Raising Kids Just for Dad Dads Seeing Their Babies for the First Time We asked, you answered—check out these adorable, aww-worthy reader-submitted images of fathers seeing their newborns for the very first time. So sweet! By Lindsay Tigar Published on June 16, 2015 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Do you remember the first time you saw your baby? It was likely a moment of relief, amazement, and yes, a little shock, too. Your husband had all of those same emotions, and though you might not have noticed—you did just deliver a baby, after all—these images capture that beautiful moment when dad meets his child for the first time. This Father's Day, let these powerful photos capture your heart. Check out all of the photos submitted by our readers! 01 of 45 The Adorable First Moments These Dads Met Their Babies Check out these adorable, aww-worthy reader-submitted photos of dads meeting their newborn babies for the very first time. So sweet! 02 of 45 His Beautiful Girl "She made her arrival in the wee hours of the morning, Daddy could not stop looking at his beautiful baby girl—he was SO proud!" -Kristen Horn 03 of 45 An Extra Special Gift "This was his third baby, and she came at a very special time. His mom passed away a year before, and this was three days before the one year anniversary of her death. We named her Judith after his mom—and she looks exactly like his mom. This moment took the pain away for sure." -Erin Campbell 04 of 45 Daddy Meets Baby "I was in labor for almost a whole day, and it had been easily 10 hours since anyone last checked if I was dilated. The doc came in on a shift change and took a look. 'There's the head,' he told us. 'Did you know about this?' he asked the nurses? Five pushes later, baby met Daddy for the first time!" -Jennifer Fong Govea 05 of 45 His Perfect Bundle "John is such an amazing dad. Our previous baby boy was born six weeks early, and then it was an 8-year struggle to get pregnant again." -Shannon Sorensen 06 of 45 Daddy Duties "This was our second child, but the first birth he was able to attend. Our baby had the cord wrapped around his neck three times and a knot in his cord. He almost died, and I was whisked away for an emergency C-section. He cared for our son while I was unconscious for hours afterwards." -Katie Cox 07 of 45 Birth Stories: Emergency C-section For Pamela, a routine doctor's appointment turned into an emergency c-section when the doctor found that her baby's heart was skipping beats. Watch her describe the whirlwind of events that led up to the birth of her son. 08 of 45 First-Time Dad "We are first-time parents in our 30s, and we did not know if we would be parents to anything other than our furry kids! Then Sammy came along after a very rough pregnancy. Seeing my husband as a father is the sweetest thing ever." -Jon and Steph Fraiser 09 of 45 Dad Loves Lucy "My husband, Matt, held our daughter Lucy for the first time, as she received oxygen. He stayed with her to make sure she was okay, while I was still in the delivery room." -Jenna Greenslit 10 of 45 Kylie's Daddy "I couldn't have asked for a more perfect father for our sweet baby girl. Kylie's almost 1 now and while I'm sad; I'm happy at the same time. I'd say we did a pretty darn good job for being first time parents. We are expecting a baby boy in November, and all three of us are ecstatic." -Annalyssa Taylor 11 of 45 Dad's Little Miracle "After one miscarriage and three years of not being able to conceive, Daddy met his baby girl for the first time! He also spent 10 hours of labor spent by my side, holding my hand as I squeezed to the point of breaking his hand during each contraction and running to get suited after the baby's heart rate dropped and had to be taken out via C-section. The umbilical cord being wrapped three times around her neck, but our miracle baby was born September 22, 2009, and he is still in love with his baby girl." -Alba Tollinchi 12 of 45 Happy Daddy "After two miscarriages, and having to have an early emergency C-section, here's daddy with our preemie baby, Stevie Jr. He's the happiest dad in the world!" -Melissa Roel 13 of 45 Father of Three "We were at a perinatologist appointment and the doctor suggested we walk over to the hospital and start an induction. Twelve hours of labor later, and we had our beautiful baby, Everett. My husband never thought he'd have children, and now we have three boys!" -Heidi Dalton Faillace 14 of 45 The Unexpected "We were told we couldn't have kids, so we stopped trying. But by some sort of miracle, eight years later, I got pregnant with this little guy. He's two-and-a-half now, and he's the love of our