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Hi folks.  It’s been a crazy few weeks, which I’m sure I’ll elaborate on in a subsequent post.  In the meantime, my lovely bride is now full-term and I have a revised Hospital Pack List for you.  My previous post and suggestions stand true, but I’ve edited the list a touch to allow you fellow RookieDads a more useable check list – replete with items broken down per bag, and with some great and important new additions.  Check it out here!

So here’s a short post.  I wanted to clue in newbie dads to a couple awesome sites for new or soon-to-be dads.  First one is fairly out there – not meaning weird but rather popular, so you may have already heard of it: www.dadlabs.com.  It’s a great site for dads by dads.  Lots of videos, an online television series, many articles and much great content.  I especially like this site because it’s not just one guy trying to be the be-all-end-all, but rather a host of folks in our shoes.  I know the irony is that so far, all you’ve heard from is me on this blog.  Trust me, I’ve got other voices doing the “me-me-me” getting warmed up for some posts, but lately since I’m hosting the thing, I’m the one you get for now.  Believe me, though: I in no way profess to be an expert dad.  Hell, I’m a newbie just like the rest of you.  All I’m doing is spreading the word about the stuff I’m learning as I go along. ….. Awkward.  Alright, let’s move on…

Number two: www.dadsadventure.com.  I came across this site after hearing a RN at me and my wife’s Birth and Baby class reference a daddy bootcamp resource guide.  This site is the accompanying work.  So granted, it’s one guy professing to be an expert.  And yes, he is exerting his capitalistic right to make a buck off of you while trying to help you, but I have to admit: there’s good content there.  My favorite type too – anecdotal lessons and lots of checklists.  Maybe we’re hardwired to appreciate a honey-do list, but God help me, I love a checklist.  This has got everything from a hospital kit checklist (though I think the one I compiled on this site is better and more comprehensive), pre-labor signs, when to go to the hospital, and lots of stuff post-delivery.  Like I said –  good content, and its free if you don’t get snookered into purchasing a magazine subscription from the guy.

At any rate, check these two sites out.  Good resources for you and me.

Best,

RookieDad Sean

If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out Part 1 of this Prepping for Baby series on the hospital kit, click here to check it out.  Part 2 of this series is all about the nursery.  Some of what I’ll put in here is no-brainer stuff, and nearly all is from resources outside myself.  Before delving in, I have to cite three books that are excellent guides for RookieDads:

• The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Being an Expectant Father (ISBN 978-1-59257-224-3),
• Your Pregnancy for the father-to-be, 2nd ed. (ISBN 978-0-7382-1275-3),
• and lastly The Modern Girl’s Guide to Motherhood (ISBN 978-0-06-088534-2).

Regarding this last one, I’m so not above reading a book written for women.  Honestly, I’m using What to Expect… as a mousepad right now and have damn-near read thing cover to cover.  This Modern Girls’s guide is awesome.  Excellent, concrete advice for parents.  I don’t believe there’s a “Modern Guy’s Guide to Fatherhood” but if anyone wants to co-author it with me, I’m game.  That said, these books I rely on heavily in the lists and info below, along with Fit Pregnancy magazine; and of course I rely on the folks who’ve been there.  I can say without any cheekiness that literally nothing other than my random attempts at wit can I call my own thoughts.  Everything below is due to these sources.  The only value I add is aggregating the best of these resources for you into an easy-to-use list, and what results – I hope – is a omprehensive checklist to get you organized and in the right direction for prepping, setting up and stocking the baby’s room, starting with the crib.

