As you teeter on the brink of fatherhood, there must be a million things swirling around in your mind. How will your lifestyle change? Should you start saving a little extra? Will your Saturday evenings now end with a different kind of bottle? That’s a yes, yes and maybe. Over the next few months, as you prepare to welcome a new little human into your world, it’s okay to be consumed by questions, concerns and curiosity. You don’t need to have it figured out just yet. As your journey to becoming a daddy unfolds, support your partner by immersing yourself in the pregnancy experience.
In this welcome guide, we tell you how you can don your daddy hat, well before your baby’s birth. Let’s get started.
If you ask a mommy when her bond with her baby began, she’s likely to tell you that it happened well before her baby’s arrival. For a mom, a baby occupies as much a corner of her heart as it does of her womb. So, it’s important that you share in the bonding experience with your baby even before her birth. Here’s what you can do.
As an expectant father, there are thoughtful ways through which you can connect with your little one, and the most intimate way is a prenatal visit. There should typically be about fifteen prenatal check-ups scattered across the length of your pregnancy. By accompanying your partner for as many as you can, you can stay up to date and be clued in about your baby’s progress. But most importantly, you can share in the pregnancy experience with your partner, and there’s nothing more priceless than being there for your wife and baby through it all.
On Cloudnine, we offer an array of prenatal programmes, of which many are designed to be couple workshops. Our prenatal workshop, Lamaze classes and award-winning Management of Baby Affairs programme have been exclusively designed to engage both partners in equal measure and present useful pregnancy and parenting tips for expectant dads and moms. We believe that pregnancy is a shared journey that you and your partner should enjoy together.
As your wife focuses on growing that beautiful swelly-belly, give her one less thing to worry about by creating a dedicated space for your soon-to-arrive baby. You’ll find a galaxy of stories online about how to create a nursery. Unfortunately, these articles aren’t very practical for the quintessential Indian home. Unlike the western world, India is embracing of attachment parenting and co-sleeping. To keep your baby close throughout the night, creating a special corner within your bedroom is a practical solution. A few essentials that you might want to include here, are a pretty cot and if you have room, a folding changing table and a comfy rocking chair for nursing. Go ahead and get creative with the pallette.
Here’s how.
Since you’re converting only a part of your room into a corner for your baby, create a wall canvas capturing all the goodness reminiscent of childhood. Pair blue skies with butterflies, unicorns with fairy dust and owls with soft-lit stars. Pick a cutesy combination that meshes with the tone of your room. And if art isn’t your thing, get a professional to do it for you!
Add pretty little baubles to light up your baby corner. Pick a brilliant rainbow mobile to hang over the crib and soft, pastel linen to line the cot and changing table. You can even buy removable plastic decals to tag to your crib and folding table. They’ll instantly transform your corner into a baby haven!
Be there, not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Your wife probably already has a birth plan chalked out with her doctor. This plan likely includes how she wants to deliver, which doctor will attend and who she wants by her side. Think of your role on the big day. Labor will entail a certain amount of discomfort for your wife and you should think of ways to ease her pain and soothe her through labor (Lamaze, Lamaze, Lamaze).Create a checklist of things you’ll need to take with you. Take charge of the baby bag your wife may have packed for the hospital and tie loose ends together. Of course, there’s no sacrosanct plan that you can tuck into your pocket, expecting for it to pan out exactly the way you want. But being organised can help clear the clutter brought on by D-day madness.
As we near the end of this little dad’s guide to pregnancy, we wish you lots of love and luck on your new journey. Saying hello to fatherhood is a process you’ll discover on your own, regardless of how many go-to guides you look up. But with these little tips, dear daddy, you can make your pregnancy experience more enjoyable and fulfilling, and gift your wife the support that she needs.
You know what they say: happy wife, happy life.
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