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Founder Tim Carroll
 

Although we had been trying for a couple of months when she said the words "I'm pregnant" I still went into a state of panic, fear and overwhelming happiness. I was going to be a Dad.

Hiding the pregnancy when we went out was hard, I felt like I was the one getting all the morning sickness. Night after night of secretly drinking Polly's white wine as well as my own beer made for some shocking hangovers.

During the scan the little babies seemed to be quite active and happily bouncing around walls of my wife's uterus, completely oblivious to the emotional volcano they had just erupted on their parents...twins!

When the gynaecologist referred to my wife as the mother, "It's up to your wife, as the mother to...." I suddenly felt very young to be a father. I had only just got comfortable with calling her "wife" life was moving very fast.

Average age of fathers in Australia is 32.9 years.

The world's oldest recorded father is purported to be Australian mine worker, Les Colley, who was 92 years 10 months when he fathered a son, Oswald, in 1992. "I never thought she would get pregnant so easy, but she bloody well did," he told newspapers at the time, referring to his Fijian wife whom he'd met through a dating agency a year earlier.

The average number of disposable nappies that a child will wear up to the age of 2 1/2 years is 7,350

Stuart C;  New Dad  - Top Tips 

  • Say "yes" to everything
  • Get your finances in order
  • Forget what you read in books and go with what you think is right

Tim C; New Dad - Top Tips

  • Have your nights out whilst you still can
  • Avoid changing the really full ones
  • Get finances organised
  • Enjoy every minute, it's a cliche but it does go fast

Jon R; New Dad - Top Tips

  • Do whatever your partner wants
  • Don't expect everything to go as planned

Matthew H; New Dad - Top Tips

The most important thing that I learnt is that it is all my fault. Everything that she is going through is my fault. It doesn't matter if it's my fault or not, it's easier and makes her feel better if I take the blame. No matter what I get into trouble for I just think it's nothing compared to what she's going through. And if nothing I do makes it better then going to a baby shop and letting her buy something always seams to make things better.

 Mike P; New Dad - Top Tips

  • Don't worry - enjoy
  • It just keeps getting better
  • Take the time to talk to others and read up
  • Don't buy too much

Al G; New Dad - Top Tips

  • Give your partner the benifit of the doubt

Matt O; New Dad - Top Tip

Be loving and present, don't blink cos you'll miss it.

Cameron; New Dad - Top Tip

Try and do all you can to give her a rest when you can. If you get tired after an hour with the baby imagine what it is like after 23.

 Matt P; New Dad - Top Tip

Insist on two weeks paternity leave (I regret having only 1 week after a long and ardous labour it didn't give me long with my son).

 Paul K; New Dad - Top Tip

Enjoy every stage, even when the child is crying - just enjoy! Life is to short to skip any part. Friends are saying how theywhere to busy working and now where the child is >10 and above they are getting to be individuals and don't want hugs and are too busy with their friend (which of course is fantastic) though as parents missed out on a lot of the growing up.

 Marcus C; New Dad - Top Tip

Follow your instincts

Jason P; New Dad - Top Tips

There are a few:-

  • Routine is good
  • Never wake a sleeping baby
  • Just when you think you have sussed it, it changes
  • Teething  - is difficult!

Carl P, New Dad - Top Tip

Nothing can prepare you for labour.

James T; New Dad - Top Tip

Babies just cry, you can be doing everything right and nothing wrong but they will still cry. Its not your fault babies cry.

Mike S; New Dad - Top Tip

Be ready for a big surprise. Talk to friends who have been through it recently.

Andrew K; New Dad - Top Tip

Be understanding and enjoy every moment.

Jeff P; New Dad - Top Tip

Relax and avoid commerical advertising you many not need many of the things on the market. Keep it simple.

Richard B; New Dad - Top Tip

At 30 weeks pack your bags because you never know when it might happen. Learn as much as you can, go to all the classes, open your eyes to  everything that potentially could happen. Spend time with your baby alone.

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Tim's Top Tips for Dads-to-be
  1. Be as supportive as you can to your partner
  2. Have loads of nights out whilst you still can
  3. Get financially organised
  4. Buy something for the baby which is just from you
  5. Avoid nappy changing
  6. It’s a cliché but enjoy every second because it goes very fast.

How old where you when you when you became a Dad? 33

Was the pregnancy planned? Yes, my wife had been planning it meticulously!

How did you feel when she first told you she was pregnant? Elated and overjoyed

How long did it take to sink in?
About 12 weeks and then when Amanda's tummy started growing around 4/5months.

Did you read/watch anything on becoming a Dad? I read the Pete Downey - So, you’re Going to be a Dad; which was good with an easy style which I liked. Amanda had a huge book called "Birth" which totally freaked me out!

Is there anything that you noticed happening as the pregnancy progressed?  I definitely became more protective of my wife. It felt like the pregnancy was taking a very long time until we hit the last trimester and then it flew by! Around the 7/8th month I was struck by the realisation of the huge responsibility I was about to under take and in response ended up going out a lot!

Did you have any financial worries? Yes, and I obviously wanted the best for my family so felt the burden to provide and support.

Have you found children as expensive as you thought? Yes and it only keeps increasing.

How did you find the birth? When Amanda first said she thought her waters had broken - I thought, "Sh**" and then almost immediately the electricity went out, there was a massive storm at the time. I remember scrambling around trying to find everything as Amanda was timing contractions on this stupid free wallet sized cooking timer she got from a Donna Hay magazine. There was defiantly a rush of adrenaline and desire to get to hospital. Trying to navigate 24 flights of stairs in emergency lighting, stopping for contraction wasn't something we had in the birth plan and felt very surreal; the lift was sadly out of order due to the storm. Bizarrely I had always thought it would happen at night for some reason.

I gave myself the job of liaising between Amanda and the doctors and nurses, making sure that everything was ok. Amanda had a blood condition, which meant that she might not be able to have an epidural if she wanted one and so I was keen to make sure that they took all the blood samples that they needed the moment we got there. Amanda was obsessed with having a water birth but after the most uncomfortable 91/2 hours of my life being squeezed, splashed and screamed I was couldn't believe that not allot had changed - we where only at 3cm. This is when I started to worry;  Amanda was exhausted. So, birth plan out the window, blood test back epidural a goer (thank goodness) and after a very fraught 45 minutes the Anaesthetist arrived. First he told me how much it cost to which I replied " Are you kidding you tell her!" then pulled out this MASSIVE NEEDLE.

After it was in the world was a happy place again and we both got some sleep. Everything slowed down again including the baby’s heart rate and so Amanda was given an injection and almost immediately everything started to happen and before I knew it I was acting as a human stirrup. At one point caught a glimpse of what was happening legs end and quickly made sure I concentrated on looking up at Amanda face. When Ollie was born they said he looked stunned - which was exactly how I felt. Exhausted, excited and glad everything was ok. I cut the cord  - scissors where a little blunt, pleased I did it. Saw the placenta coming out which was a big mistake - took a while to get that image out of my mind!

Looking back my fondest memories of the first few days in hospital where sitting beside Amanda's bed whilst she was sleeping cuddling Ollie and just staring at this perfect little a baby we had created.
 

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