My wife is pregnant. Very pregnant. “I can’t tie my own shoes” kind of pregnant.
I came across a post on Be A Good Dad this morning about helping out a pregnant wife who is 39 weeks. While my wife is only a few weeks further away from her due date, I’m constantly trying to figure out things to help her as she slows down, from easing foot pain to just plain doing more around the house.
Two things in particular that BAGD lists seem to be particularly helpful.
Take care of low stuff. Pick up stuff off the floor before she gets …read more

Although I have a significant amount of work to do tonight, I have been informed by my pregnant wife that giving her a massage is one of the things that’s on my to do list. When I got home after work she said that today her obstetrician “prescribed” massage, of course to be filled by me.
When I asked for an actual script, she blushed. “He didn’t have his pad with him.” It’s not the first time she’s lied to me to try and bum a massage from me, but it’s the first time she’s blamed it one someone else.
I’ve …read more

I talk to my pregnant wife’s belly at least twice a day to help acclimate my unborn son to my voice. Research has shown that newborns are more easily calmed by a father’s voice when he spoke to the child in the womb.
The most amazing part of it that my son begins to kick when I talk to him. He clearly responds to my voice and really begins to kick and move around as I speak. Aside from getting a charge out of his movement, fetal kicks are actually a sign of a healthy baby.
The Baby Kick Alliance …read more

A January article in Guardian Unlimited cites research suggesting that stress during pregnancy affects the health of a child.
The article quotes Vivette Glover of Imperial College London:
“We found that if the woman had a partner who was being emotionally cruel to them while they were pregnant it had a significant effect on their baby’s development. It shows that the partner has a big role to play.”
It seems to be clear evidence that a father’s role in a child’s life does not start at birth, but at conception through care and concern for the well being of the mother. Some people …read more

I would like to introduce my son. Although he is as of yet unborn and unnamed, my wife and I call him “Sprout” and we are expecting to see him for the first time in 93 days. The ultrasound is a little grainy, but I think he looks like his old man.
Sprout listens to me talk to him every morning before work, and just before I go to bed every night. I put my face up to my pregnant wife’s belly so I can get some good talk time in before I leave for work. In recent …read more