r/predaddit

Hey all. We just found out we’re expecting, due around late May. I’m 27, desk job, haven’t trained in about 2 years, and my neck and shoulders are a mess from sitting all day. I’ve got a barbell and dumbbells at home and I want to use the next ~8 months to build a habit that survives the newborn phase.

For those who tried something similar:

• Did you stick with it during the pregnancy? What made you quit, if you did?
• Did anything you built before the birth actually carry over after?
• Anything you wish you’d focused on instead (sleep, cooking, learning baby stuff)?

Thanks, and congrats to everyone else in the same boat.

Posted this last spring with lots of discussion. It's archived now so comments are closed and a lot of you weren't here yet. It's still the thing I most want a new dad to hear at 3am, so I'm putting it back up.

Dad of 3 here.

Nobody warned me about 3am rage.

That weird surge of anger when you're holding a crying newborn and haven't slept. I remember standing there thinking something was wrong with me.

My first baby was also colicky so even his grandparents weren't sure how to handle him during his witching hours.

The single best advice I eventually got was simple and felt almost insulting in the moment:
Put the baby down somewhere safe. Walk away. Take a breath.

It sounds easy. It's not.
But it's the right move.

That stretch actually pushed me into therapy, which ended up being one of the best things I've done. I learned that the combo of sleep deprivation + pressure + feeling responsible but powerless is a brutal mix.

If you hit that wall, you're not broken or alone.
What I'd add this time: I never heard this from a doctor, a class, or another dad. I found out alone at 3am assuming I was the problem.

So if you've already been through it, tell a new dad. Ideally before 3am.

Did anyone else deal with this? What helped you regulate it?

My husband (30M) and I (29F) have been together for over 11 years, we are pregnant with our first, and I’m 30w. We haven’t had sex since since August, his bday. Even then, I felt like he wasn’t super into it but we both climaxed. There’s been zero effort or drive on his end.

Me on the other hand, I’ve always had a high sex drive so I’m still very much taking care of my own needs. I brought it up tonight as like a casual “Hey, I can understand if sex isn’t on your mind right now, and if you’re masturbating that would be ok too.” He denied masturbating and says he just don’t have a sex drive right now and that everything’s okay and it’s not me. But this is not normal for us I guess, so it’s hard to think it’s not me.

Anyone else been here or currently here? Did your sex life return after baby?

My wife surprised me and we are now having a kid I just want to know what to prepare for and expect during her pregnancy. (She is only about 4-5 weeks pregnant give or take)

So it finally happened. I finally felt my daughter kick inside my partners belly. 23 weeks it took for it to happen.

I am so so happy right now 💖

My wife and I have been comparing prenatals and I didn't realize how different the daily pill counts could be.

We're still deciding between Needed prenatal vitamin capsules, Thorne, Nature made, and a few others. Some are only a couple capsules a day, while others mean taking quite a few. Some of these capsules look pretty big too.

I feel like taking 6+ pills every morning would get old pretty fast, even if the prenatal itself is good. I'm stuck on how much the pill count should matter.

My wife is currently 11 weeks pregnant and up to last night things have been very smooth. Last night her heart beat started going pretty quick. I noticed it when we were laying down and she stated she thought it was weird too. I assume it calmed down as we went to bed normal time.

This morning her heart was beating quick when she woke up so I timed it and was getting about 200bpm. Now the weird part is within 15 minutes of being awake it dropped to a normal rate of roughly 95bpm.

We called her OB right away to see if we should go to the ER or what and they took 5 hours to get back to us to say go to the ER. We are current sitting waiting to get checked out, but she is totally normal again so I doubt they'll do anything but send us on our way.

Has anyone been through something similar or have any ideas of what may cause this? We are of course getting a doctor opinion, but anything to put my mind at ease in this waiting room be great.