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With the home birthing space all set up and ready to go, Leroy finds himself playing that familiar game of waiting that so many expecting fathers seem to experience. Little did Leroy know that when his partner finally does go into labour it would still be another three days before he met his little baby boy.
Are we there yet?
The time as an expecting father was nearly over for Leigh as he and his partner entered the final trimester.
“The third trimester went by very quickly except for the last 2-3 weeks,” said Leroy.
“Those last couple of weeks seemed to go on forever. It was excruciating being so helpless and at the mercy of the baby.
“We were expecting her to pop any time.”
Leroy said up until this point he never really connected with baby belly.
“Once I felt him moving for the first time I was hooked,” he said.
“I really enjoyed feeling him move around and I even started talking to the little guy.
“I think I actually started to become a little jealous that I couldn’t be as close to the baby as my partner.”
Birth team assemble
There was no time to contemplate that now as Leroy and his partner were about to have the most intense experience of their lives together.
“The birth was full on. The labour went for about three days,” said Leroy.
“She was having contractions all night and day so I had to rub her lower back and apply pressure with each one to ease the pain.
“Neither of us had any sleep and I was doing my best to keep calm so she would stay calm.
“We went to the hospital to move things along because my partner was so exhausted.
“This wasn’t part of the plan but I didn’t mind because it meant some relief for the both of us and when he finally decided to show himself it was all so worth it.
“The actual birth was intense, much more than I thought it would be.
“I found it very disturbing but this may have had something to do with the zero sleep and massive back ache I had developed over the past three days.
Where’s the instant love?
“When the midwife plopped him onto my partner’s chest I thought I would’ve been instantly attached to him, but I wasn’t.
“The baby looked kind of weird and all I wanted to do was get some well-earned sleep.
“It wasn’t until the next day while mum was in having a shower and the midwife left him with me all alone that it really started to hit home.
“I was really scared and afraid to move while I held him on my lap and at that point he opened his eyes and made a little breathing noise and it hit home that this was my boy and I was just crazy for him.”
Click here to read Leroy’s experiences during the 1st trimester.
Click here to read Leroy’s experiences during the 2nd trimester.
Click here to read Leroy’s experiences as a new dad.
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Read about other fathers to be and their experiences during the third trimester. |
