While there are plenty of sources for moms-to-be on what to expect during their hospital stay, not to mention the fact that new moms get just as much attention and help from the hospital staff as your new baby will, there isn't much information out there for new dads (not to mention the fact that dads get about as much attention in the hospital as the mops used to clean the rooms.)
So, here are just a few tips that any dad-to-be can benefit from during their stay at the hospital.
Bring Snacks
If there's one thing I've learned through the birth of both of my children, it's that babies don't give a crap about YOUR schedule, even when you think you're the one in control of everything. When my wife's water broke with our daughter, two weeks early, I ran out of the house with my next meal far from my thoughts and even with a short-notice C-section it was still about 6 hours before she was delivered and another 2 before everything had settled down and I could inhale some cafeteria food.
My son, on the other hand, was supposed to be a scheduled C-section, scheduled for 9 AM, so I brought a few Clif bars with me to tide me over, only to be bumped FIVE times from the operating room's priority list and we didn't end up delivering until nearly 5 PM (on a very empty stomach). Lesson learned: Bring snacks and ration them out.
Bring a Pillow and Sweatshirt
As far as I can tell, hospitals really aren't in the business of making sure that the Dad is comfortable during his stay in the hospital with Mom and Baby. While some hospitals at least seem to make a feigned effort to accommodate Pops with pull-out beds and such, most don't. Even the ones that do don't really keep extra pillows or blankets on hand for dad, so it's a good idea to bring your own.
During my most recent stay at the hospital for our son's birth, I also noticed that hospital rooms are kept at a wonderfully chilly 60 degrees or so. Whether it was because of the hormones or the pain killers, my wife didn't seem to mind the temperature, I found myself rubbing my hands together to keep them warm. Of course, it was 103 degrees outside when we left for the hospital, so I hadn't thought to pack anything other than shorts and tee-shirts, but what I really should have packed was a sweatshirt.
Sh*t Happens...and Quickly
No amount of jokes, stories, or anecdotes can ever prepare you for the terrible contents of your cute little bundle of joy's first dirty diaper, and a tarry black substance known as meconium. Meconium is basically the end ("end". Ha. Get it?) result of your baby practicing swallowing in the womb by ingesting massive amounts of amniotic fluid and gearing up it's bowels for post-delivery production. If you ever get the urge to skip a few meals, I'd suggest looking up pictures of meconium online, because it is nasty stuff.
If you're "lucky" (depending on how you look at it) you're little one will start pumping out the nasty black tar immediately upon entering the world (and in both of my children's cases it was directly into my wife's open stomach) and you'll be able to stave off changing the first diaper at least for a little while, but trust me there will be plenty more where that came from, and unless you expect your baby-mama to pull out all of her IVs and climb out of her hospital bed to come change those diapers, that task will fall directly to you, my fatherly friends. So, come prepared to meet for the nastiest thing to come out of your adorable child for a long time.
Steal Supplies Shamelessly
OK, maybe "stealing" isn't the right term for it, it's really more like "stockpiling". During your stay in the hospital, and assuming that your baby is staying in your room with you instead of a fifties-style viewing-window nursery, the hospital will provide for you as many baby supplies as needed in the form of diapers, wipes, blankets, etc. and if you've done your homework prior to parenthood, you'll know that these items can get very expensive, especially if your baby blows through diapers like my son does.
So, the trick to learn is that each time there is a changing of nurses, which is usually every 8 hours and your current nurse's shift is probably posted in your room somewhere, the new nurse comes in to introduce themselves and restock your supply of baby-fixins. So what I did every time our current nurses shift was about to end, was to load the bulk of the remaining diapers, wipes, and any other useful items into our overnight luggage, so that when the new nurse came in she would give us a fresh supply. Prior to the next shift change all you need to do is lather, rinse, repeat and you'll start building a sweet little cost-saving diaper cache.
Of course every delivery situation is different and no two people's experiences will ever be exactly alike, but with these few tips at hand, I'm sure that you'll be slightly better prepared to face your inauguration into fatherhood with a slightly better idea of what the hell you're doing.
Good luck!
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