Bringing Up Daddy

A couple of days ago, I called my husband to tell him I was running a little late after work and asked what he was doing. “Hanging out in Will’s room,” he tells me.

This is actually not an uncommon occurrence since our unborn son’s room has started to take shape. I’ve come home to find him lying on the floor with pillows (and the four-legged children). When asked what he is doing, he says “waiting for Will.”

Is this the same man who told me when we were first dating that he didn’t know if really wanted kids? That was a huge deal breaker for me, but I’d seen him with kids and knew he would make an amazing father, so I figured I’d wait him out. I was right; he realized he wanted a family.

But, I honestly still never imagined he would be as excited and involved once I became pregnant as he was. During our trials to conceive, he never seemed to have the same urgency I did, seemed okay if we were never successful in our journey to parenthood.

All that changed with those two pink lines. He was the first one taking pictures of the pee stick. I had to talk HIM out of telling the world until I was more comfortable. He downloaded the pregnancy apps on his phone right along with me. I still, though, thought this would be the extent of it, especially once it became time to start looking at all the “stuff” that comes along with baby. No man would possibly enjoy frequent trips to baby stores, researching every mundane baby item, obsessing over a registry.

Our first trip to Babies R Us (on Mother’s Day) was more than amusing. While he knew that babies were not cheap, he was sincerely shocked and overwhelmed at all of the “stuff.” The main purpose for the trip was to start scoping out cribs. The sticker shock was a bit much, but the real fun was when I had to explain to him the “secondary sleeping” options. Trying to explain the need for a bassinet/cradle/play yard to a man with little baby experience was like trying to explain calculus to a 2-year-old. Once we’d covered that topic, I decided to just throw him into the deep end and see how he did – car seats (infant seat vs. convertible), strollers (travel system vs. jogging stroller vs. regular stroller), bouncy seats (“what is this for?”), play mats, swings (new vs. finding one used).  I really didn’t think he’d ever see the inside of a baby store again. I was wrong.

After that first trip, all bets were off. He became a baby shopping machine. I had to convince him to hold off on buying – everything! I insisted we wait until after we found out baby’s sex to register – we didn’t wait even one day at Daddy’s insistence. He took great care in picking out baby’s first outfit – the first articles of clothing bought just for him. If I thought I was going to help paint the room or put together the crib, I was mistaken – Daddy knocked that out on his own in one afternoon/evening. His favorite thing to do on weekends is wander through the baby stores – it puts him in a good mood. He asks every weekend if we can buy something for Will. He has had input from everything to paint color to stroller to play yard to bibs.

It’s been a fun trip watching my husband turn into a daddy. And quite a surprising one as most of the expectant daddies don’t catch up to mommy’s excitement until after baby arrives. How is or did your husband handle impending fatherhood?

Ashley Bearden is a full-time working soon-to-be Mommy after two and a half years of trying to get pregnant.