Sources of information.

So now you have a pregnant wife and year 10 bio is a bit hazy. You know the basics, but 'being a dad' wasn't covered in the course curriculum at your high school. Where do you turn to get more information on what to do now?



I used to be a scout when I was a little tacker. The motto of the scouts was 'be prepared'. There are some other idioms that I like: "Forewarned is forearmed" and "Knowledge is power". Or if you want it dumbed down a bit - "Knowing a bit about what is to come might give you a fighting chance of getting through". With these in mind I go looking for as much material as I can to equip me to be the best husband and father I can be.

Luckily for me I've had quite a few friends that have had children recently. Some live quite near where my wife and I do, and were able to recommend hospitals and obstetrician. Which is invaluable. It's a bit like taking your car to the mechanic. If you can't get recommendations from friends and colleagues, then you're pretty well left to pick one out of the yellow pages. Not fun, especially when it comes to what is the most precious thing in your life. Friends with children also know where the specials are for disposable nappies, toys, car seats, cots etc, and depending on how many children they've had, and how old they are, they may be kind enough to loan or give you some of their pre-loved items. But the one thing friends can give you is an honest, no nonsense opinion on what childbirth and becoming a parent has been like for them. It's a much more real account than reading on forums, magazines and books.

I've had a read through some of the baby and pregnancy magazines. Like most magazines they appear to be catalogues of expensive baby items in the guise of advertisement or reviews with a few handy articles.

There are any number of books on having a baby. Some are pretty informative, some are funny and some even try to write with the father in mind.
"So you're going to be a dad" by Peter Downey is one example. You can tell the book is getting a bit dated by the references to film cameras and coins for pay phones but it's a good read with plenty of useful advice. Don't think that the blokes books are all you need to read though. Reading a few of ones for the women folk will give you some more details and help you understand what is going on with your good lady wife.
"Baby love" by Robin Barker is a good no-nonsense book that reads almost like a manual which I'm sure I'll be referring to for years. The trick here though is I'm told is to understand that babies don't come with a user manual. It's unlikely that a book will describe just how your baby is going to behave so reading widely is a good way to have multiple ideas on how to deal with a given situation.

Books also suffer from the problem of getting out of date. What is consider right or safe for a child changes over time, so older books may land you in hot water or find you doing something now known to be unsafe. This is where older parents can be a little dangerous too. "But I turned out ok" might be true, but there are plenty of children out there that didn't make it for reasons we now are a bad idea.

Another place to go for opinions and advice are of course forums. There are a number in Australia. Bubhub, Bellybelly and Essential baby are a few examples. There are also forums associated with magazines and some baby products that you can join. The forums tend to be dominated by women (as you'd expect) with the usual dynamics associated with people on forums. Some are strongly opinionated, others fervently passionate about some topics. If you keep away from the warring factions on circumcision, immunisation and smacking you will find a lot of like minded people with some great experiences and knowledge to share. The forums are a great source of information.

The are also some dedicated sites for dads. One I joined recently that I like is http://www.imgoingtobeadad.com.au/. This one sends you weekly updates on what's going on with your wife and baby in nice easy to understand terms. For example the last update I received said my unborn baby is now the size of Foxtel remote. Something I can easily relate to. :)

The last resource of course is simply the vast internet. google.com and a few good key words will find you information on most topics you want. You can find instructional videos on how to deliver the baby (should you be put in a situation where it's needed) to details on how the baby develops in it's mothers tum.

As it turns out, the development pictures is how this blog got it's name. On looking at a 1 or 2 week old foetus representation, my trouble and strife declared that the foetus looked like Gumby. As such, that was the name our unborn baby took on.