10 Things You Must Do Before You Have Children

We jokingly dubbed our trip "the last hurrah." In the spring of 1997, my wife, Debra, and I spent two wonderful weeks traveling around Ireland. We really couldn't afford the trip, and it devoured all of our vacation time. Yet we went anyway. Why? Because we didn't have any kids yet - but knew we wanted them. If we put off the trip until after we started a family, it might be decades before we got to see the Emerald Isle.

Today, four years and two children later, we know we were right. Children are a blessing to a marriage, but they certainly change life, profoundly and forever. Traveling may seem trivial in the face of a desire to hold that bouncing baby, but once you get the kid, there's no going back. There are things you owe it to yourself, not to mention to your marriage, to do before you have children.

"I continually meet couples suffering from baby shock," says Tina B. Tessina, Ph.D., a marriage counselor in Long Beach, California, and author of How To Be a Couple and Still Be Free (New Page Books). "They tell me they had no idea what having a child would be like. They didn't think it through."

Wondering what the two of you should do before that seven-pound bundle snuggles its way into your hearts and your home? Here are 10 suggestions that, hopefully, will reduce your risk of being zapped by baby shock—and strengthen your marriage in the process.

1. Live a Little

Married three years, Lisa Giassa has a lengthy to-do list of tasks and experiences she'd like to complete before she and her husband start trying to have children. Giassa, 30, a book publicist in New Jersey, wants "to live life uninterrupted." By her definition, that means traveling as much as possible, renting a sports car just for fun, trying out new restaurants, seeing all the first-run movies she wants and—hey, why not—having sex in every room of their house. Marriage counselors call Giassa's approach a healthy one. Newlyweds should wallow in their coupledom in the early years. From sleeping late on Sunday mornings to taking off on a European jaunt, indulging yourself now will leave you with fewer regrets after you have children. Plus, having fun and trying new things as a couple will bring you closer and get you working as a team - which will be essential once you're parents.

How do you know when you've had enough of just-us-two? There may never be a time you'll feel one hundred percent ready to give up the couple-centered life, but if you're truly dreading the end of the free-wheeling years, think carefully. "It's a red flag when the prospect of losing your sense of spontaneity makes you feel desperate," says Tessina. "Although you'll certainly have to slow down once you become parents, you should know that having children is not the end of fun in life."