I came across this site years ago and though, at the time, I was nowhere near being a father, I made note of it because the writer had an ability that very few authors do, namely, to make me laugh out loud just by silently reading their stuff (most Bill Bryson and early Dave Barry are others I'd put in this category.)
At that time, the writer had put all 52 “chapters” of his weekly “Story About The Baby” columns, which detailed his experiences as a new father, online. But is increasingly the case in the publishing world, someone approached him about turning his web-based writings into a book and now the whole thing has been taken offline except for the five “sample” chapters that remain. (Surprisingly, a sequel called “The Story of the Toddler” is fully and completely online still. Grab it while you can!)
I've just ordered the book from ABEBooks.com and am slightly embarrassed to admit that it will likely end up being the first parenting book I read cover-to-cover. (I promised Shea I'd read a bunch of books when I'm done school but for now, a light easy one that I can keep in my backpack is exactly what I'm looking for.)
As a sample, here's how the book begins:
On the evening of January 18th, at around 8 PM, my first child, Cordelia
Krizsan Vogel, entered the world. She came out of Mariann, my wife. She
got her mother’s facial shape, her father’s irritability, and
her mother’s genitalia. The event was the joyous conclusion to 15
hours of labor. This is not as horrible as it sounds, because, as it turns
out, epidurals RULE.
(For the uninitiated, when you get an epidural, what happens is that
a nice person enters the room, sticks a needle into your spine, starts
a steady flow of anaesthetic into it, and leaves it there. For hours and
hours. It is a good measure of how horrifying childbirth is that, when
it is taking place, leaving needles in your spine sounds like a great
option.)
Although it will likely be the first book I read cover-to-cover, it won't be the first pregnancy-related reading I'll be doing. Shea and I have both been surfing baby-related web sites and I've signed up for the weekly e-mail updates from BabyGaga.com that tell me about the baby's (and mother's) ongoing development along with recommended week-by-week books to read (again, not that I have time to get to them) and more.
A related note. If you didn't notice it over there
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on the list of links, we've also signed up for a “pregnancy ticker” that counts down the weeks and gives a very brief overview of the baby's development at each stage. (Right now, it's 4-6mm long, its vocal cords are forming and its heart is now circulating blood!)
People have started giving us tips and suggestions about being parents – from taking a “babymoon” to the importance of buying a really good stroller. Whether you're a parent or not, we all know somebody who's had a baby so what suggestions do you have? Things to do. Things to buy. Things you don't think of. And so on.
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