Cheers to great Fathers!

Over the New Years break I have meet up with a few fathers that have reminded me of why I am involved with DIYFather.

I had a great conversation with a Father who will be a Stay at Home for 6 months of the year, an older father who has a young child and his priorities are with his family he is rough around the edges a mans-man however he is passionate about his life as a father.
I would like to acknowledge this father and all fathers like him for setting themselves up to be able to take the time off for their families.

Another father I spoke to, like myself does not have his children and he finds it hard and unfulfilled as a father. Christmas is a tough time for Fathers that don’t have their children it can be a deeply lonely time for some fathers, as it was for this father.

Rodney's home birth story

Everyone has "the" list ... you know the one, babies coming and magically this list appears "things to do". No matter how hard you work and toil over this list it just never seems to get smaller ...

So 9 months after starting on this list, (ok I had a few days out fishing) it was Saturday morning and all I had left was to plant 5 trees and fix the house.

I had been woken at 2am to be told that my wife had been having very mild contractions since 7pm the night before, but don't panic as this was the third time and baby was still a long way off. The midwives were due at 10am for a checkup.

10am rolls around the midwives arrived and we timed the contractions at about 30sec long and around 10 mins apart. Armed with the information that when they last 45sec and 5 min apart that we should head to the hospital. Yes this was originally supposed to be hospital birth, but the fact that this letter is in this magazine you already know the outcome…

Back to the story; 10.30am and my wife and I are in the back garden with the final job on the list. She is only there to supervise, while I am digging planting and timing the contractions. Just after 1pm the first contraction that went aver 45 sec came. Quickly finishing the last plant and fixing the hose, my job was done and the list complete.

Duncan's Story: A Homebirth

The following story is re-published on DIYFather.com with kind permission from www.homebirth.org.nz.

It all started for me some three and a half years ago at an antenatal class - a bunch of expectant first time parents sitting there with a group of strangers wondering, "What the hell am I doing here?" Midwives! Bring on the doctors, the machinery, the drugs and the other wonders of modern science. But there I was, dragged along by my wife's excitement, listening to what I thought at the time was the "hippy" section of the medical profession, subscribing natures way and homeopathic remedies for childbirth. These, I thought, were the people probably not good enough to get a job at the hospitals - HOW WRONG I WAS!

In hindsight, women have been giving birth for quite a few years now and why I thought giving birth in a hospital would be better I have no idea.

Tom's home birth story

This week is Home-Birth week, and I have been given permission from homebirth org and the fathers to post their amazing stories.

Enjoy

- Eric

The Birth of Sabina

I suppose that this can only be useful if I give an idea of the background of the birth of Sabina. I am her dad, Tom, and I have been together with her mother, Lily, for only 18 months but a lot has happened in that time. When I got together with Lil I was lucky enough to get Beth in with the bargain. I am not Beth's biological father but she is my daughter in every other possible way. This creates a curious dynamic that some might relate to. Who is my first daughter? Do I have the concentration not to play favourites? What if they don't look alike? And so on.

Lil and I have flatted together, bought a house, weathered a miscarriage, nervously met each other's families, raised chickens and now we have our new baby.