Well, that’s a wrap on my Major Learning Project! I have taken so much away from this Project throughout the fall semester of EC&I 831! At the beginning of this class, I was really struggling with finding a topic that I wanted to learn more about, so I reached out to a co-worker for some ideas and she suggested I should do something surrounding pregnancy – I am sure glad I took her suggestion.  I will be the first to admit that I didn’t know much about pregnancy and child development, other than what we had learned in Biology/Science classes in school and University.  

I decided that the best way to organize the majority of my project was to mimic how my wife would be progressing through her pregnancy and use trimesters to outline what is happening during each of these phases.  I supplemented these 4 trimester posts with 3 other posts that outlined various takeaways, routines, and work that we have done in preparation for the arrival of our first baby! 

In my first post, I outlined some of my first resources that I had found to be super helpful in preparation of becoming a dad and what is going to be happening over the next 9 months.  I quickly noticed that there was a significant amount of information out there for new moms (for obvious reasons) but there wasn’t the same amount of information out there for new dads.  I shared a resource, We’re Pregnant! The First Time Dads Pregnancy Handbook written by Adiran Kulp.  I found it to be extremely helpful in explaining what is happening during a pregnancy.  Within this post, I also outlined how our journey to parenthood began and how my wife surprised me with some of the best news I have ever received.  

My second post focused on a book recommendation that I got from my wife – Like A Mother written by Angela Garbes.  This book takes a look through the female perspective of pregnancy and the many challenges that they are tasked with tackling solely based on the fact that they are biologically going to be growing and delivering babies.  This read was eye opening for me and I had a couple key takeaways.  First, the power of the female body is absolutely amazing! To be able to adapt on the fly and growing another human being is absolutely mesmerizing to me.  Secondly, postpartum care or lack of postpartum care for new moms.  There needs to be an emphasis placed on the physical, mental and emotional recovery of these ladies as their bodies have just been through a traumatic experience in childbirth.  

I didn’t get into the happenings of the trimesters until my third, fourth, fifth and sixth  posts where I outlined most of the happenings of each of the trimesters.  I focused on the growth and development of the fetus as well as the changes that mom will be experiencing throughout each week.  During my 6th post, I learned that the first 3 months were actually considered the FOURTH trimester even though babies are now living in the outside world with the focus of this trimester focused on their continued growth outside of the womb.  

Finally, I capped my project off with my 7th post that was surrounding the set up of baby cues (sleepy and hungry), how to soothe our baby using the 5 S’s, sleep training using the SITBACK and EASY principles, bathing, possible day routines, and some basic information regarding sleeping and eating.  Most of this information was provided through a resource that we were given –  Will I Ever Sleep Again? Creating Healthy Sleep Habits for Your Newborn which is provided by a company Taking Cara Babies.

Comparing where I began this project to where I ended, I feel much more confident and excited about becoming a dad and taking care of a newborn!  At the beginning, I did not have the slightest clue about the intricate details that go along with a pregnancy and taking care of a baby once they have arrived. There will obviously be a lot of learning on the fly that will continue once they arrive, but I feel that this project has better prepared me for it! 

Thanks for following along!

Bret