So here’s what you really want to know. How will having a baby change things? The truth is, it changes everything. Some of the changes you will barely notice. Some, like trips to the store with cranky kids, will slap you in the face every time.

You will never appreciate silence and solitude as much as you will while being a parent. But, as a parent, your whole life’s purpose has just changed. Forever.

While I cannot possibly list them all, this last post in my 3 part series, explores the 3 big ways that your life will change after baby. First up, is the one at the top of every man’s mind. SEX.

1. Sex & her body

There are things that happen to your wife’s body after having a baby that are unfathomable. Things you couldn’t imagine if you tried. For weeks after birth her body is purging itself of pounds of blood and fluids. Her uterus is still contracting, like a dish towel being twisted and wringed til it’s dry.

And those hormones. You’re either weepy and crazy or waking in the middle of the night dripping in sweat after a hot flash. That is if you’re lucky enough to sleep at all. Post-partum insomnia is very common, as it I have a newborn-who-stays-awake-all-night-omnia..

Let’s not forget the boobs. Half the time they are engorged and rock hard, and so incredibly painful to touch. The other half of the time they are leaking or spraying you or baby in the face. Those things have seen their glory days. What once may have been perky and supple fun bags, now become balloons of milk with bleeding nipples.

On top of all of these special prizes…your skin is dry, your hair is falling out, your stomach is still super poochy and saggy, and your body is riddled with new stretch marks.

Now let me ask you. Do you feel sexy? Do you want to test the 6 week limit the doctor placed on intimate relations? Or do you want to never have sex again in hopes your body one day recovers from this train wreck? Cut her some slack. Remind her she’s beautiful and that her body is a representation of her strength. If you wait her out, you may just be lucky enough to do this all over again.

2. Marriage/Relationship

There are few things in life that test a marriage as much as having a child. Kids are stressful. Keeping a tiny human alive and happy is a lot harder than it sounds.

The strain of it will lead to some bickering. Even if you weren’t the type of couple to bicker before. And you aren’t going to agree on everything.

There will be arguments over how to get the baby to sleep, how often to feed the baby, whose turn it is to change the diaper. Inevitably, there will be rocky roads ahead. After all, both your lives have been flipped upside down.

However, you will also never have been closer. You may have shared a lot throughout your relationship but having children together creates the ultimate connection. The most important thing either of you will do in your life, you did together.

3. Love

If you are a new Dad, all these things may sound a bit overwhelming. Maybe you had no idea what you signed up for, maybe you can’t get ready to start. Either way, there is one thing no one can prepare you for. The insane, all-encompassing, over powering, LOVE you will have for your child.

There is nothing, literally nothing, to which this love can compare. The first time this drooling, cooing, blob of baby rolls looks at you with those huge, memorizing baby eyes and says “Dada” you will melt.

This little baby, that shares 50% of your DNA, will ultimately have 100% of your heart. Life will be more complicated and stressful without a doubt. But it will also become infinitely and indefinitely better.

There’s no way around it. Your life will be changed completely forever, after the birth of your first child. You may long for simple freedoms like grabbing your car keys and just walking out the door. But you will never for a second doubt that it was worth it.