With our expected date for our lil dirty-diaper machine fast approaching I found that I must remind myself that he could come any day now. How close was your wife/girlfriend when she went into labor to what the doctor estimated?<br><br>I also need to put together our hospital-go-bag. Aside from the usual stuff was there something you wish you would of brought? Need a little insight for a dad-to-be-with-no-idea-what-he's-doing!

Two weeks early.<br><br>We didn't have enough cash for vending machines.<br>Make sure to have comfortable walking shoes. they should be new enough to be supportive, but not so new to cause blisters.

Pick a family member - your favorite - and give them a list of people to call. You will be BUSY!(and tired) Call only that person, and let them take care of the notification process. Explain to everyone else long before (those whom you and her aren't requiring to attend) that they don't really need to be at the hospital right away... it's gonna be a while, maybe a long while... and a waiting room is pretty freakin' boring. Wait 'til they can actually SEE the kiddo, that's what they want to see anyway... sidenote: accept that you are now second (or even third) fiddle for the rest of your life.<br><br>Have your essentials, for a typical overnight stay(toothbrush/paste, brushes, deodorant, etc.), in your GO bag. Include super comfy PJ pants for her. She'll love you for it (mine did). But also pack a second bag with a couple changes of clothes for both of you. Leave it at home, but easily accessible to send a family member for in case she is kept longer than expected (5 days for us). That way, no one has to go to your home and go through your underwear drawer, and you don't have to leave either.<br><br>Not really a take with you thing, but LET the nurses do their thing. Including letting them take the baby to the nursery so you both can get some sleep. Otherwise, you're both gonna stay up even more just staring at the thing... This one is much easier said than done. I totally understand, and everyone says it, but I don't think anyone does it. Particularly first time parents. I don't know that I would have slept much better had he NOT been in the room as much as possible. I was so tired, and wired, and worried, and giddy that I vibrated for days I think.<br><br>To answer your main question... we were one week early.

I made a massive email list on my GMail account. Then I prepped a rather basic email in the drafts section and all I had to do was fill in the gaps and hit send. For the people who deserved to know first, we called before sending. This limited actual phone calls to two and minimized T+ stress.<br><br>But Chap stick is good and DVDs and CDs are nearly essential. (Our DVD player was broken, though.)

Pack lip balm... I dont know why but I remember having the driest/chapped lips. Also, make sure - as the dad - you bring some money. My husband brought nothing and kept asking me for cash during contractions so he could go get a snack…

LMAO...Honey, sweetie..when you get a sec can you give me a couple of bucks to grab a soda? LOL

My wife was induced 2 weeks early. Her blood pressure had gone up and the doctor said it was time for him to come out.<br><br>We took our laptop and watched Baby Mama while waiting for the medication to kick in. The nurse actually watched some with us as well. Take your camera those first pictures when their still pink and covered in goo are pretty good.<br><br>I agree with Nik on the 2 bags. We had one with the essentials like toothpaste/toothbrush and a change of clothes. My wife just used the hospital gowns for the first couple of days in the hospital, but after that the second bag with her clothes and something for the baby came in handy.<br><br>Our hospital had a Second Cup coffee shop that took debit card and they had a bank machine in the cafeteria.

Induced a week early to fit into the school-summer-break schedule for maternity leave. I was definitely packed and ready about two weeks before that.<br><br>My saving piece of advice: Fresh Fruit. The hospital meal after baby was not the best, and all my wife wanted was a good orange or banana. After hours it was impossible to find any. (Actually, a Fruit and Yogurt Parfait from McDonalds is what ended up satisfying her!)

Number 1 was right on time because we induced, our 2nd was a week late.<br><br>Change for the snack machines, extra camera batteries, pillow, book, toothbrush, mouthwash to name a few.

Red Bull.<br>Trail Mix.<br>A change of clothes and shower supplies for dad too.<br><br>A day before my wife's due date we bought a Wii. She insisted on playing Wii Sports Boxing with me even though I advised against it. By the time the first round was over, she started contractions. That was a Monday evening (- 1 day). By Tuesday afternoon (due day) contractions were <5 min appart so we went to our HMO hospital birthing center which was 40 min away. We checked in and she was examined. They said she was not dialating yet and we should go home and recomended a relaxing warm bath. My wife soaked in the tub but the contractions didn't change. By Wed around 2ish AM we were back in the Hospital because my wife's contractions were too much to bare even soaking in the tub. Still they said she dialated very little but we refused to leave (you can refuse to leave, remember that!) and she was admitted. Wed mid-day (+1 day) they gave her dialation inducing drugs, popped the sac, installed internal infant monitoring and gave her an epidural so she could try to rest because we were both exhausted. That went on until 10:00 AM Thursday (+ 2 days) morning when the contractions were recording stress on the baby. By then the doc made an instant decision that my wife needed a C-section because she basically wouldn't dialate enough and the baby wouldn't be able to take a whole lot more. Within minutes they pumped in huge doses of pain med through the epi-tube and she was in the OR. They wheeled me into the room on a wheelchair (hospital SOP) with a big curtain where all that was visible to me was her head. I gave her as much support as I could as they did their thing and by 10:30 AM they revealed my boy from behind the curtain, introduced him to us, bracletted us and ushered me with him perfectly healthy to the nursary and my wife to recovery.<br><br>Three days later we finally got home and the first thing my wife said when we walked in the door was, I'm never playing Wii again! The whole ordeal from start to home was about a week.

And be sure to CHECK THOSE BRACELETS when they put them on! When they first put ours on, I didn't recognize the name, I thought, maybe that's one of the doctors in the room (c-section as well)... the anesthesiologists was quite disturbed by my inquiry and raised a bit o' hell (calmly, but he was clearly pissed). They had several c-sections that morning, 2 just before us, and apparently one waiting for the room right after... The nurse sheepishly came back and cut them off, and replaced them with the ones with OUR name on them. Our anesthesiologist was awesome. He had a great bedside manner with me and my wife, but he was the go to guy with help. He ran a tight ship it seemed.

There was 5 c-sections that morning. I guess they had all seen it before. The surgeons behind the curtain were focused and on task but the anesthesiologist and infant clean up staff were talking about golf or something like that. I remembered being a little irritated. But I guess you might just come to expect that when your covered in amniotic drippings every day and all day long.

My little guy arrived two weeks early. And we had to battle a double-fatality accident that closed off the only road leading to the hospital. We got there at 7 pm and she was fully effaced and dilated to 4cm. Will was born less than three hours later with less than 10 minutes of her pushing.<br><br>I wouldn't worry about snacks and drinks. The hospital I went to had all the free juice, soda and snacks you could ask for. But she needed comfy clothes, her iPod (that was HUGE) and some stuff to keep her busy during down time like a crossword puzzle. And all dads should bring a comfy pillow because that medieval pull-out chair/bed contraption will screw up your back for a week.