Just found out I'm expecting my first child!

Congratulations!!!!!! Best advice, treasure every moment even the ones that might not be so fun, they grow so fast, to soon it will be an adult. Love with your whole heart and laugh often.

reply to post by caladonea

He weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce.

[color=deepskyblue]My oldest weighed 9lbs 1oz also (:

The natural childbirth route was not for me. As soon as my labor started, I knew I wanted an epidural. I walked into the hospital asking for it.

As soon as they put it in, I knew it wasn't right. My left leg became numb and I still felt everything, the 12 hours of back labor, the 3 hours of pushing, the forceps... even the stitches. All 60 of them. That is not a typo. It was awful.

The second time around, I got the epidural as soon as they would let me and it was fantastic. Still ended up with some stitches but was okay otherwise. He was out in less than 10 minutes.

So having experienced it both ways (pain vs. not so much pain), I would pick the epidural every time.

This is just my opinion based on what I have experienced personally.

[color=dodgerblue]OP: Tell your wife not to get her heart set on a specific birth plan. Things do not always go the way you plan and women are at times devastated when they end up having an emergency c-section when they wanted a water birth or whatever. Have a plan in mind, but try to be flexible because things don't always go the way you imagine they will.

Make sure to breast feed

Congratulations! Even though you have to give up some fun things for 9 months, it's worth it!

Congratulations!

Be prepared for everything, kids are like mandatory random tests of will. I'm not even talking about behavior wise, I mean the truly unexpected things. I'm a father of 3, my first and third had pyloric stenosis. Not a huge issue nowadays, but still requires surgery, and the way you find out your kid has it isn't pleasant. Basically the infant can't get food to his/her stomach, so it has nowhere to go but out. Violently. It's scary, but as a parent you have to be ready for it.

Also make sure your doctor knows everything about your wife, including things like whether or not she has an android pelvis. My doctor had no idea until my wife went through 4 hours of labor with absolutely no progress. Her hips wouldn't open. If the doctor knew beforehand, they would have scheduled a C-section.

As I said, be prepared for everything. Things rarely go as planned when kids are involved.

I suggest that you see this as a wonderful opportunity (and an honor) to give a big piece of your life, the very best you have, to someone else.

This is the real meaning of parenthood.

It is an extraordinary adventure to which nothing else compares.

Not only will it change your lifestyle, it will change YOU.

Be prepared to learn the greatest lessons in your life on this wonderful and exciting adventure.

Congratulations.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
So long selfishness!
This can be a good thing though, just tough at times.

Congrats!!!

Forgot to say... Congratulations!

You are in for a treat.

It's definitely hard and stressful and scary to adjust your lifestyle and mindset before that first kid, but you have almost ten months to get into a groove before the baby is born. Then, you have to get into another groove once the baby is born. And another once the baby sleeps through the night. Basically, you will be adjusting your grooves for the rest of your life.

Mixing things up keeps life interesting, though.

To echo many other posters: expect the unexpected, hug/kiss your wife a lot, pick up after yourself, avoid making her angry, start stocking up on diapers, clothes, etc WAAAAY before the birth, and bring her anything she is craving.