It is easy to forget the role the father plays in the life of a new-born. His feelings, his hopes, and his dreams can all be pushed to the wayside as mother and baby are showered with attention. Where it may seem like a publicly thankless job, being a dad is one of the most rewarding experiences a man may ever have.

For one husband, life changed dramatically when he found out his wife was pregnant. Glenn Tucker, a photojournalist with The Royal Gazette/Mid-Ocean News<$>, discussed his journey, and brought along daughter Nya for support.

“Before I got married, honestly, I was like ‘no’,” the seasoned photographer admits of the thought of being a father. “Last year this time, it’s the last thing in the world I would have thought I’d be.”

Although excited at the prospect of becoming a father, mingled with those emotions were feelings of trepidation.

“I was a little bit nervous, especially having a little girl,” he concedes. “I’ve always looked after my male cousins, my little nephew. I know how to handle boys. But a little girl? Ok I was extremely nervous. I still am extremely nervous!

“When she’s older I’ll still be daddy, but my daughter’s generation is going to be something completely different than today’s. I’m 34 and by the time she turns 16 I’m going to be 50. Am I going to have the patience to deal with that type of stuff?”

All those fears aside for the time being, his most pressing matter at the moment is ensuring Nya’s utter satisfaction. As soon as Mr. Tucker begins to speak, Nya begins to complain and immediately she’s in his arms.

“When she wants something she’ll let you know, loud and strong,” he says, a content look on Nya’s face as he holds her bottle for her. “When she gets it she’s extremely satisfied. She’s not laid back like her father, or her mother! Nya is not laid back.”

Throughout his wife’s pregnancy, Mr. Tucker explains that he did his best to be supportive, only missing one or two of her appointments. He was present in the operating room for her Caesarean section and recalls being in complete awe: “I thought it would be kind of gross but when they actually brought her out, that whole concept of the blood and everything just went away. I was like, ‘That’s my baby’, you know? It turned out to be one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had.”

He continues: “It was a miracle. It’s one thing to see a baby on the ultrasound but then to see the baby emerge and come into the world, to hear her first cry, there’s nothing like it. And now every night I get to hear her cry at two o’clock, four o’clock, six o’clock—”

Holding Nya for the first time, he says, felt “weird”.

“It’s not like it was anybody else’s baby you can hold, kiss, say ‘how cute’ and then give back,” he asserts. “Now it’s my baby. You pass her back to me at the end of the day, and I’ve got to take her home and take care of her.”

Getting used to another presence in the house has also been an adjustment for him, as when it was only he and his wife, he was only worried with himself: “Now, you add changing diapers, cleaning up after she throws up, burping, crying, playing — it’s a lot of different things. Sometimes I have to bring her with me to work and to pay bills just to give momma a break.”

As for being a new parent, Mr. Tucker likens the experience to riding a bike without training wheels for the first time.

“You’re never steady the first time, you are going to fall down. I know I’ll make mistakes but hopefully I’ll learn from them and just enjoy the experience- until she turns 18 and tells me ‘Daddy I don’t need you anymore’.”

But sometimes, he reluctantly admits, the stress of it all gets to him: “Some days it feels like I’ve been pushed to the back burner. If my wife is tired, sometimes I don’t feel like really bothering her and I know when she starts work it’s going to be even worse- she’s going to be caught up in everything there and she’s going to come home and want to be with Nya. It’s not like I’m not going to be there to help, but she is very independent. But it’s all good, as long as Nya is happy.”

As for more little Tuckers running around in the future, Mr. Tucker is not quite as sure.

“I would love to have lots of these little things running around that look like me, but financially it’s not feasible,” he admits. “I’d like to have a boy, but every father wants a boy. If not, you know, I have my nephew so that’s fine.

He adds: “This is something you do everyday. A baby is not something you do just for a fad. I’ve heard guys saying they’ll get a girl pregnant just to keep her, and some girls are stupid enough to go ahead and do it. That to me is ridiculous, it’s selfish.”