The birth was a little bit traumatic for us. We were hoping for a vaginal delivery and after 12 hours of labor, we ended up having a c-section. I usually have anxiety crisis and this day was very traumatic for me. But it was beautiful too. The first thing that surprised me was to see how much she looked like me. That was very strange.

 

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Having only two months of paternity leave was such a short time. I thought about quitting my job to stay home with my daughter. I would like to spend my whole life watching her grow up. When I think about work, I feel very bad for not being brave enough to quit my job to stay with her.

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I worked on some stages of the Fiocruz research "Born in Brazil - National Enquiry into Labour and Birth". Because of this, I saw how much the absence of fathers impact children's lives. So even before I knew I was going to be a father, I was thinking about paternity.

 

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In the first months, I felt a lot of anguish and exhaustion. At the same time, I felt guilty for knowing that my tiredness was not even remotely comparable to that of the mother, so it was a confusing period. I went back to therapy and today I'm fine.