As a dad myself, dudes who willingly deny themselves being in the presence of the miracle of childbirth let alone being there for the entirety of what comes after baffles me.
It’s a miracle but it’s also gnarly. Let’s call it like it is. There’s a lot of blood, fluids, poop, flesh.
Good news is, you can just stay topside, by the mother’s head. You don’t have to be in the trenches if it’s something you can’t stomach. My husband did not care (after my c-section he very lovingly and in awe said “I saw your insides. I saw your muscles and your fat and your viscera” like that was the most metal thing he’d ever seen or could be allowed to see, me just strapped down and gutted and saying “he’s here! He’s here!”) but if it’s not something you can stomach, again, just stay up top.
I remember when my gf at the time had our first, and I was told I had to move around the other side mid crown. That was an experience let me tell you. I was also allowed to cut the umbilical cord which is an experience all of its own.
I saw it all. They had me holding one of her legs back. They told me that I might want to look away when they did the episiotomy. My response was that after everything I've already seen, I'm not worried about seeing that. I didn't cut the cord, though. That's what we're paying the doctor for.
The wildest thing was the instant rewiring of my brain when my son was born. Like, I was a different man. That's why I always say the father should be there. Maybe it is just me, but that felt like something we are programmed to do when we see our children born.
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u/SenatorCrabHat Apr 24 '26
As a dad myself, dudes who willingly deny themselves being in the presence of the miracle of childbirth let alone being there for the entirety of what comes after baffles me.