Sports anchor Deacon Schiele shared a sports-inspired method for keeping track of he and his wife’s birth plan.
“Because I played football, I found my old play card sheet, and I replaced the plays with the birth plan,” he shared on an episode of the “Game Day Grace” podcast. “And I wore it to the hospital.”
The card included notes about “aromatherapy,” his wife Alaina’s “birth playlist” and “breathing techniques” to use during labor.
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“Had to show my guy @benjaminswatson the birth plan wristband inspired by his book The New Dad’s Playbook,” Schiele captioned an Instagram post of the moment. “Glad I got to meet him and let him know how much his book eased my nerves about becoming a dad.”
The New Dad’s Playbook, by former NFL player Benjamin Watson, “is every man’s game plan to being the best partner and the best father, from preseason (preparing for fatherhood) to Super Bowl (birth) to postseason (after baby is home),” per an official description.
“As a father, I remember the first time — and even the second and third time — feeling overwhelmed,” Watson told the Baltimore Ravens website. “You wonder as a dad, ‘Do I have what it takes?’…There are so many questions that come up. Being that I’m in a locker room and I’m around guys all the time — a bunch of guys — some of them are having kids for the first time or second or third time. Everybody has these questions.”
He continued, “The whole purpose is to encourage men to, No. 1, support the women who are having their children. Support them through pregnancy and through birth and those first weeks when they come home. But it’s also to give men knowledge about the practical and medical terms that they are going to hear, and to encourage them that they have what it takes, and to empower them to live this thing out from a place of strength and leadership instead of a place of fear, because it can be a scary time.”
It looks like Watson’s advice was helpful for Schiele as he navigates fatherhood; his son Ezekiel just celebrated his first birthday.
“1 whole year with our EZ,” Schiele’s wife posted on Instagram. “What better way to celebrate his birthday than by dedicating him to the Lord with our friends and family. We truly believe God placed you in our life to bring more joy into our home and for that I am forever grateful! We will always love you EZ.”
When it comes to fatherhood, former footballers like Schiele and Watson are playing to win.
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