Yeah, so, I'm going to be a dad
 

Life has just taken a hell of a turn. Been seeing this very lovely girl for a while now, and on, of all days, Friday the 13th, I get informed she is pregnant. Needless to say, this was a bit of a shock. And this was with 2 forms of birth control in place. We were keeping a lid on things while she decided which way it was going to go. Well, we're keeping it. The bitter bastard is about to have a bastard of his own. :D I am, in the end, excited about this. When I'm not in the middle of a "oh my fucking god I'm going to be a dad" freak out. I always planned on having kids someday, just wasn't expecting it to be this someday. We had our first doctors appointment on the 30th. Kids isn't even out of the womb and it's already fucking with me. While I had stepped out of the room to use the bathroom real quick the listened for the heart beat. Picked it up real quick. When I came back in the kid moved and they couldn't find it again. I get the feeling this is just a nice foreshadowing of the next 18 or so years. I swear, I don't think I've ever been so excited and scared shitless all at the same time before.

Congratulations.

Take some time to think about what kind of father you want to be. There are plenty of Tilted fathers who I'm sure would be more than willing to share what we've learned from experience.

Congrats, my friend.

Children are a gift, and from how excited you are, I know you'll treasure yours. I'll be calling on you for advice in four or so years, so take notes. :)

As Willravel said, think about the kind of father you want to be, as well as the kind of adult youd like to see your child become. Raising a Citizen of the World can occasionally be challenging, mostly though its a blast! It will take over your world.

How lucky are you!? You are about to fall in love.

Guess you can toss that avatar....wouldn't want your kid to go to therapy over that!! :D
Congrats. Having kids is very scary and being scared can be a good thing and it's much better than being indifferent.
What I would say to anyone becoming a parent is:
Be a part of the pregnancy.
Let your kid be a kid, in all phases of his or her childhood.
Be the parent, but let your long-lost child emerge to once again see the world through your offspring's eyes.
Don't lose your humanity. Humans make mistakes and every parent makes them. But when we don't admit them and don't allow our kids to see us as human beings, we lose their respect.
Relax and go with your gut.

Congrats. It's ok to be scared shitless. Know I was. I was actually in Japan when my daughter was born in Salem, Oregon. My ship headed out on a six month "WestPac" and she was born four months after we left. The first time I met her she was nearly 6mos. old. I drove all night once I got leave to see her. I walk in the house at around 7am and my wife handed her to me. I nearly went into shock. I was very happy but for some reason it really hit me... "Now what? Now, now I'm completely responsible for another human being? Gez, I'm barely able to be responsible for myself."

Once I relaxed a little it pretty much all fell into place. Though I must admit to second guessing many of my second guesses.

I'm very happy with the person she is today. She'll be 22 at the end of this month.

Congratulations! I would impart advice, but really. Enjoy this moment.

Pregnancy happens fast. Find a good hospital and go to the classes. My wife is now 38 weeks pregnant, and it seems like we were just looking at that little blue + yesterday.

My biggest advice: take care of yourself too. I gained 25lbs because of the periods where I had to eat junk food since the house couldn't smell like cooking :(

Congrats! The good news is that you still have nearly nine months to contemplate both your future and that of your child. You should be both excited and scared shitless. 'Nuff said.

The elusive fetus will surely show him/herself by the next when it's ultrasound time!

Well, our next doctors appointment is on the 30th. It will still be to soon for an ultrasound I think, but hopefully I'll get to hear the heart beat this time. Note to self, take a leak before the appointment next time. As for what kind of father i want to be, I had a pretty good roll model for that one growing up, so I think I have an idea or two. Speaking of, just broke the news to the family a couple night ago. I think they may have been the most fun I could have with this. Got my dad a worlds greatest grandfather tee shirt and let him figure it out from there. So of course, he was wearing it when my mom came home. Once she go around to reading it got a "woohoo" and a happy dance out of her right then and there. The dance repeated itself a few times that night. This kid is going to be spoiled rotten by those two.

Congrats! Good luck man!

Start studying the "Things you can't stand about children" thread so you don't get run out of TFP by the angry mob. But seriously, you'll do just fine.

