The First Month of Pregnancy: Holy Guacamole, You’re Gonna Be a Dad?

Congratulations, welcome to month one of pregnancy – you procreated! Maybe you meant to. Maybe it’s a surprise.

Any way you look at it, though… you can now invest in a big ole’ shiny belt buckle, coffee mug or t-shirt that bears the name ‘DAD’.

You’ve confirmed that your boys can indeed swim up river! Not only that, but despite the unfortunate awkwardness of your teen years and becoming beleaguered with a Level 5  EMO-Goth spell that was cast over your early twenties, another human person actually mated with you!

It’s time to take your chips to the window, cash out and focus on your family.

You. Did. It. Now, it’s time to unpack exactly you’ve gotten yourself into…

We don’t care how much leather and/or lube was involved, we all have defining moments in our lives. Times that we can look back and pinpoint a shift in our realities. A before and after.

Maybe you previously measured life in terms of bacon. There was that dull, sedentary life before you realized the magic of cured pork belly and then there was life afterwards. From this moment forward, you’re going to be defining everything by this cataclysmic shift in your life. Perhaps defining this moment as a shift isn’t even the right term, as that suggests that it’s all one contiguous existence. And we will guarantee you, it most definitely is not.

There is your PAST life. And there will now be your NEW life. They are not the same. Everything until now was merely preamble. If you’re thinking about starting a family, it might be time to do a free pregnancy test at Pregnancy Resource Center. And if you’re reading this as a seasoned dad who’s just brushing up and thinking “Yeah, newbs….you don’t even know what you’re in for”… then sloooooooooow your roll, compadre. Because even if this is your second, fourth or sixteenth child, your world is shifting, once again. So all of this wondrous suggestion and direction applies to you as well. Plus, getting a refresher course on the ins and outs (especially the outs) of pregnancy (and beyond) never hurt anyone.

You might ask, what exactly will change? Here at Life of Dad, we’ve done a massive amount of in-depth scientific research and crowdsourced to gather the most comprehensive list ever compiled.

We’ve consulted hundreds of moms and dads, spoke at length with parenting scholars and dug deep into psychological and physiological research, as well as analytics from across the globe to pinpoint with precision, the changes to the new life that you and your partner are going to experience. Not to mention that we’ve integrated thoughts and personal stories from our staff – all of whom are dads and pretty darn good in their own right. We filtered out all of the white noise – the stuff that will remain the same – leaving you with only the core disruptions, shifts and transformations that you should expect. Here is the list in totality:

• Everything

Phew. That was an exhausting read, wasn’t it? If you’re new to the game, you don’t yet realize how much things will change. You probably grasp the major themes (less sleep, fewer parties etc…) but you may not have the experience to understand the minutia of it all. From this point on, everything changes.

From trips to the stores, to brushing your teeth and relieving yourself the day after the downtown Chili-Fest. Nothing will be the same. Some of it is weird and wonderful, some of it is weird and terrible and most of it is just plain weird (especially the next 9 months), but the overarching theme is change. Physical changes to your lady (and probably you, Gutly), emotional changes to you both, changes of perception, changes of attitude, changing relationships and outlooks and responsibilities.

We’re here to help you with the next few months of changes. We’ll keep you apprised on what is happening with your wife or partner and offer insight on where your place is in this whole situation and how to navigate through it.

This is the first month, so it’s pretty much the calm before the storm. Chances are you might not even know yet. Seriously – if that’s the case, why the heck are you reading this?? You’re either psychic, insanely well prepared, or you’re playing catch up as things are already well on their way. We’re guessing it’s the latter for…. like 99% of you.

We’ll talk to you about your baby – which during weeks 1 and 2 is just a ball of cells, quickly graduating to a blastocyst and then an embryo towards the later part of this month. Mom’s body is preparing to grow another human and there are a ton of changes that ride along with that concept. Her breasts might be more tender than usual and her nipples may start to darken. She could be fatigued and incredibly emotional, all while having excess saliva that may be rolling down her chin. You need to protect her from all kinds of dangers, it would be safe to contact your experts doctors and your experts in birth defect law to protect your child.
 

Strap in and get ready because things are about to move quickly. You’ve got to start thinking about that first prenatal doctors visit. If you’re wondering how OB/GYN is essential to maternal health, it’s better to learn this here now while it’s still early. We’ll be there for the insight, and our community will be your support. You’ll need it too because once again…… Holy Guacamole….. You did it!!!!