Recently, I found out that my girlfriend was pregnant. Let me tell you; this wasn’t something that I necessarily wanted, or thought I would be okay. But, here’s the thing, I knew she wanted to keep the baby, so like any guy who is trying to be a good person in a world filled with Ryan Gosling, I jumped on board.
Now, I’m not going to say an unplanned pregnancy was the easiest thing on the planet, but here are some of the things I learned.
- Don’t be afraid to step up
- As I said, this wasn’t something that I wanted, so when she told me, I’ll admit, I got mad. I couldn’t understand how we could be so careless. So, we fought. That wasn’t helpful. But then I realized that she was going to do this with, or without me. So, I changed my attitude. I started to go to doctor appointments and did the crazy hormone changes. I stepped up as a man should.
- Telling our families was hard, but worth it
- There is nothing scarier in my mind than telling my girl’s parents that I knocked her up. But, I knew if they weren’t on board, or at least know what was going on, this whole thing would be a lot harder. When we finally told them, and my parents and they reacted as expected. But, then after a cooling downtime, they came around. They supported her and said we made the right decision in trying to parent. They said that they would help as they could, but we were the parents.
- Meeting our baby boy is everything
- We met our son on March 14th. He is perfect. When we were leaving the hospital, the nurse asked me if I was ready. Even though I felt like we still had a lot to learn, I was confident we would figure it out.
Being a dad hasn’t been the easiest. We have had our share of struggles. But even with all those late-night craving runs, doctor visits, baby showers, and home prep, I sure am glad I said yes that day to help.
Aspire Women’s Clinic offers confidential pregnancy tests for women, in a safe and pressure-free environment. We also offer unplanned pregnancy support and helpful resources. Contact us today to learn more.