Congrats

Be careful with doing the sniff test.

When my daughter was born. She started at nursery at 3 months and we realised that the car journey every day would result in her delivering a full load and the nursery thought we were just delivering a baby that needed changing to save us doing it

So we started putting her in the car seat on a table. Rocking it. She'd explode. Change her and deliver a clean baby to nursery- win win

One morning i do this and just pick her up, turn her and go to sniff to see if rocking has had desired effect.

Anyway. I was to close. She'd gone big and exploded through nappy and baby grow and i cam away with a shitty top lip and nose.........

Be careful they are hazardous to your health

Enjoy every minute. They grow up so quickly.

Thanks! Congrats to you too! August 22nd. How about you?

Thanks for all the advice from everyone so far!

Aug 26th. We just had our first ultrasound. I don't know about you, but shit got very real in a hurry for me watching that. For some reason I thought it would be this blurry, choppy, image that I would find only vaguely relatable as a human. Seeing that little thing squirming around, so clearly, in very real time, completely blew me away.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

We had ours back in December, back then it was pretty unrecognizable. When they turned the Doppler and you could hear the heart beat....that was the game changer for me. We had the second ultrasound shortly before I made the original post. They were doing measurements for early markers of Downs Syndrome and a few other possible defects. Everything came out well, but I was sitting there with bated breath.

Best of luck to you and your wife/girlfriend. Hope everything goes as smooth as a pregnancy/childbirth can go.

My only advice is to spend a little time reading, particularly if you haven't been around babies like nephews and nieces. I read a few things, and I recall Baby Wise being the most helpful. Similar to a tri training plan, you'll need to take what you learn from the books and decipher what is useful information for your situation. One of the best reasons to do a little reading is to have a path to start discussing topics with your wife that you didn't think about before.

And while unsolicited advice is going to come at you regularly, if you have close relatives or friends that have good kids (from what you can tell) talk to them about how they do things. It won't fit you perfectly, but you can take bits and pieces from multiple sources and mold it into what you'll do. Just like with any other big project (and this is the biggest) it is a good idea to not try and reinvent the wheel.

First: congratulations. It's the best adventure you'll ever have.

Second: Two best pieces of advice I was given:

1. All the advice you're being given is bullshit. Ignore it. Every kid is different and you'll quickly learn your kid's signals and you'll be fine.

2. Notwithstanding the above, read this and buy the video now: https://www.happiestbaby.com/...-for-soothing-babies It's a lifesaver. Master those five steps and you'll have a switch that turns a screaming infant into a calm bundle of joy. (No, I'm not affiliated with the program in any way.)

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War is god

Now i know that your advise is really important. I used the HWL method (hold with love) by Susan Urban with both my daughters. Fortunately my husband has foud the guide http://www.parental-love.com about teaching a baby how to fall asleep alone when my older girl was 2. She wanted us to rock her for 2 years and after a week she was able to fall asleep on her own.

The method worked with my younger princess as well. We started when she was 3 months old and she was ready to fall asleep alone after 5 days.
There is no such thing as crying until a baby stops!

Now i got a feeling that we are in heaven :) The guide tells you step by step on what to do and what is the most important for me it is short!!! You can read it in no time at all!

I don't know anything about two others guides but this one helped us out big time.

Congrats!

Lots of good advice in this thread. Three other things:

1) The currency of kids is time. Quality over quantity is a myth. Choose quantity of time with your kids and you'll likely get a quality relationship.
1a) Choose a career and hobbies that allow you to spend time with your family. This means you will probably have to make sacrifices.
2) Choose your wife over your kids. Spend time with her and continue to date and love her.

my daughter is just past 2 and child # 2 is due early October.

My wife read me a saying the other day "I wish I was the parent I was before I had kids" is so true. We constantly adapt and learn as we go.

Looking back, The first 6-9 months is easy. Now My wife and I alternate who gets to sleep in and who get's up first on the weekends, one takes saturday the other sunday.

I don't think I saw this mentioned, but your wife is going to have some emotional roller coasters, especially with the upcomming lack of sleep. This is still the case 2 years later. Make sure you help more than usual with housework, cooking, etc so she doesn't feel so burdened. Just now at 2, my daughter thinks I'm a cool guy and doesn't need her mom constantly.

If you are using daycare, start looking now. The first several months of drop off's are going to suck for whichever parent gets to do it, but it does get easier.

My wife nor I fell instantly in love with our daughter, but every day it grows. I have a much better appreciation for my parents now, I never realized just how much they love me.

I sleep trained my son with the HWL as well but he was a sleepyhead. Mostly we did it to eliminate night feedings and this method made it very easy for us. But I've heard that it even copes when a baby misses a nap, or has a bad night's sleep.

Congrats!

Some things that stood out to me (I'm the mom):
- My husband got up and changed the diaper every time I had to get up to nurse. Yes, everyone was up, and I'm sure I could have just done it because I needed to be up, but it meant a lot to me. I recommend it.
- I love my child and I love my husband and I love my job and I love triathlon. I often don't get enough sleep, and I'm sure I would be better at any one of these things if I got rid of one. They all make me who I am, and I think that sets a good example for my child. You should do the same, and you should support your wife to do the same.

Finally, don't listen to anyone's advice. Do what is right for you and your family and enjoy!

Here is your new life-

Plan to do nothing after work. You won't have time.

When you go out to eat, going to the bathroom will become a game.

Newfound arguments may ruin your sex life. Had a friend who's wife wasn't very good at it... it ruined him. He didn't want to have sex anymore.

Good news is, you will realize your life before was really easy and problems were not problems. This means your idea of stress changes.

Getting in the car will take 10 times longer. Everything you do will take 10 times longer.

You will have lots of stories- like when my boy ran into the clothes rack at the Oakley store to hide and he took a leak all over the floor. Good times.

Going outside to play basketball for a bit with one of the kids. Later.

Enjoy.

Admit it. You're just blaming the kids for something you did. ;-)

Two things.

Getting out the door with a kid takes at least 15 minutes. You need to start getting ready 15-20 minutes before you have to leave. I am not exaggerating. I can not stress this enough.

All stories you tell will now have something to do with pee and / or poo.

Good luck.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?