A major subset of what I call the 'pregnant crazies' is the phenomenon of memory loss in pregnant women. It's also one of the little marvels about which nobody gives the father-to-be any advance notice. As such, first time dads often experience this rather unwittingly. First a conversation you've had is forgotten, then she forgets to confirm a dinner date. My wife, who has a Rain Man-like talent for remembering numbers, almost cried in line at the grocery store when she couldn't remember a four digit debit card PIN.
Memory loss during pregnancy is fairly well documented and attributed to a range of causes from deficiencies in sleep and iron and even a decrease in brain volume. (Don't worry, the brain returns to it's pre-pregnancy state within six months from delivery.) So how does this effect you?
Your task is to help keep the mommy-to-be organized and remember important dates and other miscellany.
Get a good calendar program and enter doctor appointments, bills, birthdays and other important dates to make sure that neither you or she forget them. I use Google Calender because you can share a calendar between two people and it will send email or text message reminders before a scheduled entry.
Honey, do you remember your own name? : Memory loss during pregnancy.
The diet of the pregnant woman
I looked down at my grocery basket as I strolled up aisle 7. Hot dogs, mac and cheese, coke and cake. Oh, and organic baby carrots, check.
I felt like I was carrying someone else's basket. My wife is (mostly) a vegetarian, we don't drink soda and we haven't had macaroni and cheese since college. And although she tries to make as many organic meals as possible (hence the organic baby carrots) everything in the basket was a specific request of hers. She really wanted those foods, but oddly enough that was the only time she craved them, and not once afterwards.
You'll hear lots of stories about strange cravings, along the lines of pickles and ice cream, but how quickly those cravings change is what can really be confusing.
The next hot item was ginger ale. She couldn't drink enough of it, and as soon as I stocked up with a dozen liters, she couldn't stand the site of a bottle of Schweppes. She then ate cracked-pepper smoked turkey twice a day for two weeks. Soon after she declared thinking of turkey made her want to puke. She'd feel terrible and nauseous if she didn't eat and not much better when she did.
My point is that you never can tell exactly what or how much of a particular food a pregnant woman will want. Nor can you tell how quickly her tastes will change. I've given away excesses of food that she couldn't be without only a few short hours earlier, and been sent to the grocery store for coconut cake at 9:30 at night because nothing else appealed to her.
The pregnant woman is a fickle being. Feed it well and it won't turn on you.
Your job really is to keep her happy and make sure the baby gets what it wants and need. Consistently our staple item has been ice cream. There is a steady supply of it in the house at all times, which leads to another important point;
there is a very high likelihood that the father will gain weight right along with the mommy to be.
Be conscious of your diet and try to exercise as much as possible.
Almost a dad... : the story of an expectant father
My name is Bill and in another few months I'm going to be a first-time-father. I couldn't be more thrilled about being a dad and can't wait to meet my as of yet un-named, amoebic bundle of joy.
But as exciting a time as pregnancy is for an expectant father, it is filled with tons of surprises and changes that can blind side just about any guy. While there is material about pregnancy for the woman ad nauseum, information for a father-to-be is incredibly scarce. The emphasis is rightly on the woman during this time, but nobody stops to tell the father what he's in for. Sure, you hear stories about weird food cravings and crying at commercials, but nowhere does it say that the woman carrying your child may possibly become crazy. But it's not her fault; she's hormonal, she's gaining weight and her world and body are both changing. Just keep in mind that the woman you liked enough to conceive a child with is not be the person you will be deal ing with for the next nine months.
This blog is about the craziness that hits guys who are almost dads. I'm writing in hopes that other fathers-to-be will learn from my experiences, share their own trials and learn to be more understanding and supportive of expectant mothers.