Patricia Grisafi
When a baby is born, most of the attention is focused on the infant and the mother. And rightly so! After labor, no matter how long or short, easy or hard, moms and babies deserve lots of care. But sometimes father’s experiences can get lost.
On Reddit, dads are sharing the dramatic details of their children’s delivery stories — and they are emotional, graphic, and joyful.
From stories of surprise C sections to pre-mature births (and don’t forget, cutting the cord), these Dads are being real about how much of a life changing experience witnessing their child’s birth ended up being.
1. Baby’s First Diaper
“At some point we were in a recovery room, the baby was fine, the mother was fine, and some kind soul, I think a nurse, told me to change the baby’s first diaper. She told me that nothing would be as gross as that first one, so if I could do that I would be fine. She also winked and told me that every diaper I changed I would be scoring points with my wife. And so I changed most of his diapers for as long as he needed diapers.” — wordserious
2. Fighting With The Doctor
“Wife labored for nearly 27 hours only to be wheeled into an emergency C-section when the morning doctor came in and checked on her. Unlike your experience I almost got into a fight with the anesthesiologist because I refused to take my seat next to my wife’s head like I was supposed to. It wasn’t my intention to be a dick, but my emotions were just off the chart at the moment trying to protect both my wife and unborn child. Our son came out white as a sheet of paper, and not breathing. He was limp and listless with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice. They rushed him and I over to the little basinet they put the babies in, then all the nurses disappeared to help with my wife. I stood there over him wondering what to do when FINALLY a nurse came over and started rubbing his back and feet harder than I had seen anyone handle a child before. Then he took his first gasp of breath. He’s 17 now, in his last year of high school.” — tier2cell245_RS
3. “He Pissed On Me”
“I grabbed him, I held him, I cut his cord, he pissed on me. I thought “now I’m a dad…I have to be better now.” — Lazarus_Steel
4. Sharing Birthdays
“My firstborn was born on my birthday. My main memory is my exhausted wife turning to me after the baby was born and saying, ‘Next year you get an ice cream cake.'” — knockatize
5. Lion King Moment
“Yeah, my wife is at one side of the dividing sheet chatting to the anesthesiologist like they’re at a fricken tea party, and the doctor doing the C-section is calling out to her ‘You might feel some pressure and movement here now’ as they pull open the incision and popped the baby out like two football players pushing a basketball through a two inch hole in a rubber sheet – except more blood and God only knows what mixed in with it all. Then they hold the gore-covered baby, with umbilical dangling, up towards me, like Rafiki presenting Simba to the crowd in the Lion King and ask proudly ‘What is it?'” — The_Cutest_Kittykat
6. 1/10 Would Not Do Again
“Emergency c section. Kid came out not breathing and heart not beating. Everything is happening so fast and everyone in the room knows what’s going on except for me. 1/10 do not want to do that again.” — Rxton
7. Bad Even For A Paramedic
“My wife and daughter almost died. Major shoulder dystocia. Code pink. Violent emergency c-section. Witnessed successful resus on my daughter. Mom needed 4 unit transfusion. I’m a paramedic and this still majorly f*cked me up.” — RocksteadyBetty
8. “It Was Surreal To See My Wife Sliced Open”
“We had a C-section, it was surreal to see my wife sliced open, inners pulled out if the way, AND SHE’S TALKING TO ME! Doc let me take pics. The worst part was she told me to stay with the baby. Until she could be reunited with her mom, then I got word my wife’s blood pressure was dropped dramatically and was conflicted but decided to trust the nurses with my daughter for a bit. Eventually the docs got her pressure up and honestly it probably wasn’t a big deal, but it was a big deal to me. Now my daughter is a broody gothish 13 year old that likes anime a bit too much.” — livingfortheliquid
9. “A Weird Experience”
“I watched both my kids be born. It’s a weird experience let me tell you. It’s bloody and gross and intensely biological, but it’s also one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. There’s surprisingly little blood but quite a lot of other bodily fluids. The human body is pretty amazing sometimes.” — molten_dragon
10. “One Of The Coolest Experiences Of My Life”
“I got to deliver my youngest son believe it or not. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life.” — SouthernEgyptian
11. Indian Food
