I am 38 and am trying to cope with being a new father, never thought of myself as being an older Dad though. My wife is 29, just for reference.
Tiny is now 3 weeks old. There is defiantly a lack of sleep going on but I think it is worse for my wife. We are both getting between 4-5 hours at night, sleeping in shifts, but I have to wake her for feeds where as I get to sleep through. I am back at work now after taking the first 2 weeks off as a holiday. My wife is still on Maternity Leave and is trying to nap through the day but it is not easy.
We have a Boxer dog and 2 cats but they just ignore us most of the time. Our Boxer has a sniff at Tiny now and then but that is all, she is a very submissive dog though.
Best advice I can give is to do as much as is possible for your partner, be that house hold chores, cooking, changing nappies or whatever. Buy ready meals, they make life much easier in the short term. Give yourself time and try and be patient as possible. Above all else make sure not to loose touch with each other. Hug when possible and make the most of whatever time you have with each other.
I won’t lie, this will change your life. In the first few weeks though the only thing that matters is the baby, the wife and you in that order. There will be time for everything else later on.
All that said though I still think it is the best thing we have done. 🙂