Congratulations!!! Your hard work paid off. Your wife is pregnant and you are ready to have your first child.
Having your first child is an incredible experience. Your life is going to change forever.
Till you have your first child, you are the most important person for yourself. Of course you love your wife, your parents, your siblings, your family and friends. But, let’s be honest. You love yourself more than anybody else.
That is about to change. As soon as you have your first child. There is an incredible change. You are not the most important person for yourself any more. Your child is. Some other person’s life becomes more important that your own life in an instant.
Your priorities change overnight.
As the delivery date nears, your doctor visits will be more and more frequent. From monthly to weekly to maybe even several times a week.
It is very important to ask lot of questions to the doctor. So, talk to your friends, relatives, co-workers about their experiences. Research in the internet and ask lot of questions to the doctor.
There are three different types of birth scenario. Normal labor where you go to the hospital when your wife goes to the labor naturally. The doctor will give you tentative time frame and as soon as your wife gets symptom of the labor, then take her to the designated hospital.
Second option is induced labor. This is pre-planned. So, you need to make arrangements in advanced to have hospital room and medical staff ready. You take your wife to hospital and they will medically induce the labor.
Third option is C-section. In this method the baby is given birth with a small operation. This is done mainly if normal or induced delivery is not possible due to some reason such as the baby is too big, the baby is wrong position, umbilical cord is wrapped around baby etc. For this also you need to make pre-arrangements. However, if there is an emergency situation, they will make emergency arrangements.
Keep all three options open, plan for the natural birth. But, also reserve an induction date 1 or 1.5 weeks after the due date so that you have all the resources in the place if the child is not born by then. You don’t want to get pass too much beyond your due date as your child might become too big needing C-section or the fluid level in umbilical sac might become low.
As father, it is your job to make sure that all the needs of your coming child and mother are met. Baby room, baby cot, car seat, pram etc. Practice everything before.
Prepare to record the major event in your life. In USA, they allow you to be in the room and record the delivery. So, I highly recommend that you record the delivery including, place and time. It will be amazing gift for your child. Also, if your child wants to run for President of United States, he/she will have proof where he/she was born.
