You have just found out you are going to be a new dad for the first time; all of a sudden your life flashes before your eyes as you see yourself holding your baby, taking them to their first day of school, seeing them off to university and watching with pride as they get married. Of course, before all of this comes the nine months of pregnancy and whilst your partner is reading up on what to expect, so should you. The following are a few things to expect in the months leading up to meeting your new born.

You will become a whizz at DIY

During the pregnancy, the organising will feel like it never ends, and that’s mainly because it doesn’t. Weekends previously spent in the pub or on the sofa will be replaced with shopping for everything your baby needs and it doesn’t end there. Cots, little wardrobes and electronic baby rockers will all need to be assembled properly and it falls on you to do so. Learn to love your screwdriver as you will be seeing it a lot more over the next 9 months.

You will never be right

Your partner has a lot going on; a growing bump, morning sickness, swollen ankles and the thought of giving birth, so don’t even try to contest a word she says. Quite simply, for the next 9 months she is right, and you are wrong. In all seriousness, her hormones are going berserk and there will most likely be times when a fight could be on the cards; try to calm her rather than rise to it and avoid the fall out.

You will say goodbye to your pillows

This isn’t so much an immediate concern, but in the later months of pregnancy it is certainly something to expect, because she will literally pull a pillow out from under your head as you sleep and place it between her legs. You can’t say anything about it either because she does it for comfort when struggling to sleep, so get used to sleeping pillow-lessly for a couple of months.

You will speak to your mother-in-law more than ever before

Woohoo! Just want you wanted to hear I’m sure, endless hours spent bonding with the mother-in-law are absolutely something you can expect. She will be at your house for the majority of the pregnancy and when she isn’t there she will be on the phone and the worst is yet to come. When labour starts, the likelihood of her being at the hospital is pretty high and your partner won’t exactly be in a position to chat along with you both, therefore you will be flying solo my friend. I wish you luck with this.

Knowing what to expect in your role of impending new dad will help you to rise to the challenges ahead like a pro; keep an extra pillow under the bed to whip out when needed, invest in manly power tools and make prompt cards for when the conversation inevitably dies with the mother-in-law. By preparing for pregnancy, you can keep your partner happy whilst remaining sane throughout. Now preparing for actually being responsible for a small human…well that’s another kettle of fish entirely.

Sophie has written survival guides for pregnancy tailored to both men and women and enjoys injecting a little humour into the subject from time to time.