Be ok being honest with each other.
Everyone will tell you it's awesome being a parent, and it is. But there are also a lot of really hard, challenging, and frankly, lousy moments along the way too. It probably took us about 3 months to start to feel like we were getting our feet under us. But there were a lot of challenging moments before we got there. My wife struggled with baby blues, depression, anger, and anxiety after our daughter was born and that can be difficult to navigate. When our daughter was born, if I'm being honest, I didn't instantly feel that all-encompassing sense of love. I loved her - don't get me wrong, but it took a few weeks to get to that place everyone tells you about. She's the best thing in my life without question but it didn't feel that way right away.
But it does get better. The good moments slowly start to outnumber the bad. You realize everything is a phase, good or bad. So know that the challenging traits won't last forever and try to be present for the good moments, because you never know when they'll fall asleep with their head on your shoulder for the last time. I always tried to remind myself that if I had to be up at 2:00 in the morning on a work night, feeding this beautiful little girl wasn't a bad reason at all.
It's the biggest adventure of your life - buckle up and enjoy the ride.
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