The doctor told me that he thought I should have a c-section. I cried. Mostly because I was scared that the baby might not be ok. H was supportive and held my hand and told me everything would be ok. Then he went to the chapel and cried and prayed. He didn’t tell me that until a few weeks after B was born.
When the doctors and nurses were preparing me for the c-section, H had to wait in a different room. He really had to pee, and there was a bathroom connected to the room where he was waiting, but he was afraid that the second he went to use the bathroom, the nurse would come in and tell him that it was time for him to go into the surgery room. He held it and held it and finally decided that he couldn’t wait any longer. He went into the bathroom, and the nurse came in to the waiting room to tell him it was time to go to the surgery room.
H was going to take paternity leave whether it was permitted by his office or not. He saved up all his sick and vacation time while I was pregnant. Right after I told him it was ok to tell people at work that I was pregnant, H asked about the paternity leave policy. He was able to take a few weeks off right after the baby was born, and then he could take another 12 weeks off later. There was never any question in his mind that he would take the full amount of leave offered.
H loved his time home with the baby. They went to the zoo. They went to the aquarium. They went to the park. Every day, H would call me and tell me about the fun things they were doing.
He is not as organized or prepared for every contingency or patient as me. But he’s also not as cautious as me, which means that he lets B discover new things that I would have been too anxious about too try. He tosses B in the air (not too high), which is one of B’s favorite things. H is the one who got B to nap reliably in his crib. H is the one who thought B would like the aquarium. H is the one who realized B was big enough to push in a swing.
H drops B off and picks B up at daycare every weekday. H told me that it is hard for him to concentrate at work in the afternoon because he is just watching the clock, waiting until he can leave to go pick up B.
Almost every night, about two hours after we put B to bed, H wants to go wake up B so that they can play and cuddle. I never let him.
The other morning, H said that after I left for work, B would not stop crying. H held B and patted his back for about 5 minutes until B calmed down and switched back to his usual smiley self. H told me he is so glad that he gets up early in the morning so that he can spend time cuddling B.
H has invented lots of games for B. Favorites are Mooshy Face, where you let B touch your face all he wants while you yell “Mooshy face!”, and Squeezie Warrensies, where you hug B as tight as you can while yelling “Squeezie Warrensies!”
I don’t think B could have a better dad.
