[Adam Prime]

About a month and a half until our little guy gets here. Every once in awhile when the baby hasn't moved for awhile my wife will get a little worried. I put my hand on her stomach and talk to him and without fail he always starts moving and kicking like crazy. It's really funny.

I do the same thing all the time!

Oatmeal, my wife read through this entire thread tonight. She literally started crying when she saw pictures of little Sawyer! We hope your family is doing alright, please keep us updated and post new pictures so we can see the little guy doing better!

[Gary Whitta]

As of yesterday we are at 37 weeks aka Full Term! It will still likely be a few more weeks before battle stations but it's exciting to think that it could theoretically come any day now!

Picked this up :)

[Marty Chinn]

I do the same thing all the time! Oatmeal, my wife read through this entire thread tonight. She literally started crying when she saw pictures of little Sawyer! We hope your family is doing alright, please keep us updated and post new pictures so we can see the little guy doing better!

My wife was the same. In tears as soon as the pics were shown.

As of yesterday we are at 37 weeks aka Full Term! It will still likely be a few more weeks before battle stations but it's exciting to think that it could theoretically come any day now! Picked this up :)

Nice, heh we got this book:



and this is pretty much the contents inside:

[alphaNoid]

My wife is 22 weeks tomorrow with our second, a girl! My son is 2.5 now so boy then girl, so we are super excited as is family. Congrats to all the fathers to be in this thread

edit. My best friends wife is pregnant now as well so that'll be fun for the wives. And yes I'm getting my sleep in now while I can lol

[sefskillz]

elliott finally made his appearance yesterday morning around 6am!

everything has been great so far healthwise, hopefully that keeps up

[Marty Chinn]

elliott finally made his appearance yesterday morning around 6am! everything has been great so far healthwise, hopefully that keeps up

Great, another Preds fan.....

Congrats!

[RedNumberFive]

We've got about 2 weeks to go here, but our baby seems ready to crawl out of my wife, so I'm guessing it will be earlier.

[Marty Chinn]

We've got about 2 weeks to go here, but our baby seems ready to crawl out of my wife, so I'm guessing it will be earlier.

Heh our girl was super active so we thought she'd be out a bit early or at least on time, but she ended up coming out a week late and my wife had to be induced.

[Gary Whitta]

elliott finally made his appearance yesterday morning around 6am! everything has been great so far healthwise, hopefully that keeps up

Congratulations! Post pics!

[sefskillz]

Congratulations! Post pics!

here he is, born 7lbs 5oz:

Great, another Preds fan..... Congrats!

thanks marty :)

We've got about 2 weeks to go here, but our baby seems ready to crawl out of my wife, so I'm guessing it will be earlier.

we thought our guy was going to be early as well, there were plenty of signs. he ended up being 5 days late which caused some impatience and frustration with us, i'd say try to ignore the due date and be as patient as you can, its tough waiting :)

[Double D]

Thought I'd pop in to let you guys know that my wife took our 3 kids up to visit her father. They are gone for a week. My house has never been this quiet. Now I kind of wished I hadn't played all the newly released games...

[Liquidsnake]

My wife was the same. In tears as soon as the pics were shown. Nice, heh we got this book:

OMG, That is so funny. XD

[alphaNoid]

elliott finally made his appearance yesterday morning around 6am! everything has been great so far healthwise, hopefully that keeps up

CONGRATS!

[alphaNoid]

Thought I'd pop in to let you guys know that my wife took our 3 kids up to visit her father. They are gone for a week. My house has never been this quiet. Now I kind of wished I hadn't played all the newly released games...

How?

[Dark Octave]

This thread makes me wanna post pics of my 5 month old.

[Menelaus]

/sigh

found out my wife is 5 weeks preggers. i was already on the verge of a panic attack, and this thread is going to be the straw that breaks my back.

i can't fathom how people can stay home to watch the baby. we're tight even with both of us having decent jobs!

[CrankyJay]

LOL, cya guys in November/December.

*scared shitless*

[Ezio]

New dad reporting in here! My son was born about 2 months ago, he was 6 weeks pre-mature so it was a little scary at first but he has been home for awhile now and doing great, he was 4lbs 14oz when he was born and he's up over 8lbs now. Although, he does not like to sleep...like ever.

