P
ProudnewDad
Guest
else had this happen? This past weekend we welcomed our beautiful daughter into this world. We had to move away from home a couple years ago for my work, so have no family close to where we live. My wife's family consisting of 3 of her sisters, my little niece, and my wife's parents all flew in to be able to spend time with my wife and our newborn during Thanksgiving. During the pregnancy my wife and I did what I think most parents do by reading up on what to expect, attending birthing classes, talking about our wishes and then developed a birth plan that we submitted to the hospital. One of the most important parts of the birth plan is deciding who is going to be in the delivery room. For obvious reasons I believe that my wife had the majority of the vote on who she wanted in. After discussing the issue she told me she wanted me to be her labor coach and for her mother to be in the room as well. When my wife went into labor we (my wife, my mother-in-law and I) loaded into the truck and eagerly rushed to the hospital.
My wife's father had expressed to my mother-in-law that he wanted to be in the delivery room when our daughter was born. My mother-in-law conveyed this desire to my wife, but she still decided that she did not want her dad in the delivery room. My personal opinion about this is very strong. I was strongly opposed to having my father-in-law in the room as I feel that it is a violation of our privacy, etc. Nevertheless, if my wife had wanted him in there I would have supported her decision. My wife's parents never mentioned the fact that they wanted my father-in-law to be in the room.
The three of us (mom-to-be, mother-in-law, and myself) arrived at the hospital and found that active labor was imminent. We (mother-in-law) worked with the nurses and as my wife's contractions become more severe, we provided the support.
The pain got to a point, and my wife decided that she wanted to get an epidural. The relief from the pain came to my wife soon after the epidural was administered. This created a lull in the action and I took the opportunity to text the family an update. My father-in-law responded immediately that they were all already at the hospital and in the waiting room. I told my mother-in-law that they were already at the hospital and she stepped out of the room to go talk to them and give them an update. When she came back she brought my father-in-law into the room. I thought at the time that she just wanted him to say hi to his daughter real quick and then would leave. Well it soon became obvious that he was not planning on leaving anytime soon. I began to get quite agitated by this, but thought that they would respect our wishes and do the right thing. The nursing staff asked him to step out of the room on several occasions for various procedures where my wife was exposed. He kept coming back. I did not say anything at the time because I was occupied trying to comfort my wife and I still trusted they would do the right thing. Finally a nurse asked him to step out while they conducted an exam and my father-in-law waved her off and said that it was okay because he had seen my wife born. I looked at him and attempted to get his attention to indicate that it was time to leave, but he did not. The nurse sensing this tension asked who was going to be in the delivery room for the delivery. I responded that it was going to be my mother-in-law and myself. My mother-in-law then put her arm around my father-in-law and said "He is going to be in here too." I was dumfounded. There was an awkward pause, the nurse asked my wife if this was okay, and my wife through teared eyes said that it was okay. My wife is sad that she said this and was afraid to create a bad situation and hurt her dad's feelings. He has a very short fuse when he does not get what he wants. I wanted more than anything to throw him out of the room for coming in uninvited by us, but held my tongue as I did not want to cause a family meltdown in the middle of my wife's labor. To make matters worse, he even broke out his Iphone and started taking video in during the labor. I was furious about this and tried to quell my emotions and support my wife, but it was obvious that things were not okay. I wanted to leave the room myself to ease the tension in the room. Also my mother-in-law had been completely helpful up until she brought my father-in-law in, and then virtually ceased to be any help.
A very short time after our beautiful daughter was born, my father-in-law got up to leave the room and said that he was going let other family members in the room. Through everything we had planned, we had wanted to have a couple of hours for our new family to bond with our baby. Bringing the rest of the family in would obviously prevent this. Also the nurses were not finished with the post delivery tasks. Despite my frustration, I politely asked my father-in-law to wait before he brought the rest of the fam
My wife's father had expressed to my mother-in-law that he wanted to be in the delivery room when our daughter was born. My mother-in-law conveyed this desire to my wife, but she still decided that she did not want her dad in the delivery room. My personal opinion about this is very strong. I was strongly opposed to having my father-in-law in the room as I feel that it is a violation of our privacy, etc. Nevertheless, if my wife had wanted him in there I would have supported her decision. My wife's parents never mentioned the fact that they wanted my father-in-law to be in the room.
The three of us (mom-to-be, mother-in-law, and myself) arrived at the hospital and found that active labor was imminent. We (mother-in-law) worked with the nurses and as my wife's contractions become more severe, we provided the support.
The pain got to a point, and my wife decided that she wanted to get an epidural. The relief from the pain came to my wife soon after the epidural was administered. This created a lull in the action and I took the opportunity to text the family an update. My father-in-law responded immediately that they were all already at the hospital and in the waiting room. I told my mother-in-law that they were already at the hospital and she stepped out of the room to go talk to them and give them an update. When she came back she brought my father-in-law into the room. I thought at the time that she just wanted him to say hi to his daughter real quick and then would leave. Well it soon became obvious that he was not planning on leaving anytime soon. I began to get quite agitated by this, but thought that they would respect our wishes and do the right thing. The nursing staff asked him to step out of the room on several occasions for various procedures where my wife was exposed. He kept coming back. I did not say anything at the time because I was occupied trying to comfort my wife and I still trusted they would do the right thing. Finally a nurse asked him to step out while they conducted an exam and my father-in-law waved her off and said that it was okay because he had seen my wife born. I looked at him and attempted to get his attention to indicate that it was time to leave, but he did not. The nurse sensing this tension asked who was going to be in the delivery room for the delivery. I responded that it was going to be my mother-in-law and myself. My mother-in-law then put her arm around my father-in-law and said "He is going to be in here too." I was dumfounded. There was an awkward pause, the nurse asked my wife if this was okay, and my wife through teared eyes said that it was okay. My wife is sad that she said this and was afraid to create a bad situation and hurt her dad's feelings. He has a very short fuse when he does not get what he wants. I wanted more than anything to throw him out of the room for coming in uninvited by us, but held my tongue as I did not want to cause a family meltdown in the middle of my wife's labor. To make matters worse, he even broke out his Iphone and started taking video in during the labor. I was furious about this and tried to quell my emotions and support my wife, but it was obvious that things were not okay. I wanted to leave the room myself to ease the tension in the room. Also my mother-in-law had been completely helpful up until she brought my father-in-law in, and then virtually ceased to be any help.
A very short time after our beautiful daughter was born, my father-in-law got up to leave the room and said that he was going let other family members in the room. Through everything we had planned, we had wanted to have a couple of hours for our new family to bond with our baby. Bringing the rest of the family in would obviously prevent this. Also the nurses were not finished with the post delivery tasks. Despite my frustration, I politely asked my father-in-law to wait before he brought the rest of the fam