Congrats and I hope everything goes perfectly for you.

With support like that you'll do great as a father.

Get ready for an adventure.

What a great way of breaking the news to your family!

When you hear about someone who uses two forms of birth control and still gets pregnant, it all comes down to one of two things. No, you weren't careless. If you ovulate twice a month, or release multiple eggs with each ovulation, hormone-based birth control methods such as the pill, ring, patch, shot, etc won't work. They're designed to catch one ovulation. If you naturally superovulate, you're screwed.

Hey Congrats seer. Best of luck - I didn't know you were even near to being in the family way...goes to show what I know around these parts.

Seer - awesome news. Thanks for sharing.

Seer,

you're gong to have a signature just like Jazz's in 9 months time!

oh congrats btw!

That is awesome.

It's good that you guys have got this kind of support behind you.

So, for those of you that are already parents here, how long did it take for you to stop having massive freak outs? Some days the gravity of this just hits me hard. I swear I think I need medication or something.

It is amazing, just became a father here, and it is just awesome, cherish every little thing.

Relax, breathe. The simply fact that you're concerned about this probably means you're going to be a great dad. It's natural to be stressed. But trust me many people have this before you and are most of them are certainly not as bright as you seem to be, you'll be fine.

thanks for the vote of confidence. It's hard as hell not to stress to much though. maybe I should take up yoga or something. Been a hairs breath away from killing one of my coworkers all day. Of course, I end up wanting to kill this guy at least once a week. This last week has been trying though.

Yoga works! I have taken it up recently and it's awesome. I'm sure you will be a great dad. Start reading and soaking up all that good parenting information before the little tyke arrives. Congrats! *hugs*

You don't work for the government do you?

Regardless, co-workers can make or break a job for me. I had a better time flipping burgers at Wendy's and cleaning toilets in the Navy then I did at my last assignment with the State of Oregon. Was there for five years, five of the longest years of my life. Mainly because of one co-worker, though she had two friends (least they thought they were friends, the shit she said about them when they were gone... gez, don't even get me started.) The group of them made everyone else's life miserable, IMHO. Prior to that I worked out of another courthouse where everybody clicked. Worked there nearly three times as long, those years flew by.

Plummie's probably right about the yoga. I've never done it. But I think any type of exercise helps with stress. If nothing else get a heavy bag, some gloves and beat the crap of it a few times a week.

Not anymore Tully. Used to be navy, but got out. First tour was pretty awesome. Second one burned my out from working for to many shit bags. I know just what you mean about people co-workers making or breaking a job. I swear I just can't get a break thought. My main form of stress reliese these days is COD4. Nothing like shooting a few people to make you feel better. Well, my xbox just became a rexbox. fucking red ringed on me. Sigh.

Yoga does work. I use it to control my stress/anxiety problems and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's not only destressing in and of itself, but it teaches mindfulness, which is very helpful in other situations (like work). Exercise also works wonders--riding my bike is helpful, so is hitting a tennis ball, and kicking a soccer ball. Physical activity helps you unwind and it releases happy happy endorphins. Yay.

And congratulations.

Yeah what snowy said with the qualifier that I still don't know jack about yoga. I also don't know what COD4 is, sounds like video game? I have an Xbox, my kid bought it for me for Christmas. I'd never tell her this but I use it solely for watching region 1 DVD's. You might try doing some actual physical to get out that stress, though I highly advise against shooting people.

Navy here too, out in 87' as an HT2 after four years. I might have been a lifer but my daughter, as I said, was born in Oregon while I sat in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan (I may have even spelled that wright, or is it right?) On a ship of nearly 1300 people when the Dr. called I was the one to answer the phone. I hear a guy on the other end of the phone "I'm trying to locate a Petty Officer Mars." "That's me." "No, I'm looking for a PO Tully Mars." "You're speaking with him." "From Salem, Oregon?" "Yes, yes- what the hell do you want?" Of course he used my real name, but it was an odd conversation, with a happy ending. About three hours later, in berthing, the chaplain showed up to give me the good news. I had to go topside and show him it was my signature in the ships log detailing the call before he believed me.

