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Newborn thread

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This thread has been a great insight as to what I can expect in June :chuckle:

Question for @KevinLoveFan (but others are encouraged to answer as well) - is there anything that you are really glad to have had during your pregnancy, or is there anything you wish you would have had or known?

My wife is 24+1, so getting close to the end of that second trimester. Time is flying!
 
Marcus said:
This thread has been a great insight as to what I can expect in June :chuckle:

Question for @KevinLoveFan (but others are encouraged to answer as well) - is there anything that you are really glad to have had during your pregnancy, or is there anything you wish you would have had or known?

My wife is 24+1, so getting close to the end of that second trimester. Time is flying!
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I was glad to have had a supportive work environment during the first two trimesters. I left on good terms when the third trimester started.
 
KevinLoveFan said:
I was glad to have had a supportive work environment during the first two trimesters. I left on good terms when the third trimester started.
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Wife’s not working right now, so no worries there.

It’s been a little tough because we live so far away from the rest of our families (Ohio and Texas), but they’ve been supportive from afar. My mom is planning a baby shower for the end of April, which is really nice and greatly appreciated.
 
Marcus said:
Wife’s not working right now, so no worries there.

It’s been a little tough because we live so far away from the rest of our families (Ohio and Texas), but they’ve been supportive from afar. My mom is planning a baby shower for the end of April, which is really nice and greatly appreciated.
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Sounds good! Most of my own relatives live away as well, so it's been mostly my husband's family dropping by with stuff. My dad does live about two hours away in the same state I'm in (Missouri), though, so at least he got to see the little guy about two weeks after birth and get him a bassinet and car seat. My older half sister in Minnesota also hosted a virtual shower and contributed a number of gifts, and my older half brother contributed a nice onesie.
 
Marcus said:
Wife’s not working right now, so no worries there.

It’s been a little tough because we live so far away from the rest of our families (Ohio and Texas), but they’ve been supportive from afar. My mom is planning a baby shower for the end of April, which is really nice and greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Once the baby is born, the best advice I have is to check in with your wife on every family request. Your parents, her parents, extended family... they will all want to see the baby. Without being concious of it, they may try to make the time spent more work for you. Don't let them, be proactive. You are going to be exhausted, they should be making visits easy for you, not extra work for you.

There's my nugget after two kids. Enjoy the ride, work smarter not harder.
 
Randolphkeys said:
Once the baby is born, the best advice I have is to check in with your wife on every family request. Your parents, her parents, extended family... they will all want to see the baby. Without being concious of it, they may try to make the time spent more work for you. Don't let them, be proactive. You are going to be exhausted, they should be making visits easy for you, not extra work for you.

There's my nugget after two kids. Enjoy the ride, work smarter not harder.
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Oh absolutely! My mother-in-law and my mother have both expressed their desire to come visit once our daughter gets here, as well as my best friend. When/if they do make those trips, I am going to be firm in what their expectations should be.

Another one that my boss brought up to me last week is to be firm for the first year or so if people ask for us to travel. I'm definitely not trying to take any long trips with an infant in that timeframe if I can help it.
 
KevinLoveFan said:
So here's what I've learned taking care of a baby after 7 weeks.

The hardest part of taking care of a baby is the fussy overnight feedings leading to sleep deprivation, especially since our little guy cries for food often every 1-2 hours instead of 3-4, and he's usually a very slow and sleepy feeder when he does feed.

The easiest part, despite what I've been told, is taking care of laundry and dishes. I don't know why everyone tells me to ignore these chores and delegate them as if they're too hard or time consuming once you have a baby. They only take 15 minutes a day, and can be a welcome distraction between other activities.

I also find the advice "sleep when baby sleeps" to be a bit impractical, possibly since our little guy feeds and sleeps 1-2 hours at a time rather than the typical 3-4. Sleep also isn't an on and off switch; you might not be able to fall asleep quickly after all the baby screams. So you might still remain awake while the baby sleeps despite your best efforts.
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I don't know if you're breastfeeding or bottle-feeding or both, but our biggest scare was when my wife's maternity leave ended. Although our little dude started off with a bottle, she exclusively breastfed him during the maternity leave and right when we thought he'd transition to the bottle, he refused it. For a whole week I was taking him to her job multiple times a day for a feeding until he eventually took to the bottle.

Just a heads up in case it might apply to your situation. We're first-time parents and are still blown away by the things you don't know until it actually happens lol. At 11 months his sleep schedule is STILL a bit erratic at times especially when he's teething. Usually there's no easy solution and you just kinda power through stuff.
 
Marcus said:
This thread has been a great insight as to what I can expect in June :chuckle:

Question for @KevinLoveFan (but others are encouraged to answer as well) - is there anything that you are really glad to have had during your pregnancy, or is there anything you wish you would have had or known?

