My journey into fatherhood begun when my beloved wife gave me the good news that I was going to be a father. My first reaction was to jump with joy, later followed by apprehension mixed with many questions like; Can I handle fatherhood? Will I be a good father? What of the expenses as I had heard many parents say having kids is not a cheap venture, will the baby be born healthy? All these questions flew through my mind till I had to remind myself that this is the best day of my life as being a father has to be every man’s dream. After the excitement died down I decided to share the good news with my family.
What followed was months of doctors’ visits and my budding career as a masseuse. During the last three months commonly known as the third trimester I had to be on call 24/7 which somewhat curtailed my movements, though I was too excited at the prospect of meeting mini me that I didn’t mind. It is during this period that baby’s movements started becoming noticeable and one could see his tiny feet or hands pressed against mum’s tummy. At this point I couldn’t help but marvel at God’s creations because how does a tiny egg grow to become a full grown baby, having watched him grow month on month and I was just blown away.
Toward the end panic crept in as I wasn’t sure how to react when baby finally decided to enter this world. Any father will tell you that this is a very trying period, having heard stories of how mothers had given birth in cars on the way to hospital. I was on the lookout for any sign so as to ensure that we get to hospital in time as I wasn’t about to embark on a career as a midwife. When the time came to go to hospital, I quickly grabbed the packed bags and helped my wife into the car while thanking God it was a weekend which meant no traffic. Later on that night after hours of pacing in the hospital corridors I heard a sharp cry from the delivery room loudly announcing the entrance of my son. That was the sweetest sound I had ever heard. In case you are wondering why the corridors, it was simply because I lacked the courage to enter the delivery room as from what I had heard the experience can scar you for life. I had been told a story of a man who had escorted the wife to the delivery room and ended up screaming more than the mother to be till he was chased out by the doctor and I wasn’t about to let go of my man pass.
The nurse finally came out with my son and she let me hold the little bundle of joy and words just can’t express what I felt at that moment. After a day we were allowed to take him home and what followed was sleepless nights as he acclimatized to this world. As he grew older he started sleeping more to our relief. I must say being a father has been a learning experience as every day there is something new to learn from how to change a diaper, how to wash him, how to burp, what to look out for incase he is not feeling well, how to be patient because babies can really try your patience.
But all in all being a father is the best thing ever and something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. I just can’t wait for him to grow up so that I can teach him how to be a man :-).