How did your partner react to birth?

Just a fun thread inspired by another. How did your partner react to the birth of your child/ren? Did they cry, laugh, faint? I seriously love seeing the reactions from the partners on birthing shows etc, that raw emotion always makes me cry.

DH delivered DD. I was on my hands and knees on the bathroom floor on a mat. He dropped her :rofl: Aside from the massive feeling of relief when DD slipped out, I'll never forget hearing DH exclaim "Wow!". DD and I cuddled for a bit, then DH took her (after she had a once over etc) while I hopped in bed. Our doula snapped a pic of DH just after he handed DD back to me, probably two minutes after she was born:

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Always makes me smile, priceless.

How did your partner react? Post pics if you have them :)

He was traumatised for life by birth number 1. For birth number 2 he stayed away from the business end and then he got to dress up in surgical scrubs and hold DS2 straight after he was born so he found it much more enjoyable.

He was just beaming from ear to ear. He was such an awesome support during her birth and kept saying wow as I was pushing her out, and we have pictures of him leaning into us as I sat in the bath holding her just after she was born, he looks mesmerised by her. Our doula took an awesome pic of their first cuddle while I had a quick shower before getting out of the bath and his eyes are just electric and the smile is huge!

He really didn't like birth no1 but was absolutely awestruck once DS1 actually arrived and the drama was over. I haven't asked about this time yet but I would say pretty similar bar the drama and stress.

Dh was great he was supportive and kept me calm and watched baby start coming out and came and held my hand and had a big smile when he was out

Dh was tramatised with both births and said he does not want to do it ever again. Hopefully baby number three will be more of a happy experience for him.

Your dh looks so proud you'd think he had given birth!! Love it!

After a very long labour when DD finally was born DP cried and straight away gave me a kiss and cuddle and told me how proud he was of me.

DS's he was in quite a bit of shock i don't think he had time to react, neither did i to be really honest but we both awed over DS both saying at the same time "oh my god hes big and look at his hands!!" :rofl: And like with DD gave me a kiss and said he was very proud.

He watched both kids be born, he found it amazing. I will have to come back after ive asked DP what his initial reactions with both of them.

He missed DD1's and was devastated :(
DD2's he read the paper until my waters broke then was patting my head & getting me water (for the whole 7min) until she arrived, didn't leave my side.
The photos show it all, he was glowing & smiling, he didn't go down the business end but he was there ;) :rofl:

The first time DH was simply shell-shocked and pushed to the side unfortunately :( this made him feel very inadequate in handling her as they (the staff) fussed so much about him and how he was holding her etc etc. real PITA all of 'em!

With DD2 he was beaming proud :) But really quiet. I think, in our case the whole PTSD for me, played a big part and he held onto some concerns and no doubt was remembering some of the not-so-nice stuff of the first time. but yeah, he was much more involved, confident and part of the whole thing and this meant that he could smile and be part of it all.

This time around he is so so so keen and excited and doesnt want to miss a single moment...this is a big step for us, as previously with DD2 there was still a bit of fear about what the birth could mean. So i am heaps more excited this time as i know that we are in for a totally joyous experience for all involved :D

DH watched DS being born. I remember the dazed awe on his face just after DS came out. He was left traumatised by the placenta though (apparently it shot out so fast it bounced lmao!).
He wasn't there for the second birth.
For the third he was in the room and watched her being born. He didn't say much about it. I think it weirds him out actually.

I'm not sure how he felt exactly, but from my perspective in both he gave me the (nastier word for) poops! He tried, he really did, but when I was in labour with Ianto he just couldn't get anything right. I tried to roll onto my side to relieve the pain, and he pushed me back because he thought I was falling off the bed :rofl: And after I handed him the tube the gas was coming through, then tried to reach for it again, he jerked it away from me and gave me a hug instead, thinking I wanted him. He must've been devestated when I snapped that I wanted "THAT! Not you!" :p

And then there's the falling asleep while I dealt with contractions that earned him a pillow to the face when I was having Amelia. Heehehe...

PZ, you took these two photos just after Amelia was born. I love it, it just captures every emotion we were all feeling at that point :heartbeat:

Hubby isn't the greatest birthing partner to have but he's had very different births to attend. Almost missed 1.
a weak stomach and strong gag reflex isn't the best thing to have while watching a birth :rofl:

The photos are beautiful!

As a couple of others have mentioned, my DH was quite traumatized and doesn't have good memories of DD's birth. He still can't look at photos of me in the suite.

Was awestruck by DD once she was on my chest though. Was lovely watching him hover over her as she was being weighed and measured.

Still freaked out over me pooing on the floor :rolleyes: Other than that, though, he cried at the actual birth and has since commented on how I was in the zone, I think he was a Bit in awe of that.

My DH never lets me forget the poo :rolleyes:

DH is great with gross things like poop. The midwives just took the poop away as it came out, but recently I had gastro and (way TMI) started pooping in the shower, I couldn't control it. DH just came in, grabbed the removable shower head and hosed me down until I was done while I cried :rofl: :sick: Ew!

DH was in awe. He couldn't believe what I had done and that his DD is here. And he couldn't stop staring at her. Sigh.

...oh the glamorous moments that we face in married life :rofl:

My DH remarks to all that will listen that cleaning up after the HB was like a scene out of 'the sopranos' :rolleyes:

Towards the end while I was pushing, he was super anxious to meet our baby. He didn't watch DS come out, too grossed out lol, so he stayed next to me and got the same view I did as the midwife put him on my chest. I'm still annoyed I didn't catch a glimpse of DH's reaction to that cause its what I was hanging out for all pregnancy!

I think he shed a couple tears, but mostly just had the biggest grin on his face. Though as I was haemorrhaging he was going between concern for me and gazing into DSs eyes.

Despite a traumatic birthing experience for us, it had its beautiful moments :)

Hubby bawled when Miss H was born! and proceeded to not stop looking at her for the next few hours! and neglected to let my parents know that I and Miss H were all hunky dory! They were in the room freaking out as I had been gone for a few hours hehe

Then, with Miss Z...well, he kinda walked around to the end of the table to cut her cord, and made the mistake of looking at me on the table, and seeing my intestines (he thinks that's what they were) in a bowl next to my nether regions! He still kinda gets this pale look about him when he remembers :rofl:

He sided with the midwives and ob for birth #1. His reaction was one of fear, which the bullies fed into.

He will be several miles away for birth #2. He will not be told this until after the event, he will also not be told I am in labour. I have to protect myself - it's not as if my hsuband, midwife or obs will do that for me.

With our first DH said he felt useless, but he did exactly what I want which was just hold my hand (while I nearly broke his, I kid you not!) but when DS1 was born he was awestruck.

With DD he was great, asked me if needed anything, stayed out of my way when I was using the fitball, totally encouraged me when pushing. It was our best birth.

Unfortunately he missed DS2 birth (DS was 7 weeks prem and I was already in hospital) in some ways it was good that he wasnt there because being a prem we didn't know if DS would survive it, so there was a certain amount of fear in the room.

With DS3 he kept getting pushed out of the way because DS heart was decelerating constantly (over 8 decels with in 4hrs)
And I ended up having to face the wall, because that was the only position that DS didn't decel. But when it came time to push, he was there once again letting me squish and bruise his hand, and encouraging me.

DH might have cried- I don't really remember......