I realized that I am going to become a father. The idea both excited and terrified me. Concern for my wife, concern for the baby, fear of the unknown, all mixed together with the proud inspiring idea that I am entering fatherhood. I hoped for the best and feared for the worst. Would I be a good father? Would I know what to do when problems came up? Would I be able to support a family? Now that 3 years have gone by as well as the birth of a second child, I can safely say that my fears and concerns were perfectly normal.

Becoming a father is a time of great change. It is a life changing event. Your time, your goals, your hopes and your dreams stop being your own. Your fears and concerns are born out of the realization of great responsibility. You gain new insight into the behavior and concern of your own parents. I wouldn't trade it for anything because after becoming a father you realize what is really important in life.

How you handle the feelings and concerns is up to each individual person. My reaction was to try and soak up as much information on parenting and fatherhood as I could find. I looked for books at bookstores and online on the subject of fatherhood and being a father. I went to all of my wife's doctor appointments and all of her sonograms. I went to as many prenatal classes as my wife wanted to take. As it turns out, taking prenatal classes with your spouse allows you time to adjust to the fact that there really is a baby coming into your life. It also helps give you some idea what to expect when the baby does come. But that wasn't enough. I surfed the web for terms like fatherhood and new fathers. I didn't find many websites that supported new dads. I even signed up for "father boot camp", a class for just fathers. This class introduces you to other fathers who have the same concerns you do as well as being a great source of information. This class teaches important things like how to change a diaper and what your wife will need in the form of support when she brings the baby home from the hospital.

During pregnancy many men have difficulty coming to grip with the idea that they are going to be a father. The concept of fatherhood does not really crystallize until the birth of the baby. That is when most fathers start to comprehend their new role. That is when the emotions of being a dad and entering into fatherhood comes crashing home. I had never realized how proud I could be of anything or anyone until the birth of my little girl. I didn't understand until I held my daughter how much I can care about someone else in this world.

When you look at your tiny baby you will realize that your baby is vulnerable and dependent upon you for support. At the same time you now have a new appreciation for your wife's strength, courage, and pain tolerance. After watching your wife give birth, and seeing your little baby come into the world, you will find that you are willing to make the sacrifices and the changes needed to accommodate the needs of your family. You will also find that no description of the event before hand does justice to the experience of seeing your child born. When I asked my best friend why he didn't tell be before hand how it felt to become a father, he simply replied "You would not have believed me anyway."

---------------------------------------------------------------
Written by William E Petersen, author
of the Ezine called DaddyTalk.

William is the owner of DaddyTalk and may
be reached at DaddyTalk@publicist.com
---------------------------------------------------------------