ESL Podcast 613 - Being a First-Time Parent

birth - when a new child is brought into the world; when a baby comes out of his or her mother's womb and begins breathing on its own

How many births happen in this hospital each year?

first-time parent - a person who has one child, perhaps with plans to have other children in the future

As first-time parents, we took our son to the emergency room for every little cough or scrape, but once we had our second child, we were much calmer.

overwhelming - too strong and powerful, making one feel out of control, confused, and/or powerless

He says his new job is overwhelming and he has to work 12 hours each day just to keep up!

newborn - a baby that has been born very recently, usually within the past one to two months

Newborns are supposed to eat every two hours, but that means the parents don't get very much sleep.

from scratch - from the very beginning, without any initial knowledge or preparation

Have you ever made a cake from scratch, or do you always buy a box of pre- made mix?

to breastfeed - for a mother to feed a child with the milk from her breasts; for a child to drink a mother's milk by sucking at her nipples

If your baby breastfeeds in the wrong position, you might experience pain or even bleeding.

to bottle-feed - to feed a baby from a bottle (a glass or plastic container with a special nipple-like top)

Doctors say it's important to hold a baby close and look into his or her eyes while bottle-feeding the child.

to burp - to gently and repeatedly hit a baby's back after he or she has drunken milk to help the baby push air that is in the stomach out of his or her mouth

Always put a cloth over your shoulder before burping the baby, or she might throw up on you.

to put (someone) to bed - to get a baby or child ready for bed and calm him or her until he or she falls asleep

Their routine for putting Samson to bed includes brushing his teeth, reading books, singing songs, and telling stories.

car seat - a special chair put inside a car for babies and very young children, to keep them safe in an accident

If the car seat is installed correctly, it shouldn't move more than one inch from side to side.

stroller - baby carriage; a small cloth seat on a plastic or metal frame with wheels, used by walking parents to push a child in front, often with room to store bags underneath the seat

Once their daughter learned how to walk, she never wanted to ride in the stroller again.

feeding - one period of time when a baby is drinking milk from a bottle or nursing (drinking milk from a mother's breast)

How many feedings does a newborn need each day?

diaper - a piece of cloth or paper and plastic that is wrapped around a baby's bottom to hold urine (pee) and feces (poop)

It's important to change a baby's diaper frequently so that the skin doesn't become irritated.

exhausted - extremely tired, usually from doing too much physical activity or from not sleeping enough

Sandy was exhausted after running the marathon.

to doze off - to fall asleep for a short period of time, usually without planning to do so; to nap

Professor Graves gets really angry when his students doze off during class.

to sympathize - to understand someone else's problems or the difficult situation that another person is in, feeling sad much like the other person is feeling sad

I really sympathized with Patty when her mother passed away, because my mother had passed away just a few months earlier.

memory - what one remembers about something that happened in the past

Do you have any memory of when humans first walked on the moon, or were you too young then to remember it?