Belated Dad's day post

I meant to do a father's day post a while ago but got caught up with getting ready for my trip to Seattle for a conference.  Since I kind of guilt-tripped Billy into making me breakfast for mother's day, I thought I'd surprise him with a "Happy Father's Day" post that would convey how important he is to me and what an amazing father I think he's going to be.

I think it's really easy once you're pregnant and then when you have kids to push the "dad" aside and focus totally on yourself and your kids (which I am completely guilty of doing).  So, I promised myself that I would make sure that I make him a priority no matter how pregnant I am or how many kids I have, since, without him, I wouldn't be having precious little Nachos and Grouchos (that's what we've decided to call our next fetus-to-be...that is, if we decide to have another one :)) and without him, I wouldn't be living this amazing, fulfilled life.

So, I'm sure every girl has seen this picture somewhere out there:

I remember seeing it as a teenager and recognizing a whole slew of other pictures of half-naked men holding little babies.  Immediately, I thought about how cheesy this whole thing was: do women really find this attractive?  I vowed that my future husband would never take pictures like this, lest he wants to be ridiculed, by me, for the rest of his life. 

However, the vision that I have of Billy holding little Nacho just melts my heart.  And you're damn right I want tons of pictures of a shirtless Billy holding Nacho.  I know Billy will balk at the whole idea, but I'm going to try my best to sneak some pictures of him and Nacho having skin-to-skin contact (or, as Billy refers to it, skin-to-fur, because he has hair on chest). 

I had my first "meeting" with my doula yesterday.  She nicely took me out to lunch and we just sat and talked and got to know each other a little bit more.  She asked me several questions, like "are you planning to have your mother at the birth?" (yes), "Do you want to be able to labor at home as long as possible?" (yes), "Who do you want to tell you what the sex is?" (ummm...I don't know...I've never thought about it.)  I guess I had always thought that the doctor or midwife told you the news; I never gave a second thought to having anyone else do it.  The second that my doula suggested Billy, my eyes started tearing up and my throat caught a little.  I nodded my head yes and smiled.  Of course he would tell me!  Nothing could be more perfect!  I wouldn't want to hear "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" from anybody else.

My doula also commented on the fact that she has rarely interacted with a couple where the boyfriend/husband has been so involved in the whole pregnancy/labor process.  You should see Billy at our doula meetings and prenatal appointments: he's the one who's always asking questions and interacting with the doula or midwife.  He feels the same way I do about natural birthing and the way I envision raising Nacho.  He is as much of a participant in all the choices that are made regarding my body and the way I give birth.  He is so amazingly supportive of me and my sometimes crazy-sounding ideas.

I can't wait to see Billy interacting with Nacho.  I hope that if I can't get a shirtless shot of him holding little Nacho, I could at least get something like this:

 Awwww...courtesy of the peaceful parenting blog: real men wear babies.

Just this morning, Billy hugged me as I made my way back to the bed from my 3rd trip to the bathroom that night and said: "I know that Nacho will never appreciate it, but I wanted to thank you for carrying him this whole time. I love you." 

I have the best boyfriend in the entire world.  Happy belated/early Father's Day, Billy.  I can't wait to celebrate Father's Day every year with you for the rest of my life.  :)