I am proud enough to say, that this is my first blog post and obviously keep in mind that what I write down are the things that I have passed through as a father so far.
So the day that changed my life, was when I first heard Sophia’s (daughter) cry in the delivery room. Even writing this blog is giving me chills. So to ask the question to myself was I ready for birth? That’s what I thought, but trust me I was wrong…
- 05:00 am – (Laura – my wife) – Pup (my nickname) wake up as I am in pain and she’s soon coming
- 05:01 am – (ME) – Huh, what, who is coming? What pain? Oh ok pain, let me get the stopwatch
So basically my day started at 05:00 am, we timed the contractions and at first were regular and changed again, so not to delay, we called the hospital and explained everything. In order not to prolong the process we ended up going to the hospital and it was a good thing that we did as she was already in the Active phase.
In order to show my wife that I am not panicked (which I was), I was calming her down and making her laugh with my awesome not so funny ironic jokes. We settled in the delivery suite which was fully equipped and we were assigned with one of the best midwives (Lara I thank you from here again). After a while into the transition phase, there was the beginning of my nightmare for me (da da dummmm). You may ask, Għalfejn x’ ġara? (Why, what happened) Let me give you a situation, have anyone ever watched Twilight or Vampire Diaries, when there was a transition from human to a vampire? Wait just to let you know I am not portraying my wife as a monster, far from it, but at that time she was in so much pain that I was literally scared of looking at her, let alone talking to her. But obviously I plucked up courage so I did the same thing as the midwife was doing, by saying “Ejja, cmon push” and I said “Cmon push Lau, you can do it,” At that time I realized what a mistake I have done, she looked at me with eyes wide open and said “Shut up pup” I paused… And went to sit down on the chair like a dog when being yelled at by his master… But jokes aside… dads be patient and make sure not to be a sissy as your wife or partner will be going through loads of pain and we need to be there and be there punching bag for a day…
After the transition phase, comes the second stage and that is when pushing and the birthing phase kicks in ( The best moments).
Before I continue I have to mention that my wife was a hero and wowed me in every possible aspect, from the tolerance of pain and also from the fact that she wanted to keep everything as natural as possible (NB Always let your wife decide what pain relief she wants, we as dads cannot decide), so Laura you were amazing, you are amazing and I know you’ll continue being amazing xxx (Ooo, xi hlew)
So where was I, oh yeah the birthing phase… Dads, every dad has his own moment when they realized they became a father, mine was when I heard Sophia’s first cry and held her in my arms, she was a “beauty” even though she looked like an alien with her head elongated and covered in white gooey texture, but I loved her. At her delivery I couldn’t stop crying, yeah I cried not a bit but a lot as they were all tears of joy. Also, some dad advises:
- If you’re squeamish don’t look at the delivery area (you know what I mean) as it’s not a pretty image, but if you are determined I recommend to be there, but be ready to be part of the action, as I helped the midwife and my wife through the process
- If you want to help out, just ask the midwife what to do, what I did was held my wife’s legs and pushed them towards her abdominal to exert more pressure, but if you prefer not to be at the receiving end, be next to your wife, motivate her, get a face cloth and cool her off on her forehead, just be there
- Last advise, if you want to end the birthing phase like a boss, you should cut the umbilical cord and officially giving independence to your newborn … wohoo
After the birthing stage (second), we moved on to the third stage of the delivery of the placenta and that was it… Dad advise – Ask the midwife if the placenta was healthy or if it had any abnormalities just for your knowledge. So, that was it daddy’s, was it easy? Nope, will I do it again? Yes definitely! To conclude, every birth is different, it may be easy to some, but can also be tough. My last dad advise for today is Be strong, stay calm and be your wife’s knight and shining armour.
