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Labor, Delivery and Dad?
When Dad-to-be Is Reluctant to Be in the Delivery Room
By Mark Stackpole
Disconcerted by our jumbled emotions, men often hide behind crude jokes and false bravado. Everyone, especially the other dads in the room, knows that you are full of baby diaper deposits, but they remember when they were just like you, and so they break out the kid gloves and treat you with gentle humor.
"Leading up to the birth of our son, we would talk about whether or not I'd be in the room," says Chris Elliott, a dad from Seattle, Wash. "And while I joked about running to grab a beer during the delivery, I never really thought that I couldn't be there. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I had to be there. And then to know that I was going to meet my son within seconds of him coming into the world only affirmed my position."
His wife ended up having a very difficult delivery, sapping much of her strength, ultimately ending up in a C-section. As it does for so many fathers-to-be, watching her go through it all left him a bit in awe of her courage and determination. "To be honest, it was the most exciting and scary time of my life," Elliott says. "I've never seen any human being showcase such strength as my wife did while pushing. Sure, NFL linemen are big and strong, but I don't think they could do what my wife, or women in general, did. She was especially impressive on the last push of each roun. Where that last burst came from, I had no idea."
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