Building the Crib: The Heaviest Furniture I've Ever Built Artwork

In My Daddy Era: Confessions from a First-Time Father

In My Daddy Era is a place for me to slow down and say the things I don’t want to forget.

Each episode is a short reflection on becoming a first-time father. The moments that catch me off guard, the feelings I didn’t expect, the fear, the joy, and the quiet in-between. Sometimes it’s something big. Sometimes it’s something small. But it’s always honest.

This isn’t a parenting podcast or a guide on how to do things “right.” It’s more like an audio journal of me talking through what fatherhood is teaching me in real time, while I’m still learning it myself.

The episodes are short, lightly edited, and recorded whenever life makes something feel worth capturing. Just reflections I want to remember… and maybe something my daughter will hear one day and understand how deeply she was loved.

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In My Daddy Era: Confessions from a First-Time Father

Building the Crib: The Heaviest Furniture I've Ever Built

March 12, 2026 • Richard Dodds • Episode 2

0:00 | 3:56

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Before the baby arrives, every dad goes through "The Prep." For Rick, it wasn't just about moving a desk or mounting a shelf, it was about making the transition from "Me" to "Her" physically. In this episode, Rick discusses the weight of a crib (literally and metaphorically), the "first daddy move" of giving up his office, and the immense gratitude he feels for his wife’s journey through pregnancy.

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

I've built a lot of furniture in my life. I would say an above-average amount of furniture. But none as heavy as my daughter's crib. It wasn't the heaviest because of his physical weight, but heavy because of what it would be tasked to hold. I'm Rick, and this is in my daddy era, the confessions of a first-time father who was still trying to figure out why baby gear is so hard to assemble. The crib wasn't just heavy, it was complicated to put together. This time isn't a metaphor for something else, it actually is pretty complicated. I don't know if it's just me, but baby stuff in general is pretty complicated to put together. Even though I knew she wouldn't sleep in her own room for months, I still moved my desk and things out of my office so we could start the process of transforming my office into her room. When I started the process, my still pregnant wife reminded me that I still had a fair amount of time before she would need her own room. But for me, it was a way to make the situation more real. I mean, it was real. I could see my wife's belly and feel my daughter's kicks and somersaults as she stretched and moved in my wife's belly, but preparing her nursery made me feel more connected. It felt like the first daddy move I ever made. Like my office is one of the first things I could give her even before she was born. My wife, for better or worse, had a constant daily minute, second by second reminder of my daughter. She carried her every day, every second of the day. She even gave up coffee, which is a big thing for my wife, especially since she was even more tired than normal. So it may come as no surprise that the first thing that my wife wanted after giving birth was a cup of coffee. I don't know if I ever said this out loud, but I am extremely grateful for my wife for a lot of things. But enduring the rigors of pregnancy is at the top of that list. Thank you, baby. At one point while she was still pregnant, my wife got me a bracelet that symbolized my daughter, so I could carry her with me every day. I wore it pretty much until my daughter was born. See, my wife's pretty thoughtful too. By the time my daughter was born, I had already put together a ton of furniture, mounted every piece of furniture I could, and we picked a daycare. And also, I wrestled with the car seats, getting them into the car, which was a task unto itself. Getting the car seat in was one thing, but actually putting my daughter in it for the first time gave me a few extra gray hairs, I'm pretty sure. With all of the prepping and planning for my daughter to get here, it never fully felt real until I saw her for the first time. Maybe that's the guy thing, because we don't have to carry the weight of the baby every single day. But I know when I saw my daughter, and I could be a tiny bit biased, she's the most beautiful thing I ever seen. After having my daughter, I really understand what my dad meant when he said.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

And once I heard you cry, the the relief to everything just, you know, and then uh, you know, I I was good then. I never I was never fearful uh before you before you were born. You know, my fears came after.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

As I continue my journey in my daddy era, I'm still learning to growing and still showing up. Uh until next time.