So let’s start with the basics:

So your basic concerns here are: can the baby rest in the thing? and can the baby not hurt itself while in there?  With that in mind,

• Entanglement/Suffocation:
  • Current laws dictate that slats can be no more than 2 1/8″ apart.  The number isn’t arbitrary.  The Consumer Products Safety Commission which governs crib guidelines established this value based upon field tests, case studies, amd statistical and empirical data.  Anything wider than two and an eighth inches poses an entanglement risk.  What does that mean in common terms?  Your baby can trap her head or limbs between the slats, and just like a poorly executed Steven Segal movie – crack goes an arm.  Or worse, your precious little one can suffocate with it’s head stuck.  I’d say of all items related to the child, do not play around with cribs and car seats.  These are highly regulated, so make sure that if you get a used crib, it adheres to the most current CPSC safety guidelines.  You can access the latest list here.
  • It probably doesn’t need to be said, but the slats should be vertical, not horizontal.
  • Another suffocation risk can be posed by the mattress.  Be sure that the mattress fits securely.
  • Another consideration is crib posts.  Many older crib models have posts that are higher than the crib rail.  Remember how Superman used to hang up villians by their shirts on a flag pole.  Same thing can happen with your little one.  This is a strangulation risk, so either cut off the posts or toss the crib and get a new one.
• SIDS risk:  SIDS – or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – is very real.  You may know someone or at least someone who knows someone that this may have happened to.  Me?  I had a family member experience this excruciating loss.  I truly can’t imagine what that must feel like, and I pray I never, EVER experience it myself.  You can do some things to ensure you minimize the risk of SIDS with your child.
  • Get a firm mattress.  Some of the latest research indicates that firm mattresses reduce the risk of this God-awful thing.
  • Also, be sure to take everything bulky out of the crib.  Some of the latest research says to not include ANYTHING in the crib other than the baby and a sleepsack or onesie.  Toys, quilts, bumpers, and even less than extremely snug sheets – all of these can pose a risk for SIDS.  Remember everything should be military snug.  Consider that the only way to be sure you are safe(er).
  • For later, when the child can roll over on their own, bumpers can be a way to minimize boo-boos from night-time thrashing.  That said, the bumper should be soft but not too thick and should attach to the crib’s slats in at least 6 places so that it is snugly arranged arounfd the lower permieter of the crib.
• Fall/Collapse Hazard:  So some obvious stuff here – make sure all hardward is present, the bolts/screws don’t free-turn in their holes, wood joints are tightly joined, mattress has a good support (will probably resemble spring Army barracks mattress supports) and that the supoprt hangers attach securely to the hooks on each on the posts, the crib once assembled is sturdy, strong, and stable.  If can rock back and forth like a see-saw, breakdown the crib, take it to the backyard, and set it on fire.  Odds are if everything is bolted together and it still isn’t 100% stable, then it isn’t safe for any baby and should be kindling or termite food only.
• Sleeping Position:  Babies should sleep on their backs until they can roll over on their own.  Honestly they should sleep on their backs regardless of whether they can roll over.  This is SIDS prevention 101.  You can use a crib wedge while the baby is very young to keep the litle one from turning over onto their belly
• Baby On the Move:  Your crib should have adjustable rails so that when the little one gets off her belly and onto her little legs, she can’t climb out of their crib.
• Sheets 101:  You should cover the mattress with a fitted mattress pad, then a fitted sheet (again keyword here is snug), and then a lap pad or piddle pad (to facilitate night-time changing – much easier to do according to the Modern Girl’s Guide).  The latest Fit Pregnancy (Sept. 2009) also provides an interesting tip from a mother of multiples.  One mother of twins suggests that you consider layering sheets and pads to make changes extremely quick and easy; that you should use a mattress pad, then a waterproof pad, then a sheet, then a waterproof pad, then a sheet, then a lap or piddle pad.  If the top sheet gets soiled pull off the top layers and then you a re good to go with fresh sheet right below it.  I would say use your best judgement here.  The extra bulk in precautionary bedding can increase the potential risk to the child just as an ill-fitting sheet can.  I’ll be going the slightly more inconvenient route of changing to new sheets when she has an “accident” and give myself some piece of mind around the suffocation risks posed by too-soft or ill-fitted bedding.

I’ve read many times that during the first few weeks a baby could be just as comfy in a dresser drawer as in the most premo crib.  Leaving you this evening on that thought, remember:

Safety first, aesthetics second.   Convenience matters less than your child’s well-being.  When in doubt, consult the authorities (e.g. the CPSC).  And make sure you cover your bases on the crib that way you can rest easy and your baby can too.

