New Dad to Be - Need Help

First of all, congratulations!

My BIL gave me a copy of The Expectant Father. You can get it on Amazon. LINK

I liked it because it was broken down by month and included what was going on with the baby developmentally and what things your wife would be experiencing at the same time. I would recommend picking up a copy.

It will be very hard to accept as you adjust, but you have to remember this for sure: Your life is no longer your own. Don't expect to unwind after work, or do the things to comfort yourself that you used to do. You are now the one who comforts. You'll learn to not live for yourself anymore and then you'll be good to go.

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Found out that my wife and I are pregnant.

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Y'all are pregnant at the same time. Cool.

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I have never even held a kid younger than 2

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Huge difference in other peoples kids and your own. When they put that little baby in your arms you can almost instantly feel yourself change. At least it was that way for me. I wouldn’t stress too much now. Just take it one day at a time once the baby is here. People have been having new babies for years.

Help your wife whenever she needs it.

Realize whatever life schedules you had originally are getting tossed out the window and you will be on the baby's schedule from here on out.

Minor complications can happen during pregnancy. We had two scares during my wife's pregnancy and I felt like my world was crumbling around me and they both turned out to be extremely minor.

Have your wife continue taking prenatal while also maintaining a balanced diet.

It's your doctor's job to worry, not you, so call if you ever have any questions.

There will be times where you feel like you can't figure out what is upsetting your child. They are either tired, sleepy, or gassy. If you or your wife have Tik Tok, there are a lot of accounts from parents that have "baby hacks" that work. We do a technique that almost definitely alleviates gas within a minute every single time.


To answer your health question, it is really difficult to manage. I used to run 4-5 days a week and I'm pink able to get around 2 or 3 in if I'm lucky. The beginning stages of parenthood are very random. Highly suggest you sleep when your child sleeps. They will choose to sleep or not to sleep whenever they would like.

It's also important to remember that your wife is going to be stuck with the child for at least 12 weeks and then some, so she will probably have cabin fever from being stuck all the time. If you have an at home gym plan, that might be the best option you have for a few months.


You can really Google most things to do. My purchase suggestions:

Diaper caddy for the changing table/crib store and access wipes/diapers/ointments.

Sleep sack for when they're done swaddling. It helps keep their feet from going as crazy.

Stick to one brand of bottles and bottle warmer. Change nipple sizes as they get older.

Get a stretchy swaddle blanket.

If I can think of anything else I'll edit my response.

For the first few months when they cry they are either hungry, gassy, tired or cold.

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Found out that my wife and I are pregnant

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At the same time?

Anytime you are getting frustrated with them.. close your eyes and imagine you are 80 years old and you have a time machine that is bringing you right back to this moment
and this is the only moment you will get with them again when they're young

You’ll understand soon enough

First off, congratulations on fatherhood. Best thing ever!
Secondly you will want to give your wife, you and your child the gift of a good night sleep. I strong recommend the book called “on becoming babywise”. It’s a guide on how to get the child sleeping through the night by 4 months old. We followed it and both kids were great sleepers by 13 weeks. All my friends who followed it had the same experience. And those who did not… well sometimes it worked out ok, but many had kids who were toddlers and still not sleeping well.