At Johnson & Johnson we talk a lot about moms and the joys and struggles of motherhood, but we know that being a dad is also one of the most important jobs in the world.
In honor of Father’s Day, Lance Somerfeld, co-founder of NYC Dads, gives us a look into the first 24 hours of his newborn’s life and the first 24 hours of being a dad. He describes the first day of fatherhood as a “comedy of errors” and a humbling experience.
From “Thrust into Fatherhood ‘Heart’ First”:
My wife jolted me out of a deep sleep at 5 a.m. She mumbled something didn’t “feel right.” The fear in her voice scared me.
I slowly followed her into the bathroom.
“Something feels wet,” she replied. My wife wondered aloud, “Did my water break? I thought there’s supposed to be a pool of water on the floor? That’s what it’s always like on TV.” Within minutes we were in a taxi headed to the hospital.
After the battery of tests, the doctor confirmed my wife’s suspicions, then ordering for an emergency c-section within the hour.
At this moment, life froze and an incredible sense of calm washed over me. Like an athlete pumping himself up for a playoff game, I took my wife’s hand and said, “We need to mentally prepare for what’s about to happen. We are going to go through this together.”
Read Lance’s full story on the Huffington Post’s Global Motherhood.
And Happy Father’s Day from our family to yours!
Photo credit: doc_
Kelsey Ginck is a Global Fellow in Corporate Communications at Johnson & Johnson. She works primarily on the social media team doing community management for the corporate Facebook page and content creation across the various J&J channels. Kelsey is a Penn State alumna currently working towards her master’s degree in health communication at Rutgers University.