“Lots of stuff happened her. The baby’s heartbeat got low, my wife tore and bled. After laboring for 7 hours, at 11:15am, our son was born. He was purple at first as he adjusted to being outside, but quickly turned normal pink color. My wife was exhausted but still needed to push out the placenta. She later told me that was easy. Our son was placed on her chest and the doctor worked to fix the tear and stop her bleeding. Just some points from an outside perspective. You need to be your partner’s advocate, defender, and supporter. That’s your entire role in this. Have your partner write up a birth plan ahead of time and be ready to defend it against doctors and nurses. I had to raise my voice to get my wife some pain medication and a bed. I didn’t like it, but I’d do it again to protect her. Once everything is settled, snag a nice treat for the doctors and nurses. We bought them some Indian food and a cheesecake in appreciation. They upgraded her recovery room.” — codemise
12. Guy Fieri
“My wife was pushing for hours, with some breaks in between. It was exhausting and stressful to watch. There was so much pressure pushing the baby out that my son had a somewhat bloodshot eye when he was born (he was fine). The nurses and I got bored with the routine of regular pushing that we were turning our attention to the TV in between while she rested, so I think of my son’s birth when I see Guy Fieri. When the head was visible, they told me I could touch him before he came out and I said, ‘Um, I think I’ll wait. I’m good.’ The baby finally came out at about 11:30 PM. A newborn looks so much bigger than you imagine. How did that thing survive in my wife?! He had the cord around his neck, and they told me I could cut it, but I didn’t want to risk anything. He was perfectly healthy. My wife was in tears, and, looking around at the blood in the room, I thought it was because she was in excruciating pain, but she said she was just so happy. The endorphins helped her and she was at peace and ended up fine. Women are amazing and tough and if anyone ever calls my wife weak, I’ll fight them for that day alone.” — ToeKneePA
13. Lots Of Waiting
“A lot of waiting. We had a room that allegedly came with a bed for the partner to sleep in, but had heard it sucks so we brought an air mattress. After hours of waiting my wife said I should sleep. So I fell asleep and then woke up from a dead sleep to the birth starting. I stood on the side and I guess looked like I was going to pass out because the doctor immediately said I needed to sit. So I sat a minute and then got back into the fray. I held a leg while the baby came out. Then I held her for a moment and she got passed to my wife. After that it’s mostly a blur since the baby stage is a walking nightmare.” — urchisilver
14. “It’s A Bomb”
“The mother has 9 months building a gradually increasing connection the baby; carrying, little kicks, hiccups and burps. For the father, there honestly is a bit of a detachment. For me, all that happened in one exact moment when I heard my daughter cry for the first time. All emotions wrapped into one exact moment in time. For the mother, it’s a nurturing build of love and connection. For the father, it’s a bomb. I froze, I didn’t respond when spoken to, and I cried. It was a big moment for me, and all I have to do is close my eyes and I can recreate the sound of the first time I heard her voice, etched in my memory like a laser engraved vinyl record.” — chickenfatnono
15. Helping Deliver
“Beautiful, when my wife was pushing for some reason the nurses left. She started contracting again so I told her friend to grab her leg and I grabbed the other and told her to push like the nurses did, the nurses came back and didn’t interfere and I ended up helping her deliver our daughter.” — aoiv_tabs
16. First And Second
“I was white as a ghost and scared for the first one. You would have thought I was holding an alien. Nothing prepares you for that. Second was more relaxed. I watched football on the tv, she pushed me away and asked for her mom. I tried to help, but didn’t get to do the ice chips and holding her hand. I cut the cord. First one to hold him. Both were amazing and memorable. I wouldn’t change a thing.” — redpillbob69
17. “It Was Magical”
“26 hours in labor. 2 hours of my wife just pushing (while in agonizing pain) to get the baby out. I was a whole mess from our 12 and on. So, I was basically miserable for the last 14 hours. I wasn’t mentally prepared. I thought the whole thing could take 24 hours but I was never ready to go there mentally. Anyways, as soon as I see him come out and he starts crying…I erupted into tears like a baby myself. Most emotional moment of my entire existence. It was magical and I’m just glad I didn’t pass out before I could witness his birth.” — userojthejuice
Featured Image: Pexels