The wife and i do shifts, I watch him from 9pm-2am and she takes over from there. It works for the most part.

[Flo_Evans]

This thread makes me wanna post pics of my 5 month old.

do it!

We should have a general post your kids thread.

Here is a recent one from vacation:

[Double D]

How?

I can run on a very minimal amount of sleep. Also, I just make myself poopsock games. 3 nights of poopsocking is easier than trying to squeeze in a half hour here or there.

[Omegasquash]

My wife is due with our second on 9/20, and my son is 2.5. It's been a riot so far, and I'm looking forward to more fun this time.

A) We'll have a better idea of our personal thresholds
B) Bigger house with a friggin' basement, so I can just kick it with my newbie at night, and if she cries it won't wake anyone up
C) She's very active during the day right now, so we're hoping for sleepy nights (this happened to my brother, whose daughter slept for 5 hours a night, in her crib, from day fucking 1).

Any dads out there that are upcoming first timers, the best thing I can tell you is fuck advice. No one knows that baby better than you and your baby-momma. Listen do doctors. Get used to poop/pee. Have fun and take pictures.

[winjet81]

/sigh found out my wife is 5 weeks preggers. i was already on the verge of a panic attack, and this thread is going to be the straw that breaks my back. i can't fathom how people can stay home to watch the baby. we're tight even with both of us having decent jobs!

You're in the U.S., huh?

[Ezio]

My wife is due with our second on 9/20, and my son is 2.5. It's been a riot so far, and I'm looking forward to more fun this time. A) We'll have a better idea of our personal thresholds B) Bigger house with a friggin' basement, so I can just kick it with my newbie at night, and if she cries it won't wake anyone up C) She's very active during the day right now, so we're hoping for sleepy nights (this happened to my brother, whose daughter slept for 5 hours a night, in her crib, from day fucking 1). Any dads out there that are upcoming first timers, the best thing I can tell you is fuck advice. No one knows that baby better than you and your baby-momma. Listen do doctors. Get used to poop/pee. Have fun and take pictures.

++ Especially the getting used to poo and pee part.

[artist]

Oatmeal, just looking at those pics and my face is covered in tears. Man you and your wife are tough to have been so brave during this ordeal, me & wifey wish Sawyer a very fast and complete recovery and a very happy and healthy life.

[MrMephistoX]

Wife's due with our first baby on September 16th. I can't believe I never really checked out the off topic board before last week: this thread is great ;)

Special call out to Oatmeal... man I wish you the best and this is my first time visiting this thread.

[Gary Whitta]

Birth tub in the house!

[Flo_Evans]

Birth tub in the house! http://distilleryimage6.instagram.com/d74b988cb73111e181bd12313817987b_7.jpg[/IMG]

Your really gonna do it eh? Good Luck! Hope all goes well.

[Tapiozona]

Posting pics of my 3 month old son, Rowen, because I like showing off..



I love how his cheeks sag with he's upright. It reminds me of the old man from "Up". He looks like a very different baby than when he's laying down...

[izakq]

I remember when the wife and I left the hospital with our boy, we looked at each other with this "Oh shit...there's a baby in the backseat and we're responsible!" look of scared shitless.

For diaper rash, this was our savior:



Yeah, I know, it's intended for animals and such. But this stuff works wonders.

[Gary Whitta]

Your really gonna do it eh? Good Luck! Hope all goes well.

Yeah I was very uncomfortable with the idea at first but it's what Leah wants. And after really educating myself about the pros and cons vs hospital birth I'm pretty much totally okay with it. Still nervous, but no moreso than I would be at a hospital, I'd just be worrying about different things there. And if we DO need to transfer, the hospital is five minutes away. Plus we have a really good birth team.

[Marty Chinn]

Yeah I was very uncomfortable with the idea at first but it's what Leah wants. And after really educating myself about the pros and cons vs hospital birth I'm pretty much totally okay with it. Still nervous, but no moreso than I would be at a hospital, I'd just be worrying about different things there. And if we DO need to transfer, the hospital is five minutes away. Plus we have a really good birth team.