Sweet dreams,

RookieDad Sean

-Look for the next segment of Prepping for Baby when we discuss other nursery topics, knowing when to head to the hospital and more.  Until then….

Friends, I’m back from a short hiatus where I was busy researching and registering, and enjoying the news that my amorphous, asexual kidney bean in week 5 will be coming out a baby girl in week 38.  Now I’ve got tons of research, advice, and tips to share including a big responsibility for husbands – the hospital kit.   Based on advice from several books, blogs, and sites, I’ve compiled a list you can use to pack that bag well before your due date (highly advisable if your baby comes early) and have it ready to go for the big event.

In no specific order:

• Cosmetic Bag with:
  • Hair band – No, not a circa 80’s rock group.  Sweaty hair in your wife’s face while she’s pushing – giving it all she’s got captain (said like a portly Scottsman) - will quickly frustrate and aggravate her - this helps alleviate some of that.
  • Lip gloss or balm – Your wife – regardless of C-section or natural, length of labor, or size (or number) of baby – will through sweat and the natural birthing process, lose an immense amount of body water.  In short, she’s going to become dehydrated.  Aside from putting the attending nurse on speed-dial to keep ice chips readily on hand for your precious wife to suck on, your honey-girl is going to find her lips extremely dry and most likely chapped.  This is a thoughtful addition to the cosmetic bag that will help with that.
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste – Sure, you can most likely buy this at an extremely ridiculous mark-up from the hospital, but you can save money and guarantee the toothpaste flavor she’ll like by bringing hers.  Have this ready to go by getting an extra toothbrush and a travel tube of her favorite toothpaste and going ahead and packing it now.
  • Moist facial wipes – She’ll appreciate it after sweating through labor and not having the energy to get up and wash her face.
  • Face soap, lotion, shampoo, hairbrush and make-up – She will have the energy to bathe eventually (and will find it very refreshing).  In addition, you will invariably have visitors.  At the very least, she’ll want to look and smell presentable when you both leave the hospital with the baby.  So pack travel versions of this as well as any extra make-up essentials – she can guide you on this.
  • Stool softeners- Yep.  She’ll be constipated – it happens to a very large percentage of women after delivering a baby.  Help her out and get her some of these – Colace is a safe and recommended brand for the new mama.
  • Pain medicine for her take afterwards- She completed a marathon labor pushing something the size of a watermelon through something the size of a lemon.  Even if she gritted her teeth and did it au naturale, the no-drugs, straight-edge mentality doesn’t have to persist after she’s given birth.  She’ll be very sore.  Make sure you have some Extra-strength Tylenol or something comparable for her.
  • Hemorrhoid wipes/cream- Much like constipation, most new mothers will experience hemorrhoids due to both the consistency of their stool and the amount of pushing they do.  These will help her out.  Hedge your bets by going ahead and getting this for her just in case.
  • Enema to take prior to giving birth – A not-well-publicized fact is that many women end up pushing out more than a baby while on the delivery room table.  She’ll be pushing hard; I mean hard.  If she’s got anything in her bowels, it’ll come out.  If you are videotaping the delivery, or even if she’s easily embarrassed, you may have her take this to clean her out before the time for pushing starts.  One decent tasting and 100% medically safe means of accomplishing the same thing is mixing prune juice with another fruit juice like pear juice.  It’s mildly palatable according to Modern Mother’s Guide and does the trick.
  • Small Spray Bottle – I mentioned she’s going to be dehydrated.  When that happens, urine becomes highly concentrated.  With the typical tearing that occurs with giving birth, urination under these circumstances can be very painful.  Dilute her first urination post birth by filling a small spray bottle with water and have her spray her girl parts when she pees.  It’ll reduce the burn that’s caused by the concentrated uric acid.
  • A nursing bra, Lansinoh cream and Soothies – She’s going to find that all sorts of discomforts can accompany breastfeeding.  Pack some of these to help her out.
• Sock/Slippers – The hospital won’t be providing these and she’ll want them to shuffle to the bathroom as well as keep her feet warm.
• Distractions- You know best what these are – but keep them to a packable size.  Bringing the PlayStation along to the hospital isn’t the most sensible choice.  Try Sudoku puzzles, an iPod, magazines – the sensationalist trashy kind, a laptop to surf the web as well as play DVDs, and clearly any DVDs you might want to bring along.  Me?  I’ll be bringing Baby Mama and Knocked Up- two of my wife’s favorite Judd Apetow films.
