Becoming A New Dad

Becoming a New Dad

LauraNewbornAndMe
My New Daughter and Me!
(July 4, 1980)

Becoming a new dad can be one of the most memorable occasions in a man's life.

The memory of my daughter's arrival is still fresh in my mind even though she is now a grown woman with two children of her own.

I went to the pre-birth Lamaze (natural childbirth) classes and...though I thought I was prepared for my daughter's
birth I found out quickly that I was not...at least not fully prepared psychologically.

During the labor little did I realize that my daughter's mom would mostly reject my attempts to soothe her during contractions...to the extent of yelling "don't touch me" several times. They didn't tell me this in the Lamaze classes...or maybe I missed that session.

I also didn't remember them telling me that when the doctor had to manually tear the amniotic sac (this is commonly referred to as the "water breaking" as in "my water just broke")...I would have to stand back and let the medical team go to work.

Well...this effectively took me out of the picture...and I had expected to be fully involved throughout the delivery...again according to my Lamaze training.

I then started feeling a bit nauseated...and thankfully an astute nurse picked up on this potential crisis immediately. She escorted me out of the room and gave me a warm glass of milk. Where she got warm milk or why there was warm milk in the delivery room area still baffles me to this day.

Anyway, with her encouragement (and the warm milk) I was now ready to finish what Lamaze had started.

I don't know if you remember any of the old TV sitcoms about doctors and hospitals, but some of those shows opened with the lead doctor or medical team bursting through those double swinging doors into the operating room or some such hospital area open only to the stars of the show.

Well, after my warm glass of milk (and resulting settled stomach) I did exactly that. I burst through both doors leading into the delivery room...at the same time.

It was finally time...time to assist with the last steps at bringing my daughter into her new world...and becoming a new dad.

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With renewed strength and determination I watched in awe as first her little head appeared...then shoulders...hands...legs...
and finally she had completely arrived.

Never before had I witnessed such a miraculous sight. This squirmy...wrinkled....and dare I say slimy little bundle was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

And then the doctor asked me something I absolutely did not expect. He said "would you like to cut your baby's umbilical cord?"

Wow! Of course I said I would, but again I got another surprise. The doctor either gave me a dull pair of scissors...or that cord was made of some new space-aged material from NASA.

I started to ask if they had a power saw when I finally was able to sever my child from her 9-month life line.

We eventually counted ten toes and ten fingers...and she passed all of the post-natal tests with flying colors. She was surprisingly alert and active primarily due to great prenatal care and the natural delivery with no drugs administered.

Thanks Lamaze!

Well...this part of the story ends here...but was only the beginning of a wonderful and eventful journey in becoming a new dad.

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Becoming a new Dad means someone usually becomes a Grandparent...see what that's about!

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