by Charlie Brooks posted in Mom Stories

Men have it easy during labor, because we?re not the ones with a human being forcing its way through our innards and out our nether regions. Of course, we still have to watch our loved one go through that process, and if we?re not careful we sometimes get smacked in the head.
The morning of my wife?s labor is a story I like telling because nobody got injured and there was no property damage, so all the mishaps become funny in hindsight. Had a couple of things gone wrong, I?d probably flinch a little whenever the subject came up.
My wife?s contractions started in the early morning, and she took a calm approach. She timed her contractions and let me sleep for an extra hour before deciding that, yeah, she might be going into labor. Because the contractions weren?t close enough together yet, we watched American Dad, because that show used to be funny. We got to her OB/GYN?s office, but by then the contractions were getting painful. Before she even entered the exam room, her doctor saw her leaning against the doorframe in pain and made an instant diagnosis. Then it was off to the hospital and into the portion of the story that has comedic violence.
It turns out I?m an effective partner to have around during labor ? I can listen to instructions and don?t take it personally when people scream at me. Within minutes, we found that if I pushed hard on a certain spot on her back while she was sitting upright, it served as effective pain relief....