• Ipod and Speakers- This is both for after delivery as well as during labor.  A great activity for the weeks before your baby is due is to put together a playlist with your wife for the delivery room.
• Camera/Video Camera – You’ll want to capture these moments.  So will she.
• Toss-away nightgown – She may be fine with using the hospital-provided gown, but having her own nightgown might be a comfort for your wife.  Keep in mind that if she’s wearing it on the delivery room table, she won’t want to take it home with her.  It will be a complete mess and should be thrown away.  Ask your wife if this is something she wants to do, and if so find out her favorite brand and get one for her.  Be sure to get it decently long, soft and roomy.
• Stopwatch – OK, so this is more for you than it is her.  Go by your local sporting goods store and pick up a stopwatch.  Or if you’d rather, a watch with a second-hand will suffice.  You’ll need this to time contractions.  Just think, though – you can use it for helping train your little track or football star when he or she gets older.
• Granny-panties – After the trauma and effort of labor and delivery, the most comfortable thing for her bottom and girl parts are some big, comfy granny-panties.  When she puts them on, she’ll love you for bringing them.  Bring about 5 pairs to cover your hospital stay.
• Cell phone, battery charger, and address book- Included in this is a pre-labor exercise for you two at around week 25 or 30.  You and your wife need to sit down and discuss who (and in what order) will need to be called to inform them of either the fact that you’ve gone into labor, or you’ve just had your baby.  Getting this down ahead of time will ensure that you don’t stress over it when the time comes, and that no one is left out or feels slighted.
• Special treat/snacks for after delivery – For my little lady, it’ll be Cheetos, Chips Ahoy (the good kind), Kit Kats, and M&Ms.  Though, I know she’s going to want sushi for her first post-delivery meal.
• Your own pillow(s) for after delivery – You may be able to tour the hospital and facilities prior to giving birth – maybe in conjunction with a birthing class, but I’m going to guess that lying on the hospital beds isn’t part of the tour.  Many hospitals have historically gone the sanitary-easy-to-clean-but-feels-like-sleeping-on-a-marble-slab pillows for their patients.  Rest assured that your wife will thank you and rest more easily with her own pillow or pillows.  Bring them in the car and then run out for them after your wife delivers and she’s settled into the hospital room.
• Clean nightgown or PJs for after delivery- Remember that the nightgown she wears during delivery will be tossed afterwards.  Bring some clean PJs for her to change into - maybe a cotton nightgown or some cotton pajama pants and a t-shirt.  Want to get the award for sappy husband of the year (I’m a contender for the award, most definitely)?  Buy her some very special PJs just for the occasion.  Maybe ones that have babies on them, or are pink or blue…
• Heavy-flow Maxipads – There will be discharge that would fall into the heavy category after your wife delivers the baby.  Have these packed for this.
• Going-home-outfit for the baby – This should A) be cute, just because; and B) include a hat, socks, and a receiving blanket.
• Going-home-outfit for your wife – We’re talking clothes for comfort not style.  Get some guidance from her on this.
• Going-home-shoes for your wife – Flat, slip-on shoes will be the most comfortable for your wife.  Flops are always a good option.
• Car Seat – This should meet the minimum current federal requirements, be installed correctly (be sure on this), and be ready and installed for when you leave with the baby.  Just a heads-up, you can’t take the baby home unless it meets the criteria just stated, so make sure you get this one done perfectly.
• Cash - Especially $1’s.  There will be vending machines relatively close to your hospital room.  You’ll want to have small dollar currency to be able to get your wife the pack of Nabs or yourself that Coke during your stay.  Go ahead and bring a good $20 or so dollars in $1 dollar bills.  Odd are that a single vending machine item will be ridiculously expensive.  If you are a frugal father, considering picking up sodas from the grocery store and having those available to bring in after the baby is born.  If I know my wife, she’ll want a cold Diet Coke over ice, and my guess is that they’ll be a heck of a lot cheaper at your local grocery store than in the vending machines at the hospital.
• Clothes and distractions for you:
  • Comfortable shoes
  • 2 changes of clothes.
  • A bathing suit (if you have a water birth or want to shower with your wife without being the scandalous couple at the hospital)
  • Toiletries (i.e. deodorant, your own toothbrush, etc.)
  • Powder or lotion for massaging your lady during labor (you’ll learn about this during your birthing classes…you are taking those, correct?)
  • Tennis ball (this is awesome for lower back massages which you’ll want to give your wife during labor)
  • A handkerchief (to cry into when she screams emasculating remarks at you during delivery) – just kidding,…sort of.