I'm not familiar with the pros and cons; would you mind giving a quick run down?

[Flo_Evans]

Yeah I was very uncomfortable with the idea at first but it's what Leah wants. And after really educating myself about the pros and cons vs hospital birth I'm pretty much totally okay with it. Still nervous, but no moreso than I would be at a hospital, I'd just be worrying about different things there. And if we DO need to transfer, the hospital is five minutes away. Plus we have a really good birth team.

I was actually born at home 35 years ago... and I turned out fine right? RIGHT? :P

Posting pics of my 3 month old son, Rowen, because I like showing off..

love this pic, so cute!

As for the worried dads, don't (good luck trying!) I was a wreck before, but once he was here I hit the ground running. Already a year old and I feel like a god damned baby pro now.

[Gary Whitta]

I'm not familiar with the pros and cons; would you mind giving a quick run down?

Home birth is really for women who want to have a natural, non-intervention birth where they can be present for the experience. So no (or at most very minimal) drugs, and no doctors telling you how to have your baby. I think the fear for many is that when given drugs or rushed along the birth experience can be more stressful with the mother often less present due to the influence of the drugs. Hospitals often have extremely high C-section rates which some people will tell you is due to the birth process being rushed by impatient doctors. I think mothers and birth partners can often be intimidated by doctors and pushed off some of the things in their birth plan that are important to them.

Another benefit of home birth I like is that you already have a relationship and understanding with the midwives who are going to deliver your baby, as opposed to hoping a good and understanding doctor happens to be on shift when you come into the hospital to deliver. We've had several meetings with our birth team (they also handle the final weeks of pre-natal checkups and do post-natal visits too) so we know and feel comfortable with them, and they know what is important to us.

There's an interesting documentary on Netflix called The Business of Being Born that examines home vs hospital birth, albeit with an obvious bias toward home birth.

I have been nervous about it and did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions and at the end of the day I agree with Leah that this is the way to go for us. There's a small part of me that still thinks it's all a bit hippie-granola but ultimately I'm on board!

[soepje]

Just saw this thread. My congratulations to all the fresh moms and dads! And my thoughts go out to Oatmeals little one, hope the surgery went well, he´s a cuty.

But WTF is this (old post)?

My wife and I have four, 8, 6(twins) and almost 5. Zero to four kids in 42 months.. Obviously having twins and a kid who just turned two the month before was a nightmare. The stress about took down our marriage, I basically have blocked almost all of that time from my memory. No help from grandparents at all. I talked to my parents about it a year ago and my mom actually bragged 'Well we did watch all four while you picked up your wife from getting her tubes tied!'.. yep she bragged about watching all of them for 30 minutes, wouldn't even watch them long enough so I could stay with my wife during the procedure. We've had two nights alone together without kids in the past 8 years(we had to pay my in-laws family.. I shit you not). That may change as they are getting old enough for a sitter now. We still have someone get up almost once a night with a nightmare or some other issue. We get maybe one or two days a week without anyone getting up. All four are also early risers, up at 6 to 6:30am every fucking day of their lives, doesn't matter what they did the day before or how late they stay up. This morning my wife and I slept in till 7:30 it was a fucking miracle. Also we have found their are 'good/easy babies' and 'hard babies'. Our youngest was a good baby, so easy, sleeping through the night in a just a few weeks, our oldest three were very tough. So hope you get an easy one. On the plus side my eldest son is a good Terraria player, although he is a loot whore.

You went and made 4 kids, why the hell would you take it for granted that your family (in law) takes care of your kids? Sure, you had twins, must have been a surprise and not planned out, but you make another one right after it! You really think your time and offspring is more important then anyone elses time? They have to work for their money, just like you do, and enjoy their free time. In the way you fraised this, you really sound insanely selfcentered, and i can understand your family (in law)..

