Nothing in life ever goes as planned, especially the moments that you spend hours thinking about it.
When Maxamillian and April Neubauer were almost ready to welcome their first child, Rosalía Lupita Valentina Neubauer, their world turned upside down.
But thanks to a kindhearted nurse, the new parents were able to reach their first parenting goal.
April was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, which is a pregnancy complication that causes high blood pressure, signaling damage to a vital organ in the body.
This condition usually shows itself a few weeks before pregnancy, and oftentimes when it does, doctors have to induce labor.
And that's exactly what doctors had to do in April's case when she had a seizure.
She was rushed to hospital for an emergency C-section, which left her unconscious.
At first, Maxamillian must have felt crushed to know that his wife couldn't breastfeed their daughter.
Part of the Wisconsin couple's birth plan was to introduce their daughter to skin-to-skin breastfeeding, but as April was being stabilized, it didn't seem like a possibility.
But one nurse thought of a genius idea. Instead of having mom nurse Rosalía, dad should do it.
"With C-section babies, it's very important to get them used to eating right off the bat," Maxamillian told PEOPLE. "It's like 1:30 in the morning, April was knocked out on drugs. So the [nurses] said we could use this nipple shield and imitate breastfeeding. This is probably the best way to do it, much more natural for the baby."
The nurse attached the nipple shield on Max's chest, where baby formula was fed to the baby girl using a tube.
"Our nurse helped a lot -- I mean I've never breastfed or even thought in a thousand years I would," the father recalled.
"Seeing as I'm not an expert breastfeeding, it was a little bit awkward at first," Maxamillian told PEOPLE. "The minute they brought her out, it was hard to hold back the tears. It was instant love, it's my baby. I was just really happy I could be there for her. It was awkwardly magical."
Two hours later, April regained consciousness and was delighted to hear that her baby girl was fed.
"I never thought I was going to be able to be a mom, and the fact that my husband was able to give me such a wonderful gift, I have no words. I'm just so happy that she's here," April said. "I can't believe I'm holding her right now because doctors told me, "˜You're not gonna be able to have kids.'"
This may have been Max's first time "breastfeeding," but he doesn't mind if it's not his last.
"I felt a connection the minute I saw my little girl. I got to hold her and help her get use to breastfeeding, I hope," he said. "Really, I did it just to be a good dad."
Besides, baby Rosalía seems to prefer mom. That being said, the new dad said he would "do it again in a heartbeat."
We're so glad mom has recovered and Rosalía is healthy! Such a heartwarming story!
[H/T: CafeMom / PEOPLE]
For beautiful pictures of mothers breastfeeding their babies, click here!
