Five Lessons Learned in Five Days of Fatherhood
I’ve been a father now for five days, and off top, I can say it is the most honorable and tiring thing I’ve ever done in my life. But I’ve learned some things in between the love, tears and dirty diapers that I didn’t know going into fatherhood. Here’s five.
Day 1 – You don’t know what love is until you watch your child being born – I know that I love God, my family and friends, and people in general, but watching the birth of my son gave me a new feeling. Like a feeling that I could never be disappointed in him, never be dismayed by his actions or convinced that he was less than perfect. And it made the love for my wife stronger than before, because she gave him to me. I don’t know if people can have unconditional love, but I know I’m probably the closest person on Earth to having it.
Day 2 – There really is a new baby smell – and a lack thereof - New babies smell fresh, which is something I thought they just made up for television shows and detergent commercials. Also – and this is important for new fathers – condition yourself to check your baby’s diaper. Their bathroom breaks in the first day or so don’t smell, so you’ll be sitting there watching him squirm and not realize that there is carnage nearby.
Day 3 – The baby is what you eat – The nurse at the hospital told us that we might have to watch my wife’s diet to see how the baby reacts. What she eats gets in her breast milk, and into the baby. So far, we’ve learned that dairy product are a BIG no-no. He was up most of the night yelling and squirming to relieve himself of gas brought on by cheese and milk.
Day 4 – There is no rest for the weary father - The baby is like a human clock. Every 2-3 hours, our son wakes up for food, diaper changing and a period to calm down. I hear that it gets better as months go along, but so far, I’m averaging about 4 hours of sleep every night.
Day 5 – The baby learns quickly – So far, our child knows when his mother is nearby. He will turn toward her voice, and sometimes her smell if she’s close enough. He hasn’t really learned my voice, but he does enjoy crawling all over me. It is the one thing in the world I will publicly refer to as ‘cute.’