I was in Yokosuka as well. I was a CTR when I was in. Loved being in Japan. It was being in Hawaii that killed my staying in the navy. Never go there if you can help it. And COD4 is a game. Call of Duty 4. Lot's of fun. I spend all day busting my ass in a warehouse right now, so I get's lots of physical activity. Hence why I like gaming to unwind. Low key, and half the time I don't have much energy for more when I get home.
That is hiliarious about you being the one to get the call. Given the number of people I'm guessing you were on the carrier over there. Was it the Indie that was there before the Kitty Hawk?

Crypto guy, makes sense.

That's funny I have Call Of Duty 3, obviously don't play it came with the box.

No not a bird farm. I really think CVN's have more people then 1300. I was on a AD- Destroyer Tender. Repair ship, we spent months in Yokosuka working on the Kitty Hawk- AKA the "Shitty Kitty." That was the one WestPac I was on we didn't hit 10+ ports. That was the nice thing about my ship, our job couldn't be done at sea. So we bee lined it from one port to the next. Fours years and the longest time at sea was 23 days- Diego Garica to Indonesia. On that float the only movie we left Diego with was "The Man From Snowy River." After a little over a week of it playing nightly on the mess deck they assigned different roles to folks and the crew provided the words, line by line. I had Kirk Douglas' part for a couple nights. When I got home my parents had my wife and I over, they rented that video. I told my wife I've seen it. But I sat and watched all while thinking "God I'm sick of this freaking movie!" I told them I'd return the video. When I got home I put it in the VCR, turn off the sound and showed my wife "see I've not only seen it, I can repeat every freaking word."

The CV's have up to 5000 when the air wing is on them. About half that without. When I was over there though, all the other ships were small boys, so the kitty was the only one with that many or more is why I thought it may have been the carrier. Had pretty much the same thing happen to me movie wise, only it was Scary Movie for me. I still can't watch that damn movie. Every god damn day for 2 months.

Me be a dad for the first time come November, but this was all planned, no surprises here.

So far, I've found this to be a good time to examine my character and decide what kind of adult I plan to be. I'm plotting out every possible mistake, knowing full well that they will still be made.

We don't come to this young, we're both 40 (born on the same day!).

There is a disturbing lack of Transformers baby stuff out there.

So, I guess this will be a question for the mods. WOuld an ultrasounds fall under the same ruling as pictures of kids? Be a little while before we get one, but wondering about that one for sharing.

An ultrasound is NOT a picture of a kid. You need to be born to be a child. Before then, you're a parasite.

Seriously, an ultrasound is generally not recognizable as a child, so go ahead. I will say that you should be prepared for some to tell you that it's more appropriate as a blog entry, but that's your problem, not mine.

OMFG. We are at the hospital and I just got to hear the little shits heart beat. that is so amazing and cool.

OH MY FUCKING GOD! I am so happy for you! Glad to know the parasite lives and beats.

Youre gonna have a rockin good time as a dad.

The last message just made me smile.

I'm glad you're excited dude, congrats.

We heard the heartbeat about four weeks ago. We heard it again last Firday, and saw an outline of the body. it is now viable outside the womb. The more I hear and see, the more it seems real.

Due 11/20/08. This will be the only Autumn baby in the fam.

Congrats, Seer!!!

And I just wanted to say that it makes me smile to see so many excited dads here... :) It's awesome to see how you all feel/felt before the baby was born, since women tend to only hear about other women's stories of pregnancy, delivery, etc. It's great to hear from the other side, what you're going through. :thumbsup:

Autumn babies are fine Poppinjay. Mary was born on the first day of Fall and her birthday parties often took place in an orchard picking apples and then going home to make crisp (and everone took home their apples). Picking apples with a bunch of kids and then baking and eating with them is riotous. They were really so fun that Mary and her friends continued the tradition in high school and now as adults.

You have wonderful times ahead.

OMG OMG. We just got the ultrasound done and holy shit! TWINS!!! Both boys!

Cool! Double trouble :p

NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now im reallllllllllllly excited!

being a twin myself, i think this is really cool! i couldnt see myself being as happy had i not been a twin.

count yourself , and them lucky!

great news seer! keep us posted with regular updates

HOLY SHIT INDEED!!! Congratulations on the two-fer-one!!! :D

Congrats! We've had bunches of ultrasounds. So far, ten fingers ten toes and a kickstand.

