It's a Girl!
 

We had a baby girl on 01/02/08!!! Deanna Marie Banks
http://www.smoothdesigners.com/Baby/

Anyway, I wanted to do something special for the mother any ideas? We have plenty of things coming up, her birthday is in just over a week, then V day and so on. So any suggestions on some special things I can do for her would be great.

Congratulations!

Give her a chance to sleep.

First of all, congratulations! You and I should form a new parents support group for the sleep-deprived.

Things you can do "for" her? How about take the kid for 3 or 4 hours with a bottle so she can go get her toes done or whatever strikes her fancy? Hire someone to do all the cleaning for a couple of weeks? Take her shopping (without the kid) for post-pregnancy clothes?

Seriously, this is cool. I'm very happy for you both.

I would love to take her out. But she's currently stuck in house. She had a bad rip when Deanna was born and is still bleeding. But when the bleeding stops and she's able to go out for real i'm planning on sending her to the spa and taking her our for a drink.

Congratulations to you too Jazz. 4 hours of sleep ek. But my coffee addiction takes care of that. Though I have problems staying awake at night when she wants to spend time with me.

The hardest part so far is that she sleeps while i'm at work so both of my girls are up almost all night and they expect me to stay up too.

Congrats!!!

That spa idea sounds awesome. In the meantime, you should take baby into a far corner of the house for a full 6 hours and tend to her yourself so the ludky mommy can get some real rest - now there's a super special gift!

Mazel tov!!!

You get 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep? You lucky dog! My guy tops out at 3 1/2 and at night is usually up 3 or 4 times between midnight and 6 when I leave for work. Thankfully my wife understands and tries to make sure that I get more rest since I'm the breadwinner. We have a team approach on the weekends, but weekdays she's taking all the childcare on herself. That's not to say that my coffee intake hasn't gone from 2 cups to 5 cups a day in the last 2 week, though.

If your wife can't go out, then I think that you might consider bringing everything to her. Maybe you could get a massuese to come to your house. Craigslist? Go buy a nice bottle of wine and share it after she's finished feeding your daughter? You could even hire a chef to cook a gourmet meal if it fits your budget. If not, you could do takeout from a nice place or something like that.

When faced with this topic myself last time (this one was much easier on her), I asked myself what she was missing the most and then brought it to her. You might even want to discuss it with her if a surprise isn't imperitive.

I am not a father yet, but from what I hear from my female-friends-who-are-mothers, the fact that you are thinking about your wife's needs and trying to do what you can means you are probably doing the right sort of things... and I bet you she's noticing.

I'd add that you should still pay little bits of attention to her, not in a sexual way, but letting her know that you still think she's beautiful etc. Not overwhelming, but little bits.

As The_Jazz said, ask her if you're forgetting anything.

Maybe hire a temporary nanny, if the finances allow... maybe just a couple of days a week, to give the new mom just a little extra rest and recuperation. (QW has been doing this for a young couple through the births and early toddler stage of 2 beautiful daughters. It doesn't seem to interfere with the bonding process, but is really appreciated for the way it lightens the work load)

ps Congrats!! Love them both with all you've got!

Congrats to you both!

All of the above. Cook, clean, feed baby... cater to her.

Spa? Not so much now but maybe in a couple of weeks or once she begins to feel human again.

What a cutie! One of mine had the same lips ... she's gonna be a definite knockout, watch out. ;)

The best gift in the whole world would be to take care of everything while she sleeps/bathes/reads does whatever she needs to do.

Congrats to you!

Happy birthday, and welcome to fatherhood (x2 for some). Remembering that your girl is tired is helpful, as is take out or delivery. Also, just your companionship might be great, whether it is lying in bed, reading the paper, or just being in the same vicinity. For V Day you might want to give her a little book of erotic love poems from India. She might like it.

Congrats! Welcome to the club!

your life as you knew it is over. welcome to a whole new world.
don't expect to get much sleep. conga rats.

Somebody had a Nutragrain bar 9 months ago!

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=130140

Congratulations!

I got 2 girls myself :D

Congrats!!!

Congratulations! Good luck getting some sleep!

Quoted for truth - my wife was happiest when I took the boy/s out and left her to rest at home.

Thanks for all the comments.

I do my best to take care of both of them. She sleeps while i'm at work so getting some of the little things done has been hard but i'll catch up over the weekend when she sleeps.

Yeah it's a whole new life, still getting used to it.

Thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions!

Happy for you

Congrats :thumbsup:

Well, when I was nursing, it was hard to realistically leave the baby for any length of time in the beginning. I'd have been heartily grateful for having my house cleaned and dinner cooked while I nursed though. And footrubs are welcome on *any* occasion.

congrats, I'm sitting in the hospital right now awaiting my second child. hope this one is not as big as the first one... 9lb6oz...