Riding home in a taxi at 9:30 on a Wednesday night, I knew I was in trouble when I heard a voicemail message from Emily saying she'd forgotten her keys and would be waiting for me at the Starbucks near our apartment. What I didn't know was how much trouble.Sweeping into the coffee shop, I offered the breeziest of apologies. Emily was not charmed. I've been waiting here for two hours, she fumed.

Babies cry. That's a fact of life. How much we let them cry, that's a fact of parenting, and it's easily one of the most confusing, emotional, and even divisive issues new parents face. One parent may insist it's a no-brainer: If baby is crying, you do what you can to comfort and console. Another may argue that if you are always at baby's beck and call, life will never get back to "normal."

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.

Work to pay the bills, get the kids off to school, make dinner, get the kids to bed, soccer games, dance recitals, piano lessons …with everything you have to do for your kids as a single dad, who has time to date? Well, you better make the time because soon your kids are going to grow up and move out, and all you'll be left with are about a billion plastic soccer trophies displayed proudly on your mantle.

Like many other first time fathers (and first time mothers, for that matter) you are probably wondering how pregnancy will affect your sex life. The good news is that sex is safe during ALL stages of pregnancy. The bad news is that, as the pregnancy progresses, the big bulge your partner is carrying in her tummy, her hemorrhoids (!) and her swelling may put a damper on what used to be a sex life.

Car seats - essential, but pretty darn ugly. They get even worse when you transition from the infant car seat to the monstrous toddler seat. As if it wasn't bad enough that we had to lug a stroller, diaper bag, toys and baby around! You would think that car seat manufacturers would have put some more thought into aesthetics. Oh well. I guess I should just be grateful that the seat is safe and will protect my baby.