Twins are lots of work. Prepare for exhaustion. :D

So, just to make this even more like a bad "she's having a baby" film....

When we left the doctors office, I headed to work. Now, this is on the other side of town and i am still in such a state of shock that I am pretty sure I was talking incoherently to myself while I was driving. I notice that behind me is a nice man on a motorcycle in uniform. I don't think much of it, untill he follows behind me for about 5 miles. Sure enough, he hits the lights, and I pull over.

Do you know why I pulled you over?

No sir.

Your registration is expired.

Oh damnit.

Do you have a current copy of it in your car?

Um....

At this point I am so shell shocked it takes me 5 tries to get the damn glove box open. Needless to say, the nice officer notices this.


You ok sir? What's wrong?

I'm having twins. (At which point I hold up the ultrasound pictures)

Holy shit, that is some news when did you find out?

20 minutes ago.

Oooooh. You have your drivers license?

*hand license over*

I'll be right back.

He goes and runs my license and I proceed to try and put everything back in the glove box, which is WAY beyond my motor control at this point.

Sir, your registration IS expired. Promise me you will get it taken care of and I won't give you a ticket. You're going to need that money for those twins.

Sometimes, I just freakin love the Tucson PD. A couple days later though, and I can't stop laughing about this. Oh, and and it turns out my registration expired in JUNE. This was one awesome freaking cop.

Wow, good luck is on your side.

And here they are folks. The anti-christs themselves. Cute little buggers aren't they?

Baby A http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...ageID=44013583

Baby B http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...ageID=44013586

(just linking them till I can get them to post here)

Congratulations, can tell you are just a little excited. Hang on though, it is going to be quite the ride.

Well, no new developments so far. Just getting used to the idea of twins. Will be on vacation come Friday. That will be nice. Get to take her back to the east coast with me and introduce her to my family out there. I swear, she is going to be treated like royalty for the next week. Mostly just wanted to take a minute and say thanks to all the outpouring of support and well wishes. This is the most exciting and scary time of my life. Not really sure which way is up some days. Reading your guys messages always puts a smile on my face and helps me calm down a touch. Thanks much to all.

And congrats to you poppinjay. Considered Seer for a middle name yet? :D

Congrats ,kids are a whole lotta fun and hard work ,mostly fun though.

I remember seeing my daughter for the 1st time on an ultrasound. No joke, she was giving us the thumbs up!
Best suggestion I have is concentrate on one day at a time. Try to learn what you can in advance. Be guided by what you learn,
but listen to your own heart as well. This is one of those cases is where being there is the most important thing. Listen to your SO carefully, she needs you to help. Not in an intrusive manner (Are you okay? Every 2 secs.), but quietly go about cleaning up, cooking,
and LISTENING. You think you are scared? These parasites are growing inside her.
Dude, we want to have another. It has been a rocky ride (my fault but I'm working it out) but one I wouldn't trade for the world.

Have you seen these?

Add to Cart

It's a monitor that you can use to hear your baby's heartbeat anytime. Mine came with 2 headsets. I remember waking from a nap while pregnant with our 3rd (and last!), and our other two kids were standing beside my bed, monitor in hand, headsets aleady on their heads. They were going to listen to the baby while I slept. It does pick up all kinds of other noises, so it can be tricky to find. But it's kind of fun.

So how far along are your kids now? Any advice you can give from your recent experiences?

update time again. So far the boys are doing well. We have another ultrasound in a couple of weeks. Hoping we can put it off until Dec 1st though. Her insurance rolls over then, and if we can hold off safely, then it will be 500 bucks less we have to pay. And right now, money is a big deal. It's been a rough few weeks. Someone busted into my car and tossed it. Got my GPS. $350 out the window there, plus another 170 to fix the window they smashed to get in. Shortly there after, I got laid off from work. Filed for unemployment for the first time in my life, which I really hate. And got told I "don't qualify". That should be fixed once I take in my dd-214 so then can add in my military wages from the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2007, but it still just pisses me off. And she makes to much to qualify for most financial help, but yet not enough to keep more then just barely afloat. We should both be just start doing drugs and not working, then we can make the government pay for everything. One thing I have learned. the system fucking sucks. Only way you can get any real help is to be never have worked a fucking day in your life.

