My husband, and father of our children was so inspired by the book, “Daddy’s Little Girl” by Peter Wilson that when he was helping to write the review he became a little lot carried away! I loved what he shared and I thought it was deserving of having its own post. These are the thoughts written by Daddy about his daughter who has just turned four. This is a father’s story gift to his daughter.
My Little Girl
Before I tell you about this wonderful book, Daddy’s Little Girl, I wanted to reflect back from the moment Crystal confirmed she was pregnant with our second child. I was sure our baby was going to be a little girl. We made the decision early on not to know; I feel it gives it that wonder and magical feel. As much as I loved going to the scans whenever possible, I always looked away at the mid region. I truly didn’t want to know the gender.
This whole pregnancy was different. Crystal was glowing most of the time and we got to experience most of the third trimester, which was an experience. (Our son was born over 11 weeks early. You can read more about that here, here, and here). I will never forget that night, “Honey, I think we need to call the hospital!” I’ll skip all the messy details, but what I will say is that it was so strange. We were so calm and collected. Gathering all of our things, packing up our son, Tristan, and casually driving to Mum and Dad’s to drop him off on the way.
It was very late and after all the examinations the doctors and nurses confirmed that Crystal was in early labour at 36 weeks. They were admitting her to a ward and wanted me to go home as it could be some time, stating that they will ring me when things get going. I told Crystal I would be back in a minute. I pulled the staff nurse and doctor out of immediate hearing range. When Tristan was born i was ordered home to rest. After the shock and denial of his early arrival it hadn’t dawned on me the effect it had on Crystal and I wasn’t there to comfort her. I have had plenty of guilt from that moment – no one was sending me home and they would have to drag me out. Two minutes later I was sitting on an armchair comforting my wife and bump and feeling better for it because not long after we got settled, our little baby started to get on the move. After a lot of walking, breathing, holding, and standing on my feet (thank goodness for steel-toed shoes). It was time….
Going back to my first words, I always knew we were going to have a little girl. I don’t know why, I just did. I’ve always wanted a boy first and a girl after, a sister should always have a big brother and vice-versa. I had long accepted the fact that I could have been wrong and we would have another little boy. If that happened then that would have been terrific. Tristan was an old soul then, even at two; very loving, intelligent and fun. What would the chances be of getting another like him?
The moment we had been waiting for had arrived! After what felt forever but was really not long at all, Crystal had delivered our brand new baby.
I was sure I saw boy parts, but then the nurses lifted the cord away and I just looked. I turned to Crystal with the biggest smile, “We have a little baby girl!” Kallista Alandréa. I remember holding her in my arms for the first time, walking round the delivery suite and looking out the window across Belfast. Feeling so much love and pride for my Little Girl, but also feeling that out there was a crazy place and a great sense of protection hit me. With happy tears running down my face I looked at her as she cried and said, “It’s okay little lady, don’t cry. Daddy will always be here. I love you!” The tears stopped for us both and a great calm came over me.
The first time I came across Peter Wilson’s “Daddy’s Little Girl”, Kallista was three. One night at bedtime Crystal played the video for us. I can hand on heart say that it struck home. As Crystal would say, I teared up.
I do not know how many times I have read this to our children and each time it strikes home the realness of them growing up. For more on this story and the book that inspired this blog post, click here.
Do you or your husband have a special book or routine together? I would love for you to share them with us.
Happy Father’s Day!
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