Fatherhood’s First Stress, Part 2

On a pleasant autumn night similar to the night of our daughter’s birth, when we drove past the hospital and I started to reminisce fondly about that daughter’s planned delivery, my wife objected.  Not only was induction significantly more painful than spontaneous labor, but also she had always wanted to start labor naturally and to experience…  well, whatever

Fatherhood’s First Stress, Part 1

To effect my daughter’s birth, my wife had to be induced into labor.  The doctors used a medicine which made the birthing process even more excruciating than normal.  I know this, so I should probably also know to be careful about admitting that I prefer induction to the alternative.  If you suspect that I was actually careful though, you haven’t been reading enough of my posts.

The story starts years ago on the afternoon of my wife’s due date, a fine fall Monday which

Pregnancy Brought to You by Wisconsin, the Mediterranean, and Cholesterol

NOTICE:  This post is Wife approved.

For my wife, pregnancy was somewhere between a disappointment and a nightmare.  For years she had heard mothers speak of how pregnancy was a magical time for them.  Many even missed it.  Understandably, she looked forward to an amazing experience.  Instead she had nine months of exhaustion and pain.  It was like some sort of cruel bait