Congratulations!
You are about to go on a wonderful, difficult, joyous, astonishing, disgusting and beautiful trip with your new family.
What got me though is thinking of the whole thing like being drafted into a 20 year stint in the Army. You get not much sleep, your leisure activities are severely curtailed, you get up way too early for way too long, you spend a lot of time doing unpleasant tasks, you get dirty, there is some shouting, but you become improved, there are some really good times that you would never change, you are doing a Good Thing, and in the end it is so certainly worth it (but you would never go through it again.
)
Advice that worked for me:
Before:
Forget the hospital food and order out.
Bring your wife a sports-type sippie cup so she can drink while in labor, a nice pillow and blanket from home, and a change of clothes.
Install the car seat now, so you don't have to do it later. Take your time, and do it right. Ask some cops how to do it- they can usually tell you, in my experience.
Pick up a Calling Card so you can make long distance calls from the hospital- no cell phones allowed in there, usually, and local calls only on the room phone.
Go with the flow, and remember, no matter what happens in the interim, if at the end of the day you are left with a reasonably healthy baby and mother, then Mission Accomplished.
After
Remember the Army thing. Do your Duty.
Feel free to have some "settling in" time, alone with your new family for a few days before the relatives start flooding in.
Don't be a "friend" to your kid, be a "father". Be a friendly one though.
Tell your wife and especially your kids, every day, whenever you can, that you love them. It won't get trite or old.
On a personal note, if your wife is breastfeeding, tell her to avoid allergens like peanuts, shellfish, tree nuts and eggs. No one knows how potentially fatal allergies work in kids, but it seems that they can become allergic even through breastfeeding and absorbing protiens of these foods.
Shooting:
Whenever they are ready. You will know. My 4 year old isn't quite ready yet.
Best of luck to you!
-James
