Like most birth stories, Rosalía Lupita Valentina Neubaue, didn’t come into this world exactly as her mom and dad had planned. Her mom, April Neubauer was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and with her blood pressure dangerously high, doctors broke her water to induce labor as things took a serious turn.
But April and her husband, Maxamillian, knew that no matter what, breastfeeding and immediate skin-to-skin were two aspects of their birth plan that they didn’t want to compromise. Luckily, they didn’t have to thanks to a creative nurse and an equally eager dad.
After having two seizures, April was rushed in for an emergency C-section.
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April had her second seizure during the procedure, which meant Max had to wait outside until after Rosalía was born. When he was finally able to meet her, mom was still being stabilized so if they wanted to meet their early skin-to-skin and breastfeeding goals, it was all up to dad.
‘The nurse asked if maybe I would like to throw a nipple on and do some ‘real breastfeeding,” he tells CafeMom.
A nurse made Max an offer he couldn’t refuse as he was doing skin-to-skin with his baby girl: the opportunity to be the first one to “breastfeed” her. “Me being a big joker and the ability to try just about anything once, I said sure why not,” he says. “The nursing staff were giggling and jumping for joy.”
They planned to feed Rosalía with a bit of formula until mom was well enough to nurse and instead of finger feeding it, they got creative. April didn’t find out that her husband was the first to “breastfeed” their baby until after, and appreciates how Max and her nurse stepped in.
“After my procedure, I was out for hours. It was very important for us to breastfeed her and my doctors and nurses knew how important this was to us,” she says. “So our nurse came up with the plan for my husband to breastfeed her for the first time until I was up and alert. It was definitely unexpected but he would never do anything he would feel I wasn’t comfortable with. Since I was unable to right away due to some health issues, I’m glad my husband was able to step in.”
Max got a nipple shield, syringe, tube, and ‘hit the ground running’ like a breastfeeding champ.
The syringe filled with formula was attached to a nipple shield placed on Max’s chest. This simulated breastfeeding for his newborn. “Our nurse helped a lot — I mean I’ve never breastfed or even thought in a thousand years I would,” he says.
Just then, Max’s mother-in-law walked in with her father.
When April’s mother and grandfather walked in, they didn’t realize what they were in for. Max’s mother-in-law’s reaction was priceless: “‘Only you Maxie … I didn’t believe the nurses, my God, only you,’ shaking her head,” he recalls her saying. “Great Grandpa didn’t have anything to say. Very old-school guy, just kinda looked at me funny. He came around in the end.”
‘I think she prefers mom — I’d do it again in a heartbeat though,’ he says.
So far, Max has only “breastfed” that one time but is open to trying again should his little one need it. “I felt a connection the minute I saw my little girl. I got to hold her and help her get used to breastfeeding, I hope,” he says. “Really, I did it just to be a good dad and be a hero for the nursing staff because they are superheroes. You couldn’t ask for anyone better.”