The Fathers Thread

JRant

Hi all, our little one arrived 7 weeks ago.

Oh how life suddenly changes and all for the better.

Can't thank the staff at Holles street enough. Missus Rant had a 24 hour labour followed by an emergency section. 15 minutes after they made the call I was holding our little daughter.

Tried the breastfeeding route but to be honest it's just not for everyone. 4 weeks of feeding on demand and we were both spent. Little one seems much happier on a more regimented routine. But each to their own.

As for the whole labour experience, just go in with an open mind, nibbles in the overnight bag, and let the pros do what they do. They'll explain everything they are going to do and put your mind at ease.

Best feeling in the world getting a smile of your baby.

The One Doctor

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Change hands every so often, fingers are crushed!!

Seriously though, just be there and talk to your partner, help with breathing, have water close by. I think being there and talking calmly was the best thing I could do. To be honest, you'll feel useless, I did and I'm sure most fathers are the same

I hear that a lot, and it seems to bear out in experience. Anyway, I'll find out for myself in 13 days. I hope your newborn sleeps at night!

JRant

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Change hands every so often, fingers are crushed!!

Seriously though, just be there and talk to your partner, help with breathing, have water close by. I think being there and talking calmly was the best thing I could do. To be honest, you'll feel useless, I did and I'm sure most fathers are the same

Congrats, you'll be riding a high for the next couple of days. Enjoy every second of it.

I'd second that advice. For the first hour or two I was guilty of fussing. Wasn't long being put back in my box!

All you can do is be there. As silly as it sounds its a real relief for the mother to just be there. Don't feel the need to have to do something, god knows i did.

JRant

The One Doctor wrote: »

I hear that a lot, and it seems to bear out in experience. Anyway, I'll find out for myself in 13 days. I hope your newborn sleeps at night!

Its almost like instinct takes over. You'll quickly realise that your OH knows her body better than you and they'll let you know what to do and when.

Best of luck. Enjoy your last few nights of sleep.

Newborns sleep but if your feeding every 2 hours and it takes an hour to feed and wind you'll quickly realise that an hours sleep can feel like Sunday lie-in!!!

January

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

That'll show me!

Baby born at 19.07 today, mother and baby doing well

Congrats Baby KERSPLAT! shares a birthday with my 6 year old!

donegaldude

Don't post here but keep an eye on it. My little lady was born yesterday. What an experience! Delighted. To all those who were like me and were always afraid of holding a baby or even having to do anything with them, it's unreal how natural it is when it happens. Happy Christmas to ye all, a perfect end to the year!

Kinet1c

3 months in to it now, starting to get a routine going.

Winding
This might be the biggest pain in the hole ever. A few positions to try (for winding, not making babies... that sure as **** won't be happening for a while :pac:):

1. Sitting on your knee, patting/rubbing their back
2. Bouncing on your knee, patting/rubbing their back
3. Lying on your knee, stomach down, patting/rubbing back
4. On top of your chest/shoulder, patting/rubbing their back
5. Lifting them up under their arms or by their sides
6. Them standing on your knees/stomach, gently allow their legs to hold their weight. You can simply leave them crouching or gently bounce them in this position

All of the above have worked for me, with varying degrees of success. 1-6 have all worked for me directly after a feed. 6 has worked wonders about 1-3 hours after a feed when you think you've gotten all wind up and they are cyring/whinging uncontrollably despite having being changed - farts come flying out Even moving them from one position to the next can shift or free the wind inside. There's also been times I'll have been working the poor kid for 30 minutes, hand him to the Mrs and she'll try one thing and bang, it's out with fury.

Sleep
Recently move him in to his own room. He'd been in a smaller cot but would regularly wake himself (and us) with his flailing arms so we but him in a cot/bed which should serve him well till he's 6/7. He took to it extremely well and after getting his last feed now sleeps from about 9/10pm till about 5-7am when he gets his first feed of the day. We have one of those Tomy night lights (star shaped) and he likes it a lot, will mesmerise him to sleep. On occassion where he'll wake up or niggle throughout the night, we'll play this beside his cot on one of our phones and it'll settle him almost instantly. After his first feed, he'll go down again for anything from 2-4 hours in his bed.

