The real journey begins after the child is born. Get in the game early because you'll want to develop your own unique bond with the baby. You will want to establish your own tricks of the trade when it comes to coddling, feeding and changing the baby. These rites of passage lay the groundwork for your future relationship with your child.

When your baby first arrives your bond may begin immediately, or for some it may take you both time to "grow on each other". One thing we know for sure is that bonding is essential for a baby. Studies of newborn rhesus monkeys performed by Dr. Harry Harlow, show that these same monkeys when given a choice between two surrogate "mothers," one made of terrycloth, the other of wire and had food, overwhelmingly the baby monkeys chose the mother that could provide warmth and comfort.

Contrary to popular belief, pregnancy is not always an exciting, happy or glowing experience. Clinical depression affects 15-20% of pregnant women, sometimes hitting so hard that the moms-to-be attempt suicide. Mothers of multiples are at even higher risk with more than 25% suffering during pregnancy and postpartum.

The other day, I got one of those dreaded calls: “It’s Stacy from the preschool office. I’m calling about Benjamin….” There were about 00:07 seconds between the last word and the next utterance, but that was all I needed for my parental instincts to go into panic mode. Images of my child bleeding on the circle-time mat, crushed by an avalanche of construction paper, flew through my mind. Anticipating this was the school administrator who then said, “He’s fine. He just threw up. We need you to come get him.”

One of the top birth questions dads-to-be have for obstetricians is, "“When can we start having sex again?”" Most doctors will tell you that after a normal birth, most women’s bodies can safely have sex after 6 weeks. However, more goes into having sex after a baby than just getting the thumbs up from an OB-GYN.