If necessary you can always make a run home for more stuff, but if you stay in the room with her, you may wish you had these things.  In addition, be sure to bring distractions for you.  Your wife will be in an exhaustion-induced sleep, and you will be in an adrenalin-induced state of bouncing off the walls.  Keep yourself entertained by bringing along a book, a journal, a laptop, or a crossword puzzle.

Download a checklist that you can use here. (39.9kb, PDF)

Good luck, RookieDads!

RookieDad Sean

We all know what a honeymoon is.  Extrapolate the concept of celebrating a life-changing event with the foci of a new family and a beloved addition in utero, and you have the “babymoon.”  Coined in 1996 in The Year After Childbirth by Sheila Kitzinger, the concept hadn’t reached mass popularity until the later half of the 2000’s, but now an entire subset of the travel industry is popping up around the babymoon, and new sites are now out there 100% dedicated to the concept.  Primetime news sites are featuring exposes on the new trend such CBS News, ABC News and the NY Times, and even Fodor’s and Frommer’s communities are getting into the action.   Clearly such ubiquitous parent sites as babycenter.com and parenting.com are highlighting the trend.

So, why take a babymoon in the 2nd trimester?

Aside from the obvious celebrating the impending bundle of joy, there are several good reasons to take a babymoon…

• The best time your wife is going to feel is in the 2nd trimester.  The nausea subsides, the heartburn cools, and her tiredness even improves.  (Want to know the cause of those physical afflictions? Check out my post on Pregnancy Hormones…)
• You can still fly.  Doctors typically don’t advise against flying until well into the 3rd trimester.  That means she’s feeling good AND can travel.  There’s only a small window for this during the pregnancy, so take advantage.
• Quiet time for mommy and daddy.  We all know life is going to get picked up by the tail flipped up in the air and do a perfectly executed face-plant.  With all the change and craziness to come over the next 18 years, a babymoon is a perfect time to enjoy your wife before the kids come into the picture.
• 2nd Trimester Sex.  Somewhere between raging hormones and actually feeling good, and right at the intersection of feeling overwhelming love for her husband and sensitivity of certain parts of her anatomy – that’s where libido comes back into the picture.  It’s a mystical, magical and wonderful gift to new dads.   Just when you’ve accepted celibacy for nine months, guess what?  The heavens have smiled upon you because your wife starts to get that itch again in the 2nd trimester.  Take advantage of it, fellas.  Want to make it more special for her while increasing your likelihood for action?  Romance the mommy-to-be in a location away from home where she’s less likely to get distracted by her nesting impulse.

