Fatherhood: the first four weeks

Can’t believe I have been a Dad for for whole weeks. To celebrate, I have decided to dust off the WordPress app on my mobile, and do my first blog post for a while. I hope that this post will help any future Papa’s in preparing and coping for when the big day comes.

I’ll start from the beginning (no, not the conception, you pervert). Labour is a scary time, for both of you! The key to labour is being patient. There little one is gonna pop out in their own time, and this can take days, and may require a bit of help. In our case, they got the BBQ tongs to pull him out, which involved going into surgery, so be patient and expect the unexpected! Hang in there, support your partner the best you can (you may find that there is a stage you feel useless and you can’t do anything), and think of the end goal… A mini-me!

Post-labour you may be discharged after a few hours, or you may need to stay in for a couple of days(usually of you’ve had to go into Theatre, like we did). More patience is required as you will likely be fed up and just want to get home, and like with me, you will need to spend those days looking after baby and partner. Fear not, for you will get home soon… where the fun begins!

Getting home is bliss compared to the stress and uncomfortableness of the hospital. You finally have a decent supply of food, nappes, muslins, etc. You can take it in turns to get a few good sleep, and acclimatise to home. Don’t get too comfy though, as baby still needs food, nappy changes, and sleep. In fact, that is all the baby needs. If you thought you can start playing with your new creation, or start interacting, this only happens towards the 4 weeks onwards mark, and only in small doses.

  Here are some tips that may help with coping in those first “fun” weeks:

– patience (my keyword for this blog I think!)

– enjoy (make the most of it, he won’t be tiny forever)

– grab sleep whenever opportunity allows

– accept help (if you have relatives, let them help! Maybe they want to come round while you get some sleep)

– use Mam bottles (tomee tippee ones are rubbish, Mam bottles are excellent at preventing colic and are self sterilising… with a microwave anyway)

– use decent nappies (and do them tight enough!) Aldi nappies are excellent and a fraction of the price of pampers!

I shall try and do an update blog post with any more tips and advice I acquire soon! So I’ll leave you with a picture of the star of the show!

 

Baby names (Woody words vs Tinny Words)

The classic Monty Python sketch, where push people sit sons comparing words to see if they sound woody or tinny is not just funny. It’s basis rings true with all words, especially baby names.

With the imminent (well, six month) arrival of our first baby boy or girl, the number one topic at the moment is baby names. We have already chosen a girls first and middle name (neither of which are woody names). In fact, all the girls names we liked are tinny names. I think woody girls names are often too masculine, such as Bertha, or Dorothy. Very woody, especially Bertha.

It’s boys names however that has caused much and continuing debate. Keeping in mind that some boys names can be cute when it’s still a baby, such as Timmy or Ned, you have to keep in mind that one day little Timmy will be a man, so Timmy becomes a very tinny and unsuitable name. Is at this time that you want a good woody name, like Barrington or Maximus, that portray masculinity. So to not be too extreme, you try to find a middle ground.

Bit then a new dilemma arises! You find that all the baby names you like are now popular, and thus common. Argh! My future heir must have an uncommon name so as to stand out from the crowd. So for inspiration you begin looking at words not commonly associated with a persons name (whilst still ensuring they are woody words, ones you can say on a loud, deep, booming voice) such as Obsidian, or Melancholy. Though when putting this in context to a person who one day will need to fill in a job application form, such names appear ludicrous, so are discarded.

Even harder still, once you do choose a name you do both agree on, you then have to put this with your surname. One would not think that an awesome surname like Hunter would be hard to chose a name for, however there are serious things to consider. Firstly, you can’t have any names beginning with C or K, for fear that people will pick up on the initial and surname “C Hunt(er)” which when said sounds like a rude (and rather tinny) word.

You’ve also got to consider nouns, so that the first name with the surname doesn’t sound silly. We can’t exactly call our son Rabbit or House Hunter now can we. Even shortened names for one we may pick, like Richard, result in the pornstar sounding name of Dick Hunter.

So for now the debate shall continue, probably for the next 6 months, after which we’ll probably just pull a name for a hat, and after which the baby will probably end up being a girl anyway.

Incidentally, of anyone has any inspiring (and woody) baby names, let me know!