Rosalía Lupita Valentina Neubaue was born with some challenges. Her mom, April, had preeclampsia, which meant her blood pressure was really high, so they had to induce labor and break her water.
April and her husband, Maxamillian, knew a few important things as they got ready for the baby. They understood that breastfeeding was crucial for the baby’s health, and they planned to have skin-to-skin contact right after the birth.
Luckily, they didn’t have to give up those important things just because the mom was having a tough time. A nurse thought outside the box, and soon enough, the dad was heading to a place no man had ever been before.
With preeclampsia, April had two seizures, and they had to do an emergency C-section. The second seizure happened during the C-section, so Max had to wait outside while his daughter was born.
When he finally got to see his little girl, his mom was still being taken care of and stabilized. They still wanted to achieve their goal of breast-feeding and having early skin-to-skin contact, so Dad was ready to help.
The nurse asked the dad if he wanted to ‘throw a nipple on’ and actually breast-feed. It was a unique chance for him to be the first one to breast-feed his baby.
He replied: “Being a big joker and willing to try anything once, I said sure, why not? The nursing staff were laughing and celebrating.”
They were thinking about giving Rosalía some formula to keep her satisfied until her mom was ready to nurse, but then creativity took over. Later on, April found out that her husband was the first one to breastfeed the baby, and she was really thankful that they managed to make it work.
She mentioned: “After my surgery, I was out for a long time. It was super important for us to breastfeed her, and my doctors and nurses understood how much this meant to us. So, our nurse came up with the idea for my husband to breastfeed her for the first time until I was awake and alert. It was definitely a surprise, but he would never do anything that he thought I wouldn’t be okay with. Since I couldn’t do it right away because of some health problems, I’m really glad my husband could help out.”
Max was all set with a nipple shield, a syringe tube, and some formula. He was able to mimic breastfeeding for the newborn, and he said: “Our nurse was a huge help — I mean, I’ve never breastfed or even imagined I would do this in a million years.”
When April’s mom and grandpa came in, they had no idea what to expect. The reaction from her mother-in-law was priceless, as she exclaimed: “Only you, Maxie … I couldn’t believe the nurses, my goodness, only you.”
Max then confessed: “Great Grandpa didn’t say much. He was really old-fashioned and just looked at me in a strange way. But in the end, he came around.”
So far, Max has only breastfed once, but he thinks he would do it again if he had to. He shared: “I felt a bond the moment I laid eyes on my little girl. I got to hold her and help her get used to breastfeeding, I hope.
“Honestly, I did it just to be a good dad and to impress the nursing staff because they are like superheroes. You couldn’t ask for anyone better.”