There are even more reasons that I’m sure you can think of, but do be sure to take into account the below considerations if you decide to take your beloved on one of these…

• Some airlines require a doctor’s note to fly if you are at a certain point in pregnancy – usually late 2nd trimester to 3rd trimester.
• Some destinations are not preggers-friendly, and may require vaccinations.
• Long travel times are not only uncomfortable for pregnant mommies but also potentially dangerous - make sure she gets up every hour or so to stretch her legs and walk the aisles.  Embolisms can result from pooling if she sits too long.   This goes for long drives as well.
• Decent medical facilities are a must.  Do not go where quality care is not readily available.
• Consider cancellation insurance on your flight and travel arrangements, but read the fine print.  Many plans don’t include pregnancy as a valid medical reason for cancellation.
• Be sure she can eat a variety of good stuff.  If you go to a tropical location, be sure there’s more than just fish available – she’s constrained to 12oz a week of mercury-prone sea-food (i.e. tuna, grouper, mahi, tilapia, hog fish, snapper, etc.).
• Be sure you take plenty of sun screen, keep her hydrated and cool, and keep your OB’s number on speed dial.  Pregnant mothers are not only prone to burning more easily, but with elevated core temps and increased blood pressure, the risk for dehydration, heat exhaustian and heat stroke increase big time for your honey.  Keep hydrating fluids coming (water, not soda), and force her to cool down as often as possible.  Honey, I know you’ll protest this, but it is written and it so.  You can’t fry yourself in the sun regardless of how much you love to lay out.
• When traveling to crowded places, let your protective and chivalrous side shine.  Walk in front of her and don’t be afraid to be gruff or throw a shoulder if need be to keep unwanted drunkards from bumping into and possibly knocking down your wife.  You can say “excuse me” after the danger is averted.

Overall, with a little foresight, planning, and prepartion, you two can take a trip that is romantic, relaxing, celebratory, and fun – and a great way to create a lovely memory before you bring your little one into the world.

Looking for more information or babymoon planning assistance?  Some sites that have made it their business to provide babymoon bookings, advice and help include:

• babymoonguide.com
• babymoonfinder.com
• baby-moon.eu

Regardless of whether it’s across the world, or a couple nights at a nearby hotel, this new trend is gaining traction as a common part of pregnancy for the expecting parents of the 21st century.

Besides, an excuse to go on vacation and have some romantic time with my wife?  No brainer from where I’m sitting. 

-RookieDad Sean

These guys are awesome.  Take two guys, mix in frustration over not having any diaper bags that work with the guy in mind, and in one part masculinity and one part ingenuity, and what you get is the dadgear.com products.  These products are so cool that every hip rookiedad should get something like this for the gadget/innovation factor alone.

Highlighted at www.dadgear.com of particular interest are the messenger bags and the fleece vests.  What I especially like are the patent-pending built-in diaper wipes of the messenger bag and the built-in slim, sleek diaper changing pad that slips out of the back zippered area of the fleeces.

Let’s talk about the messenger bag first.

This thing is available in many cool styles.  For those guys thinking they’ll be relegated to the Kate Spade quilted diaper bag, specially made to immasculate any guy, put that out of your head.  The designs of this are sweet.  My favorite is “Dead Man’s Party”:

But there are a ton of designs available.  Some really unique features of the bag include a very compact and sleek diaper changing pad, enough pockets to house any number of must-haves from bottles and passies, to fresh diapers and toys.  A front pocket on the flap provides ample space for the random Sports Illustrated, Men’s Health or Fortune, and a wide strap ensures that all of the weight of the bag is distributed across the shoulder instead of thin strip of a strap cutting into you.  The best part of the bag is a quick access case for diaper wipes.  A patent-pending design allows for wipe refills while a clip-cover holds the wipes in place with a quick-to-open plastic flip lid.  This bag is not for amatuers.  It gets a 5 out of 5 stars from me for the coolness factor alone.  Honey – if you are reading this – be aware that I will be buying this thing unless you get it for me for our anniversary.  This thing is frickin’ awesome.  Other shots of the product are below….

