Are you afraid? I know you must be scared, twins on the way. You must be so nervous.

The amount of times I’ve been asked these questions is interesting. Understandable, too. Who wouldn’t be nervous with such a life-changing occurrence?

I haven’t heard anyone ask my wife if she is scared. I guess that it might be an underlying assumption before people ask me. Since I’m not the one having the babies I guess it’s easier to ask me.

Am I scared? Well, to be blunt, no. I’m anxious occasionally, but not often. Yes, there are a ton of variables that need to be accounted for during a pregnancy: premature labour, complications, the babies’ (two of them!) health; but all we can do is plan for their possibility and hope for the best.

I feel like this whole experience is so special, and so unique that I can’t allow my lower nature to get the better of me.

Part of that is selfish, I accept that, but I am of the opinion that the more calm I am, the better the environment I am creating for the health and development of the mother and babies.

If my demeanour is something that can affect their growth, then I want to have a positive impact on their environment.

I also think that we should be aware of how emotionally taxing and rewarding pregnancies are for fathers.

As fathers we have to acknowledge that these feelings are natural and welcome.

Feeling anxious or excited or nervous isn’t a sign of weakness but should be another source of joy.

We should be happy to share and process these emotions with our spouses as a means of connecting in another way along this journey.

Really, when I think about whatever I am feeling at a particular moment, I’m sure my wife has felt and experienced it in another way.

You know the saying, “People make plans, and God laughs”. We just don’t know what the joke is until we look back on it after the fact.

I think that many people work incredibly hard to put themselves in a position to have experiences like their first pregnancy, and if we aren’t able to fully enjoy it in the moment because of things out of our control, there might never be a moment for us to fully appreciate what we have.

I think this thankfulness is part of the reason I am not afraid of the responsibility of fatherhood, even in the event everything doesn’t turn out perfectly during the pregnancy.

The journey is so awesome that appreciating the sacrifice and milestones with my wife is something that I don’t want to take for granted.