Another guest blog from a great Dad Blogger: Big Daddy
We’ve all had a laugh at the hypothetical tumble during the most precious moment of your life that will never happen to you right… You’ve cut yourself before, you’ve seen blood and you’re as prepared as you can possibly be for seeing the one you care about the most being in the most excruciating pain they will ever experience.
But as you are woken in the middle of the night with a subdued cry or ‘it’s coming…’, things are about to change fast, and test exactly how prepared you are.
You quickly get dressed with whatever comes to hand, all the while calming your partner, who is, in reality a lot more relaxed than you give her credit for. Searching for the keys while eating a banana and brushing your teeth simultaneously to save time and loading the car with the hospital bag. You carefully help your partner to the car, unfortunately without the soothing musical compilation you planned to have playing throughout, you’re off.
You arrive, and if you’re lucky enough to not be sent home until your partner is actually in the active stages of labour, it’s time to see how you cope in a completely new situation. You relax a little, perhaps over a cup of tea and chat with your partner and the midwife over it being a boy or girl (or both!!) possible names, is this your first, the choice of pain relief… All to break the ice in a very intimate situation, and give you trust in those in charge of helping your partner to bring a new life into the world.
You would expect to be comfortably seated next to your partner, and with the labour progressing well, you’re the model, caring father to be; holding your partners hand, keeping her head cool with a damp flannel, and your calming bedside manner is coming in very useful.
Your comfort is not in anyway important…
Here’s a reality check. Firstly, the room will be warm. Very warm. In fact if this was your lounge, you’d be turning the heating off, opening all the windows and stripping down to your undies. Secondly, you’re likely to find yourself in an unsustainably awkward position, that being stooped over your loved one at an incredibly awkward angle with one hand behind her head and the other being crushed by an unimaginably strong grip. This pain you can feel for the first ten minutes is not a problem, you can handle it. However, once you’ve gone past the second hour, and the third, believe me when I say that your back aches, your shoulders hurt and you’re thirsty. But of course you can’t say anything because it is absolutely nothing in comparison to what your partner is going through.
You’re also getting very hot indeed. Not having taken off your jumper while your hands were free to allow it was a mistake, and one that could well mark you being shipped to A&E, potentially missing the birth of your baby. I say this, because with all that is going on, the time flies by and it’s easy to forget to eat and drink. Couple this with a potentially stressful situation and now the addition of the lack of sleep – hitting the deck is fast becoming a reality. The last thing the situation calls for is the emergency button being hit due to a great lump growing on your forehead from smashing into the floor after you lost consciousness. You will be taken out of the room and you could well stand to miss single most important moment of your life.
This didn’t happen to me… honestly…
My advice to you is to nourish yourself while you can, and keep yourself hydrated, your partner is the one needing all the attention – don’t steal the show!
Big Daddy
@newdadbigdaddy
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