Another cool product is their RookieDad-oriented fleece vests and jackets.  Though the wipes case is not quite as cool on these – just a pocket for compact wipes, the jackets and vests do feature a very cool back pocket across the lower back that houses the same-style compact changing pad.  No argument about it, this is not just a fleece vest.  It is designed with the dad in mind, with ample mesh pockets on the inside panels to fit several changes of diapers.  Don the vest, and you are good to go.  4 out of 5 stars for me.  The only way they could make it better is if they fashioned the diaper wipes to be quick-draw as in the messenger bag.  And for those fellas prone to be hot-natured, it would be nice if the pits and neck were breathable like most Patagonia vests and jackets.  All the same, a very cool product.

Messenger bag and vests run about $80 at www.dadgear.com.

Alright, I’m loving this gadget I got H. for Mother’s Day ‘09 (my wife’s first Mother’s Day as a real mother!).  Essentially it is a highdef microphone localized under volume control with frequency-based ear phones that come in a set of two and plug into dual audio jacks on the front of the audio monitor.  This is an excellent device to – if nothing else – give you a reason to snuggle up together, block out the noise of the day, and strain to make out the beat of your baby’s heart.

Since we’re only at the start of the second trimester, largely what we’re hearing is the gurgling of her digestion, but the product promises that by the third trimester you can hear the actual heart beat and even the sound of nutrients passing through the placenta and hiccups from the baby.  What makes the product enticing is also the difference in how the sound resonates.  At the doctor, you hear Doppler or regenerated resonance of the sounds in the womb.  These give you the whooshing whokomp-whokomp-whokomp sound that you hear when the nurse presses the mic into your wife’s abdomen.  The sound you are supposed to hear from the audio output of BebeSounds is the actual sound of the heartBeat – as if you pressed your ear to the child’s chest.

Other plusses of BebeSounds are those that appeal to the parents who are looking to raise a Harvard grad – a guy can dream, right?  Included in the package is a band that velcros around the mother’s belly, under which the parents can slip speaker paddles that can be positioned on either side of the womb.  Through these you can either play the included classical CD with songs specifically selected to stimulate baby response and reactivity, or you be creative and play anything you like, including using the supplied microphone to talk to the baby.  Hundreds of case studies speak to the benefits of in utero parental voice recognition conditioning for post-delivery babies, its calming effects, and the speed of recognition of parents voices.  Case in point, dads get the shaft.  It may be easy to get our feelings hurt because the new born often takes time (one statistic says up to 4 weeks) to recognize and seek out the voice of the father.  This is an excellent opportunity to start conditioning the baby to recognize your voice now.

For music lovers, this is also the opportunity to condition your baby to the music that you love.  It’s a known fact that many types of music stimulate very exaggerated response from fetuses.  Many mothers who have attended live classical concerts have reported that they have had to leave early due to their baby’s kicking – and some have reported in utero movement (kicking) in time with the music.  For audiophiles like myself and my wife, we plan to take this opportunity to see if the baby has a similar response to some of our favorite musicians.  At the very least, a preconditioning of this sort may allow for us to put on some of our favorite music and enjoy it while having a dual effect of calming the baby.   I’m in the midst now of creating a mix on the iPod of some classic Jimmy Buffet (the less up-beat songs), John Prine, Todd Snider, Hayes Carll, Jerry Jeff Walker, Marc Cohn, James Taylor, Jimmy Hendrix, Ella Fitgerald, and other eclectic mashups of artists.  I’ll report back with whether the baby responds to one artist or type of music over another.

BebeSounds Prenatal Heart Listener and microphone set runs about $40 at your local Babies’R'Us.  BRU (that’s text-speak for Babies’R'Us) rates the product 2 out of 5 stars – maybe because it takes until the third trimester on average for parents to actually hear the heartbeat.  Nonetheless, we like the product aso far nd I’d go with 3 or 4 out of 5 stars for the product, for the bonding-with-wife factor alone.  Enjoy!

BebeSounds Heart Listener

I’m a gadget guy by nature, and having a pregnant wife and impending bundle of joy has opened up an ENTIRELY new world of fun, gadgety things to get. Check out some of my top picks and the uber wish list of dad gear here.

-RookieDad Sean