When Julia nearly died during childbirth, she expected her husband, Ryan, to be a pillar of support during her recovery. Instead, he drifted away, and after seeing their newborn daughter’s face, he began disappearing every night. What could drive a new father away when his family needed him most? I thought the hardest part of becoming a mother would be surviving childbirth. I was wrong.
The labor dragged on for an agonizing 18 hours, and everything that could go wrong, did. My blood pressure spiked and then plummeted. The constant beeping of the monitors escalated into frantic alarms, and I saw the medical team exchange those looks no patient ever wants to see.
“We need to get the baby out right now,” Dr. Martinez said, her voice calm but urgent.
I squeezed Ryan’s hand so hard I thought I might snap his fingers. He whispered over and over, “Stay with me, Julia. Stay with me. I can’t do this without you.”