was hoping i'd see a more jubilant post when i saw that you had posted again. sorry to hear about your woes mate. it does suck. apparently kids suck the pennies even after they're born too.

i do hope you dig yourself out of this one soon. we're all cheering for you!

keep us posted bud

Well Things are starting to look better. Decided to make the most of the timing on getting laid off, and you are looking at an official college student. Once class starts in Jan I'll be pulling in my GI bill money, which, sadly, will be more then I was making when I was working. Should give me 2 years of school without having to worry about money. That will be nice indeed. It's going to be a rough couple of months, but that light at the end of the tunnel is starting to get closer. And I got kicked in the face by my boys last night while we were watching TV. That was AWESOME. Last few days they've been really active. Got kicked 6 times in 5 minutes when we went to bed last night. I really feel bad for her having to deal with that all the time, but it was really freaking cool to me.

Its probably freakin cool to her too!

Feeling those Kicks must be fun - good to hear that you're furthering your education. I was a little baby when my dad got his bachelor's degree. We have all sorts of great photos of him holding me in his cap & gown.

Well, I'm pretty sure it is cool for her to, but I don't get woken up every night by them kicking e in the bladder, so I feel bad she has to deal with that. I am glad it's not me. :P
Not that she's the only one dealing with issues from it. We both are stressed out by bills and making sure we have the place ready for them. Me being out of work also makes me feel like a freeloading bum. But, she is really supportive of my going back to school, and has been very understanding of the situation. I couldn't ask for a better person to have this happen with. I really am lucky in some ways. Now if only that luck would transition over into winning the lotto.

Congrats. I've got twin boys. They are 6 now. I actually think it's easier to have twins than the normal two year gap. Sure the first 12-18 months are hard work and yes it's more expensive but you get all the sleepless nights and stinky nappies (diapers) over with quickly. They also play better together. Kids need a lot of attention and with twins you avoid a two year period when one is old enough to want someone to play with but the other is too young to play with him. Gives you a bit of a break - well not much of a break but heck it will feel like a weeks holiday when they are happily playing together.

We were never fortunate (I hate the word blessed). Congrats to Seer, & Poppinjay!

Geoff Ben, 10:22am 8 pounds 12 ounces, healthy, happy, and a heartbreaker.

Congratulations!!!! Healthy and happy are great, heartbreaker's just a bonus.

Oh, awesome! Congratulations and good luck. You're going to need it ;)

This whole thread makes me smile. We're talking huge, dopey, goofy smile. Much congrats on the new arrival, Poppinjay! And Seer, I look forward to more updates! Woohoo!

Welcome Geoff Ben!
How lucky you are.

COOL! :thumbsup:

wow great news... so is that geoff AND ben? or just geoff ben?

you need a new signature under your post similar to Jazz

OUTSTANDING! Congrats man. Gotten any sleep sense? :)

You mean those are supposed to stop????? My kids are 18,17 and 14 and I STILL get massive freak outs on a weekly basis....

Congrats tho. being a father is something to treasure....best advice I can give is to rememer a quote that my mom gave to me years ago when I became a father for the first time...."Welcome to the end of living your life for you, for now you must live your life for your child" At first it sounded harsh, but as I grew older the wisdom of that statement has made itself apparent.

Well, the babies should be here any day now. She's been carrying them like a trooper. We're at 37 weeks now. Doc says if she makes it to 38, they are going to induce her. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to have to be done via C section. While baby A is laying head down and ready to go, baby boy b is what they call transverse
(laying sideways). Other then that though, they are healthy as can be from what all the tests have shown. This ride is almost over, and a new one is about to begin. And yes, I'm still freaking out every week. :P

wow...it freaks me out at the thought of being a dad.

good luck seer. thansk for keeping us updated. being a twin, i follow your thread with earnest. keep us updated will you!

Dude, you need to put them on a sports team or something as they grow up. They can be the next great Twins!