We've friends/family who like to bring the child in to their bed, it wasn't for us and never will be. We'd prefer for him to get used to his bed and for us to have one place in our home that's just for us, it's amazing how they can take over everywhere else

Feeding
Not sure if it's directly linked but he's been feeding better since moving to his own room. We're now on 4 hourly feeds and he's taking up to about 7oz now. We went through a rough patch of feeding recently and he started to break out in a rash. We brought him to the doctor and turns out it was in ear infection so my only advice is to watch for irregular signs, phsyical and personality wise - doctor is 50 euro and can be hard to come by some times but better safe than sorry. He's been on antibiotics for a few days now and thankfully it's almost cleared up and his form is much better.

Teething
This started early for us So early in fact, he wasn't old enough to be given anything for it apart from teetha sachets which are just herbal remedies and will only take the edge off for a short while... they did work though. He's old enough to take some nurofen and this has provided much relief. He's not realised how to bite down on a teething ring just yet but if we assist with the process he's got relief from it. It's tough to see him in pain.

Play
We generally interact with him a lot when he's awake as he can get bored if you leave him on a play mat to himself. He's picked up some nice toys from Santa and family - door bouncer and a jumperoo. He's been able to hold his head up by himself from about week 6/7 and also strong enough to hold his body up with his legs with some balancing assistance from us so we'd no fear with either of those toys, loves them both and continually smiles when in them. This has also been a huge hit for very little money - has slowly been improving his motor skills... even if he is showing signs of being a lefty


It's still a testing period for the 3 of us but at least we as parents recgonise that it's down to tiredness and (hopefully) somewhat temporary. We still have the odd day of chaos where we're just completely FUBAR and can just about dress/feed ourselves. He then smiles and all is forgiven. It's tough and fun all at the same time.

The One Doctor

Niamh was born at 1414 today after about 21 hours of labour. I did almost nothing expect hold my girlfriend's hand, encourage her and think 'why the hell did I do this to her?' Anywas, after a few minor misadventures including meconium in the aminotic fluid and Niamh's lungs, a cord that was half the length of a normal cord, meaning that it was pulling the placenta out as the baby was crowning, an episitomy and tricky repair, mammy and Niamh are well and resting in the Rotunda for a night or two. To say that I'm delighted would be a gross understatement.

KERSPLAT!

Congrats!!

Happy Christmas and new year to all the Mams and Dads and to those expecting

LegacyUser

Found out a few weeks ago my partner is expecting. Posting anon as I have IRL friends on boards we haven't told yet.

Parents and close family know, but I am having such a hard time in not telling everyone!

Feb 5th is the 12 week day. Any tips on how to muddle through life til then?!

This is my first child and I feel somewhat overwhelmed and it's very tough not having anyone to talk to about it.

thee glitz

First timer here, I got the big news on nye. We're going out 3mts and it wasn't planned, even more a surprise as she has pcos. I know her 12yrs and we're both happy but quite stressed, mostly about family reaction, but all the rest as well.

dante2015

First timer here as well been with my OH for the last 3 years and have been trying on and off, got good news on friday that i am going to be a Dad

i am nervous, scared but delighted

my OH has a 10 year old so she is used to it

Any and all advice welcome

Mousewar

dante2015 wrote: »

First timer here as well been with my OH for the last 3 years and have been trying on and off, got good news on friday that i am going to be a Dad

i am nervous, scared but delighted

my OH has a 10 year old so she is used to it

Any and all advice welcome

Congrats.
Just enjoy it mate - it's a fun ride. It changes things but change is good.

Mousewar

Kinet1c wrote: »

On occassion where he'll wake up or niggle throughout the night, we'll play this beside his cot on one of our phones and it'll settle him almost instantly.

Check out the 'White Noise Baby' app by TMFSOFT. It's very handy. White noise at the touch of a button and you can set a timer to fade it out and turn off after however long you think (or leave it on forever). Much easier than youtube I find.

The One Doctor

dante2015 wrote: »

First timer here as well been with my OH for the last 3 years and have been trying on and off, got good news on friday that i am going to be a Dad

i am nervous, scared but delighted

my OH has a 10 year old so she is used to it

Any and all advice welcome

Be extra nice to your partner.

Jurrrr

First timer checking in! Little one due 4th July!

Caybar

Ive been a bit of a lurker here,

just became the father of twin boys!!!


Yessssssssssssssss!!!

Axel Lamp

Caybar wrote: »

Ive been a bit of a lurker here,

just became the father of twin boys!!!


Yessssssssssssssss!!!

