re: Question for OT Parents

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Trust your instincts to do what is right. Do not read or do not let your wife read too many parenting books or forums.

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With the major caveat that books and guidance on parenting structure are damned important for the first year. Timing and size of feedings, nap and sleep schedule, what is normal and what is not, etc., etc. up to about 12 months. We followed Moms on Call pretty rigorously for the first year of all of ours, and it worked like magic. Got them all sleeping through the night at about 9 - 12 weeks and generally healthy and growing well.

To the OP, the biggest adjustment is that your time no longer fully belongs to you. Hard to understand until you're in it, but those lazy arse Sunday afternoons just chilling and watching TV or Saturday mornings on the golf course or random Wednesday evening popping out for a nice dinner with your wife are not necessarily over but get much tougher to do, and you have to plan in advance.

Small thing: if they are tugging at their ears a lot as a baby, look for ear infections. Those bastards can be tough to shake.

Something that no one really told me but I have noticed: parenting becomes genuinely fun around kindergarten. Babies are generally pretty easy, especially when they are fully sleeping through the night and before they walk. Ages 2 - 4 are kind of a bitch; they are tough, mobile, stubborn, emotional, know what they want but not how to express it, etc. Very hard ages, and it's a lot of work. Once they become 5 - 6 and start getting into the things you are into (sports, games, books, movies, etc.), parenting becomes a lot less work and a lot more fun. There is still work involved, but it's more emotional and spiritual mentorship and less physical exhaustion.

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My wife and I are going to a fertility specialist next month and am hoping it leads to us finally having our first child.

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Having had to go down that path, if y'all decide to go through it then you have already asked yourself all the right questions. Watching all the crap your wife has to put her body through from conception to birth will make you love and appreciate her more than you can ever imagine.

Kids are a pain in the arse, but it's worth every second of it when you see their smiles and hear their laughs. Our 3 year old is from IVF and every time he says something outrageous that cracks me up or runs up and hugs me when I walk in the door from work is the best feeling in the world.

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13th bday


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Lululemon and Kenda Scott


Oof. Good luck.

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She learned it from her mom, the die was cast before the 13 year old was conceived.