My Life Completely Changed the Day My Daughter Was Born

Disclosure: I have partnered with Life of Dad  and Pampers for this promotion.

The day that I became a father, everything changed. Heck, the changes started the day before to be exact! I remember quite clearly. I was persuing my undergrad degree through an adult evening degree program at a local, private college. I had just registered for the upcoming session when I got a call from my wife. She called to tell me she was leaving the OB/GYN appointment and being walked over for observation… at the emergency room a the Women’s Hospital. It was conveniently located right across the parking lot from the OB/GYN office.
When my wife relayed this information to me, something akin to a “spidey sense’ kicked into to hyperdrive. Still on the phone, I told her I was going home to get her “go bag” (packed at my insistence the night before) and coming up to the hospital to join her. She insisted that I not do any of this and that this was just a “routine” check. This is the one time in our relationship that I *completely* ignored her wish.

Leaving college, I quickly, but leagally, drove home to pickup her bag and rush over to the hospital. Not long after I arrive, my wife is admitted to the hospital for preclampsia. I notify my family including my mother-in-law who previously determined she would fly down and stay with us to help in the transition home. Reflecting on this time, I am forever grateful that my mother-in-law was able to help us out. She arrived at the airport some hours later and she was soon at the hospital. We stayed for a while staying in touch with our doula. It looked like tomorrow would be delivery. With things being monitored we agreed to leave and get some sleep, it would be a busy day the next day.

The next day went by in a whirlwind. The induction, labor, delivery and finally we had our baby! It was truly a miracle to hold this new human being, our daughter in my arms. Already changes were afoot within me. I felt more protective, and a new sense of love that can only occur between a parent and a child. She instantly captured a previously unclaimed part of heart. I loved her from the word go.

Post delivery wasn’t easy. Our daughter’s bilirubin was off the charts due to jaundice and she wound up spending most of her first two days getting some “UV” to help bring down her count. My mother-in-law and I even stopped in at the hospital’s chapel to pray for our newest family member. Those were some trying times right out of the gate. But, our kid pulled through.

Mom and baby. Beautiful, aren’t they?

I think some of the biggest changes in me came in the immedicay and intensity of what I felt. I was suddely responsible, on a day to day basis, to care for this ever evolving and growing baby girl. I was overjoyed and glad to have taken this giant step in life. But, there was no doubt I was protective, even hyper protective. It was amazing to me the unconditional love I felt from this little miracle. I was thankful for her health and safety. Looking forward to help shape this baby girl into a woman equipped to deal with life.

This Father’s Day, I’ve partnered with Pampers who joins with dads to celebrate that incredible feeling little ones bring to the hearts of dads. On Father’s Day and every day, Pampers is giving thanks to babies for making dad feel exceptionally special and empowering him to discover new roles in life through fatherhood. Pampers honors dads for just being dads and thanks them for all the amazing things, big and small, they do to help little ones have a better, loving, more fulfilling life.