Surviving Wife Week 1

What you need to survive your wife week 1:

Most don’t realize that your wife can cost you more sleep than the baby.   You have to realize that most things that will cause you added misery have to do with mom.   My wife worried more about her baby than anything else which is a perfect natural reaction to having a baby.  This led to lots of discomfort for her(me) and lots of impromptu things that I was unprepared for.   However your wife will be beat up like she just got out of a 12 round fight with Tyson for a few weeks.    You need to have these in your home or at least be aware of these things possibly being involved in your post baby delivery.  

  1. Nursing breast pads.  They soak up milk which leaks out during lactation.
  2. Maxi pads of all sizes.   Seriously you’re in for a surprise so be ready to be mature.
  3. Baby monitor(s) – I know this is a repeat of the previous section but you need this seriously.  Mom won’t deal well without it.
  4. Bassinet or Snuggle nest.   Once again mom won’t let baby out of her sight so make it comfortable.
  5. A camera.   Don’t miss pictures.   A video camera for during/after delivery so you can get that nursery time on video while mom is in recovery so she doesn’t miss it.
  6. Lots of pillows of various shapes.
  7. Knowledge of your wife’s pain pill intake schedule and keeping her on it.    My wife was so tired all the time she’d forget her medicine resulting in an hour or two of pain before getting back on the medicine.
  8. Ice packs for sore backs.
  9. Knowledge of how to perform a general foot rub.
  10. Breast pump.   A repeat from last section but the breast pump relieves pressure and pain during lactation.   She needs to get it out.
  11. Knowledge of how to give a baby a bottle to give your wife a break.  Nursing gets old and tiresome.    A bottle is ridiculously easy to give a baby and will really relieve your wife.  Plus you bond more with your baby.
  12. Knowledge of how to change a diaper and remember you need to put butt paste on the baby if she’s red.   Also wipe front to back if female.  While this might sound like a baby related item if you change a couple of diapers over the night shift it seriously helps your wife out.