What's in it for Me?

In anticipation of our baby due next month, my wife and I have been attending a birthing class once a week. There are close to 20 couples in our class and it is taught by a very kind and seasoned nurse. Overall, the class has been pretty helpful. If anything, it has informed us that we have very little control of what's about to happen. On the first day I remember being struck at how often we heard phrases like, "you never know", "just don't think about it" and "it gets worse". Though not an immediate confidence booster, no matter how gory the subject of the night's class, our instructor is always sure to leave us with a slide show of newborns. Knowing quite well that babies are mind erasers.

One of the questions that came up in our last session, was whether or not the dads or partners would be "cutting the cord". Sometimes I can't help but feel expecting dads are sort of treated like ten year old boys. Even in the books about "What to Expect When You're Expecting", we get little tips in the margins under the heading, "Dad Tip of the Week". If you read some of these, you quickly get the impression that they are talking to someone else. Someone much younger and apparently under the care of the incapacitated mother. Each week the "Dad Tip" will go something like, "At this point mom is getting real tired, so you can help her out by doing the dishes or cleaning your room." I am fully aware of my limitations in being a part of the pregnancy beyond tending to my wife but I have to wonder who inspired such ridiculous tips? I found it hard to read a book of advice written by someone with such poor judgement in a marriage partner.

Cutting the cord seems like the same sort of thing. We are told, quite rightfully, that we need to make the mom as comfortable as possible during labor. But instead of just treating this fact like it was something we should want to do anyway, we're told we get the reward of using scissors at the end. Now, I like cutting things as much as the next guy, believe me, but the doctor might as well ask if I want to help staple up the C-Section. No offense to dads out there that have cut the cord, I just don't want my child's first vision of me to be wielding a pair of sharp scissors and cutting off what he or she has known for the last eight months as its food supply. Cutting the cord is often treated as a symbolic gesture, beautiful in many ways. I tend to think my baby might interpret the move as me symbolically saying, Alright, that's quite enough of this. Snip.