[Marty Chinn]

Home birth is really for women who want to have a natural, non-intervention birth where they can be present for the experience. So no (or at most very minimal) drugs, and no doctors telling you how to have your baby. I think the fear for many is that when given drugs or rushed along the birth experience can be more stressful with the mother often less present due to the influence of the drugs. Hospitals often have extremely high C-section rates which some people will tell you is due to the birth process being rushed by impatient doctors. I think mothers and birth partners can often be intimidated by doctors and pushed off some of the things in their birth plan that are important to them. Another benefit of home birth I like is that you already have a relationship and understanding with the midwives who are going to deliver your baby, as opposed to hoping a good and understanding doctor happens to be on shift when you come into the hospital to deliver. We've had several meetings with our birth team (they also handle the final weeks of pre-natal checkups and do post-natal visits too) so we know and feel comfortable with them, and they know what is important to us. There's an interesting documentary on Netflix called The Business of Being Born that examines home vs hospital birth, albeit with an obvious bias toward home birth. I have been nervous about it and did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions and at the end of the day I agree with Leah that this is the way to go for us. There's a small part of me that still thinks it's all a bit hippie-granola but ultimately I'm on board!

Ah, yes I have read about the quick to judgement on a C section. That was definitely a concern of ours. A friend of ours used a Douala(sp?) to control sort of how the plan went while in the hospital so that they didn't have to worry as much. We considered that too, but can't remember why we decided not to. So ya, I've read and heard some of the stuff and can totally understand. How does it work if you find the baby isn't in the right position during birth though? Is there enough time to transport and have them prepare a C section? I really don't know. I only ask because that same friend with the Douala ended up having one because of that so their birthing plan went out the window.

The one advice that I was given was to never set your heart on how the birth process will go and to be open and flexible for changes. That advice helped us because we had planned on a natural birth with no drugs but after being checked in for getting induced, and that it took so long, the pressure got to her. Not the pain. She was in so much discomfort from the pressure which sounded like it felt like really really severe constipation that eventually she caved and got drugged. Didn't want to, didn't plan to, but after about 12 hours in the hospital of not being even able to rest, she caved and got it. Something we didn't expect because we always thought it was used to stop the pain from the contractions and the birth. But that was long before the contractions really began.

Fortunately for us we had a rather smooth experience. No pressure on our choices, really great nurses and everything went smooth otherwise. But I can totally understand from what I read about what happens in a not so smooth experience and can understand the choice that you guys decided on. Planning the birth was probably more difficult than dealing with the birth or having a baby =)

[luoapp]

Just saw this thread. My congratulations to all the fresh moms and dads! And my thoughts go out to Oatmeals little one, hope the surgery went well, he´s a cuty. But WTF is this (old post)? You went and made 4 kids, why the hell would you take it for granted that your family (in law) takes care of your kids? Sure, you had twins, must have been a surprise and not planned out, but you make another one right after it! You really think your time and offspring is more important then anyone elses time? They have to work for their money, just like you do, and enjoy their free time. In the way you fraised this, you really sound insanely selfcentered, and i can understand your family (in law)..

Is it really such an unusual thing ( grandparents lending a helping hand) where you come from? Criticize him for "unplanned" parenthood all your want, but for asking a little help from family in some desperate time? What's the meaning of family if people don't help each other through difficulties? Just for Thanksgiving visit and meaningless Hallmark cards? And yes, I do believe caring your grandchildren (especially when they are young) is more important than "enjoying" some free time, like infinitely more.

[Ken Masters]

Hahahaha

[CrankyJay]

Any advice on baby furniture, video monitors, or anything else? Best place to shop online?

[Marty Chinn]

Any advice on baby furniture, video monitors, or anything else? Best place to shop online?

Shopping wise, take advantage of baby registries. Many registries will offer a discount on the items that aren't bought for you. So that's a good way to save some money on stuff that you know you want but don't expect anyone to really buy for you. You can even create a separate registry for that purpose.

[Gary Whitta]

You can put your due date into Amazon and get 10% off baby stuff within 30 days of that date.

[alphaNoid]

Post pics of our kids thread now? Here is my son, he is 2 and a half now. I can't wait to meet my daughter in Oct! Her due date is my sons birthday lol

Day 1 (5lbs 13oz, 5 weeks premature)


3 weeks


About 18 months?


Now 2 1/2 (left)


Dad-GAF unite!

edit..

You can put your due date into Amazon and get 10% off baby stuff within 30 days of that date.

