by Sara McGinnis posted in Pregnancy

Monday's child may be fair of face, but that's got nothing to do with it being easy for partners to make it to the delivery room for baby's arrival.
This is a truth I know all too well. I wish I were kidding, but when I called to tell my husband my water had broken on a Tuesday morning in late May his exact words were: "Wow. Ugh. This is really terrible timing." As if I could just pop a cork in it and wait until the weekend!
In his defense, at that time he worked in a production job in an industry hectic in the summer. They were just beginning to ramp up to meet demand, and that morning he'd started a large run that couldn't be stopped.
Nonetheless, nature called. Our second baby was on his way, and though I had sympathy for my husband's tough spot I was at a loss. It's not like I got to choose! I knew all too well time off was hard to come by, and this small company he'd just started at didn't offer paternity leave. Even today, 11 full years later, I feel a pang of envy when I hear about fathers who are able to take time away from work when their children are born. I would have so very much loved to have more than two days (my husband ended up taking that Tuesday-Thursday off, before working Friday and Saturday...then returning to a regular work week) together.

Two-and-a-half stressful days, him feeling torn between responsibilities, was all we got.
If I could have chosen when to go into labor I'd have aimed for mid-day on a...