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As well as being an incredibly successful center in the NFL, Jason Kelce is also a dad to three young daughters. The fact that he and his wife, Kylie, had their babies recently, and in quick succession, means he has some useful insight into what dads can take into the delivery room for themselves.
In a podcast,New Heights, that he co-hosts with his brother and fellow football player Travis, the 36-year-old was asked: “My wife is pregnant with our first child. What do I need to include in my Jason-approved hospital go-bag?”
Well, the 6’3″ center had some key tips at the ready for the new dad — although it’s important to note that his wife had a few things to share about these items in a TikTok video during her last delivery.
While the video shows that Kelce seemed to take the arrival of his youngest daughter in his stride, he did have some useful tips to share with his podcast fan that might prove more useful for the dads out there.
A fan
“First of all, you’ve got to make sure you have a fan. It can get really hot and uncomfortable in there. If you like fans when you sleep, make sure you bring a fan.”
While his wife had joked that was “better than the air mattress he was thinking of bringing,” a fan is a good idea for a laboring mom. A small hand-held one can be effective if you want to avoid being burdened with lots of items for the hospital dash.
A comfortable pillow
“If you have a pillow that you like, I would take that,” shared Kelce in his podcast. You might think he was looking out for his wife, but no, looking at his wife’s TikTok you can see that he was thinking more of the supportive dads out there.
An energy bar of sorts
Again, Kelce wanted to make sure the stressed out dads-to-be had some sustenance so they could support their spouses:
It’s really important right when your wife starts going into labor, to eat a bar to get your blood sugar back up. Because you don’t want to be passing out in the most important part of what you’re there for, to be able to be there to witness and offer support for your wife.”
Now this is very true, although as moms are not really meant to snack during labor, if dads could munch discreetly that would be very considerate.
Something to do
Kelce rightly pointed out that labor can drag on a little. He therefore suggested that dads bring in things to keep them occupied:
You need to bring something that you can do because there’s gonna be a lot of sitting around and you don’t really have anything to do as a dad. So, you know, take a book, you can bring a game, anything that you can do sitting around.”
The doting dad did also mention the role of the spouse: “Your job is to assist your wife make sure she’s comfortable. Make sure she’s happy. And then outside of that, there’s not much else.”
If any dads have any other items they’d encourage men to take with them to the hospital, we’d love to read them in the comments section below.
And today we celebrate...