I'm Pregnant!

So, she just told you the big news. You are gonna be a dad. You’re experiencing a million different emotions. Fear, depression, excitement, happiness, you have butterflies in your stomach. What the hell are you going to do? You don’t know the first thing about being a dad. What if you’re not a good father? What if something happens during the pregnancy? Can you afford it? A million different things are going through your head. It is exhausting the first day. Well, you aren’t alone.

I remember when my then-girlfriend told me she was pregnant. I was sitting in my office drinking a cup of coffee, talking to one of my coworkers about an increase in product prices. It was a text message, just a picture of a positive pregnancy test. My heart dropped, I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman, we hadn’t been together but a few months. My coworker was not empathetic, he simply said, sucks dude. Little did I know, that day would change my life in ways that I couldn’t even begin to fathom. We weren’t struggling, but we barely made our bills, we only had one car, a small apartment and we hadn’t been seeing eye to eye lately. I was terrified, but I wasn’t a coward, and she wouldn’t do this alone. So, the plans started.

It wasn’t as exciting for me as it was for her, actually, until the day Perrin was born, it was just this idea, that one day we would have another person in the world. I got the sympathy cramps, the vomiting, all of it. We got married before Perrin was born, for several reasons, the main one being that it would benefit our son the most. Little does he know, the reason I am happily married to a woman I love, his mother, is because he came along at the wrong time. He fixed our relationship. He made us fight through and stay together. I never would have thought that such a small person could change so much about my life. I changed so much about myself when he was born. I cried when he was born, and let me tell you something, I didn’t even cry at my dad’s funeral. It was the single best moment of my life, second to nothing I’ve ever experienced. I went into dad mode the moment that little boy made his first sound. I was ready to kill anyone and everyone that even looked at this beautiful child. I also became more fearful than I’d ever been in my life. SO much can happen to people. What if we got in a wreck, what if he swallowed something. My god, you can drive yourself insane worrying.

Well, I’m getting off subject. This is about the beginning of the end. The moment when you want to just stop time to collect your thoughts. Don’t feel bad buddy, it isn’t just you. All guys are a little to completely scared out of their minds. One big tip I’ll give you, cater to that woman, it may not seem like a big deal yet, but your life is going to change, and it’ll be great. That baby is amazing, he or she will be beautiful and you will lay down your life for that child. You’ll be great. There isn’t a whole lot of help I can offer you, I didn’t figure it out either. Just be there for your partner and give her the love and support that she needs. Rub her feet, tell her she is beautiful when her body goes all wacky. Hold her tight, tell her she isn’t alone in this. Ignore your concerns, you can worry another time, just worry about hers, after all, she IS making you a baby! Feel free to leave tips in the comments section. Relax, you’ll be great!

A DadHack Original