Congrats.

Actually, planning on putting them into martial arts. Maybe they will be the new Chuck Noris x 2.

Only every week? Sounds as though you're doing OK :).

As many others have said, keep us posted!

Well, if it wasn't for all the support I've been getting from friends and family, and ample time with my xbox to keep my brain shut down, it would pretty much ever other hour.


That said...


Just got back from the doctors office, and we have a date. As expected, it will be done via C section. So, provided they don't decide to show up sooner, my baby boys will be here on the 20th. Which proves they are mine, because that is also my first night of classes, and only my kids would make sure to pick the most disruptive time possible to show up. I'm already proud of them. Bastards. :)

ive decided that if i get twins im going to name my kids machu and pichu after the place in peru. she-lish wasnt impressed.

20th you say? i was born on the 18th jan. tell em to push harder dammit!

Don't feel bad. My suggestions of Bruce and Wayne and Clark and Kent got shot down off the get go.

How about...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1129/...a690a4.jpg?v=0

:D

HAHAHA! Those are freaking awesome!

Well, it' 0030 right now, and in 3 and a half hours I have to get up and go to the hospital and become a father. Needless to say, I am shitting myself right now. I am so looking forward to meeting these little guys, but these last few hours of waiting are the most stressful few hours of my life. Christ, this is going t be one hell of a day. And on the bright side of things, I don't have to put that retarded monkey Bush down as the president in their baby books. It's going to be a good day.

An early congratulations! When we had our twins (C-section) I was overwhelmed by the number of people in the room. Counting everyone, including two assisting students we had 14 people working in the delivery room! Sit with and comfort your wife until delivery, then stay with the twins until you are re-united. I'm sure she'll agree you should be watching then.

For her a little needle-work and some rest is required before you'll join her as a family.

Best wishes for you all :)

Hey congrats seer: Hope you got enough sleep up until about 9 months ago...that crap's over now buddy. Best wishes to you, your lady, and the new additions.

Congrats man! Best wishes to all.

Hope everything went smoothly.

Good luck getting some sleep, too!

Looking forward to an update, & hopefully some photos.

Mojo to you, your wife, & the twins!!

Wow, what a day. It is my great pleasure to announce that at 0813 and 0814 this morning, Thomas James and Ethan Hunter entered this world screaming and kicking. They and their mommy are doing well, and all of us thank you for all you well wishes. And the are fraternal, BTW. With luck I'll have a link up with some photots in a couple days.

oh, wow... all kinds of congratulations and good wishes! Woo!

wow seer!

i think we are as excited as you are..we dont get many births here, so i think its great to add more people to the TFP family!

Well, was able to get long enough of a break to upload a picture to my myspace, so, meet my sons folks.
MySpace.com - Father Diablo My boys - Photo 3 of 3

Got the little ones home last night. And haven't slept sense. It is going to be a long year. Between these guys and school, I am going to go gray in no time. it's so worth it though. And just cause I can't help but brag and show off the little buggers, I got some more pictures of the big day up.
MySpace.com - Father Diablo My boys

Thanks again to all the well wishes and support. Every bit helps. :)

Those are some nice looking kids.

You've got that crazy-exhausted new parent look on your face.

Congrats.

Congrats on the kids!

I both can't wait to be a father and hope that day doesn't come for a really, really long time.

Such cute pictures! The names you chose are great. Ethan is my favorite name. Good luck with the kiddos and school.

Very cool. You're going to be a great dad.


Get used to the lack of sleep thing. You'll go back to regular full nights of sleep sometimes after they graduate from college. Though there should be a pretty good chance for normal sleep between the ages of about four and twelve. Meh, maybe thirteen.

I guess I got taken away with the activities. Ben is healthy, fine, and approaching 4 moths old. I mean four MONTHS. I hope moths live to be really old.

So much has happened, job change, life change, exploring poverty.....

But he's good and healthy.

I could write a book on all this but I'll save it for the blog so as not to bore everybody.

I know what you mean.The boys are 8 weeks old today, and it's totally a life changing event. The fact they they showed up the same day I started college doesn't help the stress levels any, but it's so worth it.