She’s Expecting, Now What?

She’s expecting, congratulations! And now that the euphoria has worn off and you are done fielding calls of congratulations, what next? What do you do? Let me make it simple for you, the answer is: everything! Everything you can do to make life easier for her. It may seem like a lot when you have to start doing a lot more around the house but keep in mind, you have easy part.

This whole process amazes me everyday. From the ultrasounds, to the doctor’s visits and feeling the baby move it is absolutely mind blowing. This article is a summary of my life as a dad-to-be so far and I hope it can help you out too.

Some days are better than others
Especially in the beginning your wife will have good days and bad. Doing even the littlest of things can help her cope in the beginning. I must have lost 5 pounds in the first 2 months walking up and down the stairs every time my wife needed something. If your wife currently does the grocery shopping, jump in and get it done. Check out my grocery shopping tip here. Don’t complain about it, just do it!

Read the Book
There are plenty of pregnancy books on the market and I did a short review of the book I found most helpful. The book explains the changes that your wife is going through week by week. It also details what she should and should not do, what drugs she can’t take, how best to exercise and much more. There are plenty of tips in there for you too.

Go to the Doctor’s Visits
If you can, go to as many office visits with your wife as possible. I have found it very insightful to hear the progress from the doctor and also to hear about what to expect in the coming weeks. Also, there are plenty of times where she will have to get blood tests done and I know I felt better being there with her then if she had to go to the visit alone.

If you are going through this for the second time, what did you learn the first time around? What tips can you share with me or with the rest of the readers? I’d love to hear your comments!

“Home Work” from the Road

For those road warriors out there whose jobs take them away on business, listen up! Just because you can’t be home, doesn’t mean you can’t help out at home. There are so many ways to contribute when you’re away on business; even the little things can go a long way when your wife doesn’t have to deal with them. You can either get a head start on the house chores while you travel, or hang out with Ted from accounting, raid the mini-fridge and watch infomercials.

Paying the Bills
This is an easy one and you probably bank online already. If not, see if your bank offers online banking. It’s a huge time saver to begin with and if you can take care of your bills on the road, that means more time to spend with your family when you get home.

Making Appointments
You don’t need to be home to pick up the phone. See what calls need to be made, you may already have your list, but check with your wife to see if there are appointments to be setup (doctors visit, play groups, etc). If you are traveling between time zones, that may be to your advantage. You may be able make calls after hours your time and catch the Dr. while he is still in.

Grocery Shopping
In the Northeast we have Stop and Shop and their Peapod Home Delivery service. I am sure there are similar services available in your area so check them out. With Peapod you can create a set list of the items you always buy which makes it easier to do your weekly/bi-weekly shopping.

This was just a short list of tasks you can take care of while you are on the road so your wife doesn’t have to. I’d love to hear what things you do from the road that help out at home.

Pets and your Newborn

As we are expecting our first child we began wondering how our two cats, Nikki and Dakota, will take to having a new addition to the family. Nikki is a crotchety old lady and Dakota is blind and curious, but we were mostly concerned that Nikki would use the crib as her new bed. So that got us to do some research.

Here are some good tips I found:

• Keep your pets nails trimmed (if applicable, obviously!)
• Introduce your pets to your newborn gradually. Perhaps greeting your pets without the baby first. Then acclimating the pets to their new friend over the next few days.
• Be sure to spend quality time with your pets, make sure they don’t feel neglected.

And to keep the cat out of your baby’s crib you can place tinfoil over the mattress to teach your cats prior to bringing home the baby. Or BabyCenter.com readers recommend using a crib tent.