My wife will be induced Thursday morning. This is our first child, we are nervously anticipating. We went through all of the birthing/ parenting classes, I have no idea what i am doing! Getting very nervous but not showing it, for her sake.

My wife is also going to be induced on Thursday Morning. Bright and early 6 am, hopefully it wont be to much of a sign of things to come. Also our first child and at least you have been to classes i have just been reading like crazy and of course watching every video on here. Love those wikipoopia, lol. Any advice to a new daddy.

Good luck, guys. The nurses will tell you what you need to do. Make sure you have comfortable shoes that you wouldn't mind throwing away!

Good luck to both you guys - pretty soon you will hear that little baby cry for the first time, it's the most beautiful thing in the world.

Best wishes!

Roger

Good Luck Guys it's going to be a Great Day. My first was also induced. It is nice to have the preparation time. With # 1 it may take a little while so be prepared to hang out in the Labor & Delivery room for most of the day. Really focus on keeping the room calm and peaceful so Mom can focus on the business at hand. Hooray!

Don't forget to bring change for the vending machines. It's going to be a long day! Good luck to both of you!

Wow. So exciting. Makes me young just thinking about it. Sounds flaky, but don't be anywhere else (mentally or physically). It's a beautiful day for you guys.

Good luck guys! Great advice from this thread: $ for the vending machine, toss-able shoes. I'm going to have to start keeping notes from this forum!

Again, Good luck fellas!

On the change thing, I didn't experience that at all. The refreshment stand was open and free. And the coffee bar outside "lockdown" took credit or could bill to your account. They make it easy for dads to spend money if you want to. It's the relatives that got to stare at the vending machines in our hospital.

DVDs came in handy. I'd think that LCD TVs with built-in DVD players are standard these days.

"Lockdown"?

Labor and Delivery is a secured zone. I'm sure the baby will have an electronic tracking device. It will feel like you're visiting an inmate once you leave and come back. But it's in softer colors with fewer pat-downs.

If we are talking labor & delivery tips/techniques -

I didn't read the DadLabs book until after our baby was born. (I checked it out from the library to read the advice about fussy babies, when our son was about two weeks old ) . However, after the fact, I also read the advice section about labor & delivery. I have to say, the book is *spot on* regarding what to do for L&D. I was actually pretty proud of myself, for the most part I had done what the book recommended.

The best tips were regarding getting a little bit of sleep for yourself when you can. We were in L&D from Saturday to Monday. I was getting about 1-5 hours of sleep per 24 hour period. I think it is imperative to get as much sleep as you are able to. It seems unmanly to take a nap - here your beloved wife is in labor and you are THE support guy. But you will need your rest.

What I did was, when she slept, I slept. I trained myself to wake up whenever an L&D nurse came in the room. They check regularly, or whenever there is an issue. I was usually able to get up off the little "husband cot" as soon as they turned the lights on. Doing this allowed me to get sleep in 45-90 minute intervals.

Your wife will need you to be there for her. Make sure you have the energy to do it.

(Again, best wishes to all you guys - what a big day coming up!)

Roger

Thanks to everyone, I appreciate the well wishes and advice.
Hopefully everything goes smoothly and as quickly as possible, but not to quick.
I will post results when I can.
Aaron

Best of luck guys!!

Babies do not come with owner's manuals (but you can buy one! www.amazon.com/Baby-Owners-Manual-Instru...296085135&sr=8-1).

Just enjoy the moment, trust your instinct, and listen to the nurses.

Dan

Make sure to get some rest during the slow period. Same for your wife make sure she has good energy for active labor. Watching all those fetal, mom vital signs monitors too much can get very stressful to you.

Just remember hospitals want you in and out asap. They will nudge you towards C section route if it takes too long.

We heard our baby was a big one (she was not)
We heard my wife's pelvic bone might not be big enough for baby (It sure was big enough)
Be ready for C section its a quick but still a major surgical procedure with a much longer recovery period for mom than natural.

Annaliese Noelle was born at 9:53 pm on the 27th. She weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces, and 21 inches long both mother and baby are well. I should add that she was a week over due.

Morgan Ann born 1/27, 7:46pm, 7lb 12oz. Everyone doing good. So happy, thanks for everyone's support.

Congrats, guys! Girls! You guys will have to keep comparing notes.

Congratulations to both of you, and welcome to the world, Annaliese and Morgan. What lovely names.