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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hijinks" data-source="post: 3689712" data-attributes="member: 31094">Our kid will only get to watch Warner Brothers cartoons (his idea) and "Dot and the Kangaroo(mine).  That's it.  Ok, not really.  But that's what we'd prefer.Anyway, I'm 5 months pregnant with our first as well (waves to her husband who she just directed to this thread but he said he had to work right now, wth is up with that...).  I'll share some of the advice I've gotten so far from other moms:1.)  Dunno how excitable your wife is but, if you have anyone try to tell her horror stories about the most terrible birth ever and they were in labor for 40 days and ripped sideways and the baby was chartreuse when it came out... don't let them.  It does first time parents absolutely zero good to hear the horror stories.  Your birth will be different from everyone else's in the world and there's no point whatsoever in dreading what *might* happen.  Know what could happen and be prepared to handle it, but don't dread it.2.)  To go along with #1, don't let anyone tell you or your wife what you SHOULD do for a birth.  There are some people out there who are so anti-epidural or anti-c-section that they'll rail against it for hours if you let them.  Are medical interventions always necessary?  Not always.  As someone mentioned on page 1, dr's have been known to try to move women along in their labor in order to make it easier for the dr, not the parents.  Just be vigilant and aware of why certain things are necessary and when, and be prepared to say "I don't think we need that right now."OTOH, if your wife wants an epidural NOW, let her have it <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Same thing goes for breastfeeding.  If your wife struggles and tries and agonizes for weeks and it just doesn't work, don't let anyone make her feel badly about that.  My sister is a rabid pro-breastfeeder and she is very contemptuous of any woman who bottle feeds.  It's frankly none of her business which my husband and I decide to do for our family.  If anyone tries to make your wife feel like less of a mother (and yes, there are a lot of women out there who will try this), don't let them.  Step in and tell them to butt out.3.)  Send thank-you notes for baby gifts <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />4.)  You might be stocking up on diapers now, but there are a lot of newborns with sensitive skin that certain brands won't work on.  Instead of buying diapers, I've been buying a $10 gift card to Target or Walmart each week with my groceries.  I've got a stack of 'em so far.  So I will use those to buy diapers when the baby arrives, and I can try different brands to decide which ones work best for my baby.5.)  I've heard that cloth diapers make excellent burp cloths.</blockquote>

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