WAT? I win points with the wife tonight for sure! Thanks Gary hahah

[CrankyJay]

You can put your due date into Amazon and get 10% off baby stuff within 30 days of that date.

Awesome. Gonna do this.

[soepje]

Is it really such an unusual thing ( grandparents lending a helping hand) where you come from? Criticize him for "unplanned" parenthood all your want, but for asking a little help from family in some desperate time? What's the meaning of family if people don't help each other through difficulties? Just for Thanksgiving visit and meaningless Hallmark cards? And yes, I do believe caring your grandchildren (especially when they are young) is more important than "enjoying" some free time, like infinitely more.

I guess you are right, i would have agreed with you 7 years ago. But after seeing what happens around me, i changed my mind :p. I guess that post just reminded me of someone i know.

Um what? My parents love to watch their grandchildren. I can't imagine in what world playing with your grand kids is some sort of burden!

Offcourse, and i´m sure a lot of grandparents do. I´m just saying that it´s wrong to just assume they will look after your kids, they are doing a favour afterall. Be happy if they love looking after your kids, but don´t get mad if they are not so willing.

[RoadDogg]

My son is 7 months old now and was an amazing sleeper for the first 3 - 4 months of his life. Then he got RSV and was in the hospital for a week and stopped sleeping without being held. We gave the book below a shot and he now sleeps 11+ hours in his own bed. We are still working on naps (it has only been a week) but we are still amazed. It wasn't easy to do but well worth it. The other suggestion we got from family was to just deal with it and let him sleep with us until he was like 2... I didn't really like that option.

[DJ_Lae]

There's an interesting documentary on Netflix called The Business of Being Born that examines home vs hospital birth, albeit with an obvious bias toward home birth. I have been nervous about it and did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions and at the end of the day I agree with Leah that this is the way to go for us. There's a small part of me that still thinks it's all a bit hippie-granola but ultimately I'm on board!

That's a very interesting documentary, although as you said, very biased. It's also sort of interesting to see the differences between hospital births in the US and here in Canada - there are some similarities, naturally, but doctors here seem to be a little less likely to induce via drugs and c-sections are a last resort sort of thing. The only part of our hospital stay (and 30 hour labour!) that I didn't really care for was how thin the walls were, and how the woman in the room next to use was screaming like a banshee throughout her contractions.

My girlfriend was part of a granola mom group for a little while before just giving up on them. They have some nice ideas (and we've adopted some of them) but man what a condescending group of people. I think that's the problem with any parenting group, though, everyone has their idea of the right way to raise a kid and if you don't follow their advice exactly, they view and treat you like an idiot.

Though as much contact as I've had with those alternative groups, that mention on a podcast of licking your baby was probably the hippiest thing I've ever heard of.

[Gary Whitta]

Awesome. Gonna do this.

Yup! Here is the link to get started:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/baby/homepage/

[Gary Whitta]

Though as much contact as I've had with those alternative groups, that mention on a podcast of licking your baby was probably the hippiest thing I've ever heard of.

This is San Francisco, the granola parenting here is second-to-none!

On a semi-related note, Shit Crunchy Dads Say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmGmYyDnRhQ

[Upsidedown Fuji]

As a now 6 month member of babyGaf/fatherGaf I wish all you new parents the best. Those first few months are going to be sleepless till your baby adjusts to a routine.

[linkboy]

A couple of pics of my son



This was his first time on a toddler swing and he loved the hell out of it.



This was after he had Spaghetti for dinner.

[Flo_Evans]

Just saw this thread. My congratulations to all the fresh moms and dads! And my thoughts go out to Oatmeals little one, hope the surgery went well, he´s a cuty. But WTF is this (old post)? You went and made 4 kids, why the hell would you take it for granted that your family (in law) takes care of your kids? Sure, you had twins, must have been a surprise and not planned out, but you make another one right after it! You really think your time and offspring is more important then anyone elses time? They have to work for their money, just like you do, and enjoy their free time. In the way you fraised this, you really sound insanely selfcentered, and i can understand your family (in law)..

Um what? My parents love to watch their grandchildren. I can't imagine in what world playing with your grand kids is some sort of burden!