Congratulations, you're becoming a dad!
Babyworld member Daniel Borley explains what it's like to be a dad-to-be. Congratulations!You're going to be a dad for the first time! Right now the last thing you may feel like doing is celebrating, but trust me - and millions of others - this is the first step into a whole new world.
Whether you've only just found out, or you've known for quite some time, becoming a dad is still an awe-inspiring thing. Your other half will no doubt tell you, half-joking if you're lucky, that your hardest part (which is conception, apparently, guys) is out of the way. This is your first lesson in fatherhood, and comes with the first stage - pregnancy.
PregnancyA key lesson to be learnt is: if a pregnant woman tells you something, don't correct her, no matter how plainly wrong she is. This will be a recurring test for you. Other new parents will flood you with stories of the tears, the stroppiness and the inability to understand what's trying to be conveyed by their newborn. Thankfully you'll have first-hand experience of all of this having spent 40 weeks looking after a mother-to-be with the same symptoms!
But don't ever think it's just you that goes through this. Just last week I got an e-mail from a pregnant female friend who was telling me about her actions the previous Sunday (and I quote):
"I got up yesterday at 12 noon (because I CAN), went down stairs and wouldn't talk to my fiancé for 2 hours ... I don't know why, I just didn't want to (even though he had been up entertaining our first-born from 6:30am, cooking his breakfast, getting him washed and dressed, doing two lots of washing, drying, putting clothes away, tidying the lounge and fetching me the morning papers to name but a few chores)."
Scary stuff, eh?
But enough about women and their feelings (if my pregnant other half is reading this, I'm just kidding dear, you are uppermost in my thoughts and feelings as always!).
Why is being a dad so great then?If the path to fatherhood is so full of hormonal mood swings, why are so many people banging on about how great being a father is? It's not an easy one to answer, especially when you're sitting at a PC, trying to write an article, with white chocolate smeared in your hair from your darling daughter's unsuccessful attempt at cleaning her hands earlier in the day, and worrying that the tap-tap-tap on your keyboard will wake up another daughter who has fallen asleep having tired herself out using your chest and stomach as a trampoline. Yet even with the bruised ribs, it's difficult for me not to lean over and beam with pride at my beautiful sleeping daughter, whose look of innocence is something so pure and refreshing that if worn by Jordan would succeed in making even her look virginal.
And that's the reason that being a dad is so great. Not the bruises that come as part of the territory, or the grumpy nature of a freshly woken two-year-old, but the fact that the kids are part of me. I have a direct influence over their lives and can proudly say that for each accomplishment that they achieve, from their first step, through to their first word and onto their first day at nursery, they have learnt from me.
A parent's love is like no other, and nothing can prepare you for the thrills that a baby brings. That rush of protectiveness that you feel when you hold your baby for the first time, gently cradling her tiny body, finally acutely aware of the sheer enormity of the task that has been God-given to you. Wrapped tightly in a blanket with only a face and an arm on show, you can't help but stare at each tiny finger, complete with wrinkles and perfect fingernails, and as you continue to stare in wonderment she reaches out and clasps the fingers and thumb of her one free hand around your thumb, barely being able to get them to touch, and gripping tightly, so very very tightly as if her life depends on it, and then you look deep into her eyes, sealing a bond between the two of you that will last a lifetime, and you can almost hear her say "Hey, daddy!".
THAT is merely the start of why being a parent is so great.
Since Daniel wrote this piece for us, he has become a dad for the third time. Brooke Borley was born at 9.26am on 26 May 2005, weighing 6lb 9.5oz. Congratulations to the Borley family from everyone at babyworld!
Where to next?- Talk to other dads about what life's like in our Fatherhood forum
- Find out which celebrity dad you are in our fun quiz
- Scared of your partner's mood swings? Read our feature on how to support her during pregnancy!