My wife is 24+1, so getting close to the end of that second trimester. Time is flying!
Click to expand...
Marcus said:
Wife’s not working right now, so no worries there.

It’s been a little tough because we live so far away from the rest of our families (Ohio and Texas), but they’ve been supportive from afar. My mom is planning a baby shower for the end of April, which is really nice and greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Congrats!

At the time of my son's birth, COVID regulations were still pretty strict at Cleveland hospitals so we couldn't have much family support. We ended up hiring a birth doula to help with birth decisions and assist during labor, and I gotta say it was the best ~600 or so we spent.

The mental state of the mother can be very important during labor. Depends on the family of course, but my wife has mild anxiety and having someone knowledgeable and experienced available for her needs throughout the 3rd trimester and birth helped ease her mind a lot.
 
My wife and I are expecting our first baby in August and this thread (and the pregnancy one) have been very helpful with what to expect. We're in Boston and the rest of our family is in Ohio or Colorado so we wont have any family support (maybe the mother in law will stay with us at some point to help). We still dont know the gender yet and not sure if we even want to find out for this one. I can't even go in for the ultrasounds, but I hope I can be there for the delivery (I'm assuming I will be able to go). Look forward to hearing updates from everyone and might have some stuff to add in August :cool:
 
Snowblind said:
My wife and I are expecting our first baby in August and this thread (and the pregnancy one) have been very helpful with what to expect. We're in Boston and the rest of our family is in Ohio or Colorado so we wont have any family support (maybe the mother in law will stay with us at some point to help). We still dont know the gender yet and not sure if we even want to find out for this one. I can't even go in for the ultrasounds, but I hope I can be there for the delivery (I'm assuming I will be able to go). Look forward to hearing updates from everyone and might have some stuff to add in August :cool:
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Same here regarding kudos to @KevinLoveFan! My wife and I are actually in the hosptial now. Went for our 35 week check-up earlier in the week, we found out she had preeclampsia and they admitted her then. Kinda scary but all vitals are good and we’re far enough along that the plan is to induce next Saturday. The only downside is living in the hospital until then! However, it is good having them constantly monitor everything in case they need to induce sooner.
 
camakazee said:
Same here regarding kudos to @KevinLoveFan! My wife and I are actually in the hosptial now. Went for our 35 week check-up earlier in the week, we found out she had preeclampsia and they admitted her then. Kinda scary but all vitals are good and we’re far enough along that the plan is to induce next Saturday. The only downside is living in the hospital until then! However, it is good having them constantly monitor everything in case they need to induce sooner.
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Oh wow, hope all goes well. Preeclampsia is no joke. I had to be tested for that regularly due to being a type 1 diabetic.
 
Marcus said:
This thread has been a great insight as to what I can expect in June :chuckle:

Question for @KevinLoveFan (but others are encouraged to answer as well) - is there anything that you are really glad to have had during your pregnancy, or is there anything you wish you would have had or known?

My wife is 24+1, so getting close to the end of that second trimester. Time is flying!
Click to expand...

Comfy indoor sandals or shoes. There is a strong possibility you will standing/walking holding baby a lot. I was in constant pain after a month or so, not just when standing but feet just constantly hurt.

And multiple sleeping options for both baby and parents, preferably one mobile option for baby like a portable bassinet.

Silicon (moldable) earplugs were awesome for me as well...I struggle to sleep with the foam ones or headphones.
 
Kouki said:
Comfy indoor sandals or shoes. There is a strong possibility you will standing/walking holding baby a lot. I was in constant pain after a month or so, not just when standing but feet just constantly hurt.

And multiple sleeping options for both baby and parents, preferably one mobile option for baby like a portable bassinet.

Silicon (moldable) earplugs were awesome for me as well...I struggle to sleep with the foam ones or headphones.
Click to expand...
Multiple sleeping options have really helped us. We have a smaller portable bassinet in the bedroom and then a bigger one with a diaper changing station in the child's room. As the baby gets older and spends less time sleeping and more crying, he's being moved to the larger bassinet more, especially overnight to give one of us more sleep in the bedroom while the other tends to the baby. We just changed our schedules today...he's now staying up for part of the overnight while I'm tending to the baby more in the mornings. It used to be the other way around. We're still kind of splitting things in the evenings.
 
Yep...we never really had a consistent schedule other than general shifts at night, however we were feeling...one took the 8pm to 2am shift, other took the 2am to 8am shift...roughly.

I also could never "sleep when the baby sleeps"...I am so bad at falling asleep unless I take some supplements. If I try to nap I don't fall asleep until baby is about to wake up.
 
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