Uh, yeah, thank goodness the messiness of birth only lasts for a bit.
And it totally feels like this as father too.
Everyone wants to see your little new prince or princess – but they can’t.
Can they?
They are made to wait.
And then you get to parade them in to pay their respects, like the Godfather on his daughter’s wedding day.
Your family grows and you just beam for a week.
Salute.
I walked out to the waiting room to inform the extended family of the happy news. The dozen or so family members gathered there leapt up to celebrate, a riot of handshakes and hugs. I was a prophet returning from the mountaintop with news of a joyous new covenant! All the messiness of the birth disappeared; here I had just been holding the newest member of this family, this man’s niece, this girl’s cousin.
-Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air (Amazon)