The last time I was on here, the clock was literally ticking
for my daughters’ arrival. February 13th 2014 marked the day that my
little bundle of joy came to my wife and me. First and foremost, I am very
grateful and fortunate that we had no complications and a very safe delivery. On
the other hand, what an experience! There is literally nothing in my life that
comes close to what it feels like…standing next to my wife as she pushes and
pushes until our daughter comes out into the world. No baby class or parental
message could have prepared me for that day. I had an enormous amount of
excitement as I stood there encouraging my wife to push…breath…push as hard as
she could for our family. I held her hand…kissed her forehead…cried…and in all
of the mixed emotions I still cannot explain the overwhelming feelings that
encompassed me. I know that it was my wife who was pushing and doing the
majority of the work… I mean all of the work… yet being there as the father as
my daughters daddy and seeing her head move closer and closer into site I
couldn’t help but feel change… changing in a transformation from who I was to
what I would become once her head and entire body came out.
As my wife kept battling and pushing with all her might we
finally made it to the finish line and I kid you not my daughter flew out to be
caught by the physician. Here’s the thing, prior to my daughter flying out we
had a bit of a crisis in our hands. My daughters head was out but her body was
in, the doctor reached for the vacuum and told my wife that she would have to
use it since my daughters oxygen was getting low and dangerous. Seconds before
the doctor reached to place the vacuum on my daughters’ head, my wife like
wonder women grunted and pushed my daughter out like a flying squirrel. First
thing that came out of the doctors mouth was an apology to my wife: “I’m sorry…you
did all of the work and she looks just like her daddy”. Good thing about that
is that she has a great looking daddy!
I got to cut the cord!!! This was a pretty cool experience.
I mean, I didn’t spend hours pushing her out like my wife but I guess the
doctor saw my forearms and thought it fit for me to cut the umbilical cord. It
felt like cutting calamari… and no… I didn’t taste it. After cutting the cord
the doctors took my daughter and asked me to follow. Now that I’m thing about
it, some of the procedures that take place in labor and deliver are not quite
fair to the mothers. Let me explain. Okay… so my wife spends hours in pain
pushing and grunting until our daughter comes out. During the time that my wife
is pushing, there is a team of medical professionals ie. doctors and nurses and myself standing around her as a “supportive”
system. We are all encouraging her with notions: “great job” “keep pushing” “you’re
doing beautiful” “she’s almost here one more push”. As soon as my daughter was
born, the doctor grabs her and literally everyone including me goes to the
other side of the room. All the while my wife is over there exhausted and like “what
the F!!!” “Why is everyone leaving?”. Not really fair uh…
You’re probably wondering how things are going now that everything
has settled and we are back at home…
Long nights…
Short naps… and no naps…
Dirty diapers… wet diapers… where is all this SH!! Coming from
I swear the doctor said your stomach was the size of a table spoon all the
while your diaper is loaded with a cups serving!
Till next time “New daddy on the block”
