood club, I have a three month old baby girl. Here's what I've learned so far:

- Enjoy your time with your wife as much as possible, because things will be different once the baby arrives. We went to Disney World at the end of my wife's first trimester and we had a lot of fun. Went out to restaurants, movies, and whatnot. Also, enjoy your sleep now as much as you can.

- Throw any concepts of "planning" out the window.

- Make sure you pack yourself a "Dad" bag when you go to the hospital. Your wife will be taken care of at the hospital, but you won't. There are some useful ideas on what to bring online.

- Don't worry about buying a lot of clothes for your baby. Your family and friends will probably buy a ton of clothes as gifts. Especially if you are having a girl.

- You will learn how to handle your baby. When I first picked up my daughter and had to change her diaper, you would have thought I was handling a slippery ticking time bomb. By the time I left the hospital, I was a pro at changing diapers and carrying her around.

- Make sure you and your wife check each other's patience level, because the baby will test it. And don't feel bad when it happens. There were some times when my wife would tell me to take a break and would take the baby, because she could tell my patience was running low. And there were times when I would do the same to her.

- You will learn to deal with the lack of sleep. Since I'm in grad school, I was used to little sleep (although this is different). But my wife wasn't, and she managed the lack of sleep very well. I would say the first three weeks are the toughest. The best thing to do is to take turns with your wife in terms of sleeping and taking care of the baby. I was lucky that I was able to take almost four weeks off work.

- Be ready for your baby to puke on you, pee on you, and poop on you. I had those three things happen to me in one day.

- If you have a dog, try to remember they exist every once in a while.

- There's going to be a lot of trial and error, be patient about it.

- Make sure you are equal partners with your wife in terms of the taking care of the baby. Take turns changing diapers, feeding the baby, burping the baby, and playing with the baby. Also take turn with the chores (for the first week or so, I felt like I was washing bottles every hour). When you return to work and your wife stays and home with the baby, remember that taking care of that baby is A LOT of work. Make sure you give your wife a break when you get home.

- Take lots of pictures of your baby and enjoy the experience. There are very few things like it.