Wifey here, and in honor of Father's Day, I decided to take over the blog and give you a little glimpse into what an amazing father Boyfriend has become (for some reason, while I graduated to Wifey when we got married, he never did. I think it because I never want him to lose his boyish charm). Luckily, Boyfriend has the easiest password in the world to crack; I mean using your daughter's name on your daddy blog isn't exactly rocket science. I'm sure it will be changed after this, so it might be my one and only appearance so enjoy.
Boyfriend and I started dating when were just babies, 19 years old. I look back now and think of how young we were really were. In typical fashion of kids these days, he courted me over the internet, chatting on AIM. We were "talking" so often that my father tried to give me an intervention, telling me I was addicted to the internet. Little did he know that I was building the foundation of the rest of my life. Also in typical fashion, Boyfriend and I feel into that deep puppy love that only teenagers are capable of and decided within two weeks of our relationship that we were going to get married and have babies. At the time, it was a few babies and we would spend hours talking about how we couldn't wait until we were older and lying in bed on a Saturday morning and hear said babies running across the hardwood floors (because in my fantasy-I only have hardwoods) to our bedroom for a family cuddle and Saturday morning cartoons. Now that we are actually getting there, I'm not quite sure our fantasy is going to be realistic. First off, Shrek will make it to our bed long before the kids will make it and jump all over us and in turn losing the serenity I have always pictured, and second with the way things are now-I'm sure every Saturday morning is going to be filled with soccer (or judo) games, birthday parties or some other kid activity. With that being said, we have fulfilled the first part of our dreams, a sweet little baby girl.
When I told Boyfriend we were going to have a baby, I was so scared he wasn't going to be as excited as I was or somehow be mad. I know that we are adults, real adults too- we are married, own a house, financially stable. Children were definitely in the plan at some point, but for some reason I was still scared. I suppose it is the permanency of children that is frightening; everything else could have been walked away from up until this point. Feeling scared was such a silly feeling though, when I told Boyfriend his smile and almost tears (because men don't cry!) told me he was just as happy as I was.
Boyfriend immediately became a father in every way. He was overly protective ("is it really safe for you to get the mail?!"), was great at lecturing ("Wifey, I don't think you should be drinking that much chocolate milk. Now Baby is going to be allergic"), and telling "back in the day stories" ("When my mom was pregnant with me, she stayed in bed all day resting. That is how it should be done"). While all of those traits I found particularly annoying, I found the following traits quite endearing and knew that he was going to make an excellent father. He was always so tender, touching my belly and talking to Baby. He would tell her funny stories about us and his dreams for her. He also very nurturing, I was extremely sick for the first four months and would do whatever I asked if it would make me feel better. He was also, like any good father should be, very proud. He would brag about how I could already feel the baby at 13 weeks, so of course that meant we had a super strong baby.
At the end of pregnancy, he drove me nuts though. We were on high alert for three weeks so we had that constant "is this it?!" on edge feeling for a very long time. Every quick movement, every "ouch", every time I would be too quiet he would say, "is it time?". When it finally was time, he was so excited-sitting in the delivery room his legs were tapping at a pace I promise he wouldn't be able to reproduce now. Boyfriend has already given the details of the labor in itself, but the one thing he didn't mention is how strong he really was. I have never been more scared or vulnerable as I was in those moments and his touch and reassurance (even if it was yelling at me to grow some balls) helped me make it through. When Baby was placed on my chest, I looked down at her and then up at him and saw he was a changed man. I have never seen him look at anything the way he looked at Baby. Not myself or even his beloved Cowboys when they pull a game winning touchdown. I knew instantly that Baby was going to be his number one girl, and I am 100% ok with that.
The first few weeks were really hard on me, just like any new mother. I have had issues with breastfeeding from the start and so for the first few weeks I was not able to be the loving, nurturing mother I so badly wanted to be. Instead of getting to enjoy my newborn, my life was breastfeeding and the pain it was causing. Boyfriend however was able to step in and become the most amazing, nurturing father I have ever seen. I like to think he is in love with me as he is his daughter, but I don't know. When Baby was upset, she wanted her Daddy. He would hold her and she would immediately become content just to lie in his arms and look at him. I am so thankful that she formed that bond with her father immediately since I was not able to do so. Of course, this has probably made her a Daddy's Girl for life, but I'm not sure we could have avoided that anyway.
Boyfriend has taken on parenting with such ease and grace; I hate to admit I'm surprised. If I ever ask anything of him, he does it. He has made so many sacrifices to make sure that Baby and I have a good life. My dedicated husband took 54 hours within 2 semesters in order to graduate before my maternity leave was up. He spent most nights up until 4 am, only to wake up at 8 am again (even if it was just to play Call of Duty). Not only did he graduate, but he did so with honors and to say I'm proud is a vast understatement. He has changed for the better. He is more patient, kinder. I have never felt more confident and secure in my choice to have him as my partner than now.
Because I am definitely charting into the tl;dr category I am going to stop here. I do have one more thing to say. Boyfriend will say that I am the backbone of our family and while I admit I am pretty awesome, by no means is that true. He has absolutely taken on ownership of being a father and is an equal partner on this journey. Our daughter is absolutely perfect and he is responsible for 50% of that. I am so thankful that our daughter is going to grow up with a father that loves her more than anything, thinks he is the smartest man alive, and will be able to make her laugh (even if it is with typical daddy fart jokes). Baby and I are so lucky to have him in our life, and we wouldn't trade him for the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment