Above is my favorite picture of a Dad of all time. This is when my son was less than a week old. He was 8 weeks early and we couldn't hold him for 3-4 days due to his immature nervous system. My husband made sure I held him first for 10 minutes and that was all he could handle that day, this was the following day, the first day Daddy held him.
My husband has always been an involved Daddy. However with most of our newborns, it was really up to me to care for them (especially in the night...I was breastfeeding so he couldn't do much). That was fine with me because I LOVE newborns. Newborns aren't really his "thing", he absolutely loved our babies, but liked them much more as they got old enough to play with.
However with our 5th baby things were different. They had to be, I had some health issues after birth that didn't resolve quickly like we were hoping they would. If I didn't get sleep, they were significantly worse. This baby of ours was not easy. He had an apnea monitor which LOUDLY let us know if he wasn't breathing. Plus our #5 had terrible acid reflux even with medication. He would arch his back and stop breathing when it happened. He was very fussy and the only place he liked to sleep is propped up on Mommy or Daddy's chest. So for MONTHS my husband slept propped up on the recliner with a baby boy on his chest. He never complained, he just did what had to be done. He got up and went to work and provided for our family. He came home and often had to cook dinner, bathe children and put them to bed because I was too exhausted and/or was dealing with a fussy baby.
That period of time 3 years ago showed me my husband's greatness. It proved that he was willing to sacrifice whatever it took for his kids (and for me). I know he was exhausted in every way, but he still did it. He is one amazing Father to our kids and they are so lucky to have him, they don't even realize it yet. I am so incredibly lucky to have him in my life and sometimes I forget how blessed I am too.
Happy Father's Day to all of you men who sacrifice time, sleep, money and yourselves to provide and protect and nurture your families. You make our world a better place, in fact our world would be so different if more men were willing to be a little less selfish and sacrifice for the good of their families.
