Pregnancy is always an up and down experience for all people who are involved in it – most especially the mother. Yes, as the father, you can have significant feelings and experiences about the whole process. And you are very much invested in the entire thing. But remember that all of the significant changes and feelings are happening to the mother of your baby. Nothing can ever compare to the entire experience that the mother of a child is going to go through during a pregnancy.
If you are going through this for the first time with your expectant partner, then you should expect the unexpected. You don’t know what you’re about to get into, and you just have to make sure that you are constantly on your toes so that you can adapt whenever necessary. Yes, you can get an idea by watching those romantic comedies that have pregnancies in them. But you should know that real life is nothing like that. Real life is going to be a lot messier and more complicated. Nothing in the world is going to be able to accurately prepare you for what fatherhood is going to be like – and all the moments leading up to it.
Or maybe you’re single – and a close lady friend of yours tells you that she’s about to have a baby. What do you have to say about that? How are you supposed to react and treat her? What are you supposed to do as a close guy friend? What are your duties and responsibilities? And most importantly, what are your boundaries and restrictions?
If you have no idea what you’re about to do, then this article is going to be what you need to read. All of the information that is going to be listed here has been curated from pregnant women all over the world; so you are getting firsthand advice from women who actually experienced pregnancies.
1. Stop commenting about the size of her baby bump.
She doesn’t want to be hearing about the physical changes that her body is going through. She might be feeling insecure about it. And you would only be feeding into her insecurities by making comments like these.
2. Tell her that she always looks pretty and beautiful.
She’s going to be very insecure about the way that she looks with her pregnancy especially with the weight gain. It’s your job to reassure you that she is still beautiful in your eyes.
She’s going to be very giddy about her pregnancy and she’s going to express her excitement over it a lot. And even though she’s going to sound like a broken record, you need to be able to share her excitement with her.
4. Stay patient with her when she goes through mood swings.
She is going to be very emotional and moody. And you’re just going to have to learn to bear with it. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s something you’re going to have to deal with.
5. She is going to tire out fairly easily.
You’re going to have to pick up a LOT of the slack because of how easily she’s going to feel tired. But it’s the least you can do considering that she’s carrying your future baby inside of her.
6. Help her out without coddling her too much.
She isn’t really going to be able to do a lot of the stuff that she used to do. She won’t be able to lift heavy stuff and other such activities. You should do these things for her, but don’t do it to a point where she feels helpless.
7. Keep your hands off the chest area.
Just know that your girl is going through some very drastic changes and that some areas of her body can be very sensitive – especially her chest area. So be wary of touching them.
8. Talk to her about your worries and expectations.
It’s normal for your girl to have her share of worries and expectations as she goes through a pregnancy. However, she isn’t always going to be so open about how she feels. That’s why, if you open up to her, it’s going to make her feel safer to open up to you as well.
9. Do everything she wants you to do at the moment of labor.
Just do whatever she wants on the day of delivery. It’s as simple as that.
10. Give her time to recover after the birth of the child.
Just because she gives birth doesn’t mean that she’s going to go back to the way that she was before she was pregnant right away.
11. Be okay with setting aside your own needs for a while after the baby is born.
You are going to have to set aside your own needs for a while once the baby is born. You really need to be able to put the needs of your partner and the baby above your own.