WOW twins, double the fun/trouble many congrats

thee glitz

We're on the way now for the first scan, hoping for reassuring news.

dante2015

thee glitz wrote: »

We're on the way now for the first scan, hoping for reassuring news.

good luck with it hope all goes well

i am also one my way to the first scan today as well so fingers crossed all is good

thee glitz

Thanks, all went fine, all on track.
I hope as much for you and yours.

dante2015

thee glitz wrote: »

Thanks, all went fine, all on track.
I hope as much for you and yours.

thanks all went well baby has strong heartbeat and gave us a little wave lol

Zoton

A familiar query probably for this forum. First time dad to be with baby due in March at Holles street.
There's lots of advice around where to find parking, but I'm wondering what have people done dropping off partner? It's double yellow lines all along Holles Street and only an ambulance bay outside the main door. So do you just park up on the double yellows, throw on the hazard lights and get herself in and sorted before heading off to find parking?

Mousewar

Zoton wrote: »

A familiar query probably for this forum. First time dad to be with baby due in March at Holles street.
There's lots of advice around where to find parking, but I'm wondering what have people done dropping off partner? It's double yellow lines all along Holles Street and only an ambulance bay outside the main door. So do you just park up on the double yellows, throw on the hazard lights and get herself in and sorted before heading off to find parking?

Yeah do that, although don;t block the ambulance bay. In the end, we got a taxi so I didn't have to worry about the car.
If you are doing street parking, best to get the parking tag app. Otherwise you'll be running up and down the street all day like a nutcase.

youcancallmeal

Zoton wrote: »

A familiar query probably for this forum. First time dad to be with baby due in March at Holles street.
There's lots of advice around where to find parking, but I'm wondering what have people done dropping off partner? It's double yellow lines all along Holles Street and only an ambulance bay outside the main door. So do you just park up on the double yellows, throw on the hazard lights and get herself in and sorted before heading off to find parking?

Yep do exactly that, shouldn't be any problem at all

Hello all!

All official as of yesterday

Partner due on August 20th. It's our first so don't know what to expect!

NeVeR

Thought I'd post here.. been reading it a while.. but didn't want to post as we'd not told anyone.. but we did last weekend.

We are due 9th Aug, it's out 1st

Can't wait.

Supercell

Zoton wrote: »

A familiar query probably for this forum. First time dad to be with baby due in March at Holles street.
There's lots of advice around where to find parking, but I'm wondering what have people done dropping off partner? It's double yellow lines all along Holles Street and only an ambulance bay outside the main door. So do you just park up on the double yellows, throw on the hazard lights and get herself in and sorted before heading off to find parking?

I parked close to the front door but not blocking the ambulance bay for our first.
PITA feeding the parking meter, this time have the phone app installed. You dont want to be in the delivery room worrying about getting clamped!
Best of luck, they are all wonderful in Holles street even if the original architect was a man hater and put only one tiny toilet on the ground floor for us! Herself will be well looked after.

vickers209

Supercell wrote: »

I parked close to the front door but not blocking the ambulance bay for our first.
PITA feeding the parking meter, this time have the phone app installed. You dont want to be in the delivery room worrying about getting clamped!
Best of luck, they are all wonderful in Holles street even if the original architect was a man hater and put only one tiny toilet on the ground floor for us! Herself will be well looked after.

But you are only allowed to park on the same street for a max of three hours so have to go move the car then!

We are expecting and are due our baba on the 28th June been a roller coaster of a ride so far.
We been through 2 previous miscarriages so have always been on edge expecting things to go wrong with this pregnancy as there has been bleeding at times.

But so far so good bar the missus developing diabetes from the pregnancy and has to inject herself 7 times a day and has regular hospital checkups.

We have her main scan on 25th of this month and i am looking forward to it:)

DavyD_83

vickers209 wrote: »

But you are only allowed to park on the same street for a max of three hours so have to go move the car then!

We are expecting and are due our baba on the 28th June been a roller coaster of a ride so far.
We been through 2 previous miscarriages so have always been on edge expecting things to go wrong with this pregnancy as there has been bleeding at times.

But so far so good bar the missus developing diabetes from the pregnancy and has to inject herself 7 times a day and has regular hospital checkups.

We have her main scan on 25th of this month and i am looking forward to it:)

Good luck with everything, hope all goes well for yis!
If you're close enough and have a willing other driver, it can be handy to just get dropped in; means you don't have to deal with hassle of parking meters at an already stressful time. This is what we did in the end (although going for induction, and having a scheduled time to head in helped there).
I got a taxi home 40hrs later and then drove in for the visits over next few days when I was (sorta) more capable of dealing with parking app