You know, I wasn't a reticent father at all--we had tried to get pregnant for a couple of years with no results, had kind of let it go, and then it just happened, and I was excited about it.
HOWEVER.
However, I realized when my son was born that I hadn't felt it the way she did. The chemicals coursing through her, the feelings she got especially when he began to stir and move, I didn't *really* share in all that. I loved her, and I wanted the baby, but not in the same way or for the same reason as she did.
Once he was born and I could experience him more like the way she does, I became a LOT more emotional about the whole thing. He's four now, but still . . . it's not just in matters that directly involve the child, either. I began to cry at sad songs and movies (not the kind of sad songs and movies that make her cry--usually some dirge about lonely but rugged men sacrificing themselves for duty--MANLY tears, dammit!) I realized after he was born that I had thought I understood her emotions (hey, I wanted a baby too! I was excited too, right?) but it was a case of not knowing what I didn't know. I hadn't understood that this level of emotional tie was possible.
(I know my signature says I have 14-year-old twins. We do, but we adopted them at 6 years of age. We used to tell people we "skipped the diapers" but I think we skipped some other things, too.)