lives." -Erin O'Donnell 15 of 45 Dad's Gift Came Early "This is when we first saw our daughter, Emerson Grace. She was born early, but full of spunk at 36 weeks and three days. This is my favorite photo!" -Katharine Hammond 16 of 45 Dad's First Look "My husband was not allowed in the delivery room, due to complications with an emergency C-section, but as soon as the nurse brought our daughter to him, she stopped crying and started 'talking' to him." -Angela Bowers 17 of 45 Our Miracle "After two miscarriages, hyperemesis during half of my pregnancy, and an emergency C-section after a 14-hour, my husband met our miracle." -Courtney Fasnacht 18 of 45 Sweet Baby Girl "He was just so happy and in awe of our first child, a sweet baby girl. He's the best daddy our children could ever ask for and we love him so much!" -Sara Christina Reece 19 of 45 110% in Love "After 3.5 weeks of prodromal labor and more than 13 hours of prolonged labor, my husband had the honor of helping deliver our beautiful baby girl, Zoe. He said it was an experience unlike any other, and the moment he saw her he was 110 percent in love. I'm so thankful the nursing staff was able to capture this moment!" -Jessica Rose Henderson 20 of 45 Moving and Miraculous "After our first child, Faith, was born straight into heaven at 38 weeks in 2005, the birth of our incredible, perfect and healthy son, Jonah 18 months later was all the more beautifully moving and miraculous." -Lisa Hackbarth 21 of 45 Pure Joy "After nine years of infertility and helping me keep it together while I endured 10 miscarriages, my sweet husband let all of his emotions out as he embraced his son right after he was born. This picture says so much of what a relief it was for him to finally have a child, and that he finally made it here safely after such a long hard road. It shows all the emotions that men carry with infertility where it normally is not shown. Pure joy to finally be a dad!" -Karmann Clements Wennerlind 22 of 45 Pregnancy After Miscarriage Looking to get pregnant again after a miscarriage? Learn what to expect and when you can start trying again. 23 of 45 The Best Daddy "After 5 and a half years of infertility, we finally got pregnant with our miracle baby. Her daddy was over the moon when I told him the wonderful news! His reaction when he held her for the first time absolutely moved me. He is the best daddy I could ever ask for my children." -NaKeisha Moffett 24 of 45 Dad's Miracle "The cord was wrapped around her neck twice and she was purple when she came out. I had no idea anything was going on! As you can see he was very emotional. Today she's a healthy, spunky five year old!" -Brianna Hunsberger 25 of 45 Precious Moment "My husband and our youngest son, born via C-section, on Oct 1, 2015. I always felt like my husband was so lucky to spend those first few moments with our boys after they were born and I am so thankful for our family members who captured photos of those precious moments for me to see." -Stephanie Maschino 26 of 45 Daddy's Girl "Our little girl had a few minor complications, so dad went with her while they worked on her. She cried and cried and cried, but once daddy started talking, she looked up and never took her eyes off of him." -Kristin Shinall Runnion 27 of 45 Our Sweet Surprise "After many miscarriages, and being told I would probably never have a child, we did! We were so blessed to have our sweet Gracie enter the world this April." -Heather Castello 28 of 45 Proud Father "After multiple miscarriages and fertility treatments, we finally got pregnant on our first IVF. A very happy and proud daddy got to announce to the whole room that we had a boy!" -Shana Geisier Sands 29 of 45 Dad and Baby's First Appearance "It was a long process to get our little one here... 24 hrs of labor! Then had to do an emergency C-section, and I was still under when this photo was taken. He didn't want to give her to the nurse!" -Mattene Marie Butler 30 of 45 Dad's First Tear "This was the first time I ever saw him shed a tear was when he held our daughter for the first time. Seeing him cry tears of joy while holding her, made me realize what true love is: being a parent." -Samantha Alkhatib 31 of 45 Like Father, Like Son "After a long and emotional week, I was happy to welcome Kayden into this world two weeks early. He looked like daddy already!" -Katrina Shalin 32 of 45 His Child of Light "This was his first time holding our third child! We are all smitten with this little guy! He was the first of seven pregnancies to come to us without intervention. We call him our child of light. He is truly a gift!" -Bri Phillips Hoopes 33 of 45 His Proudest Moment "After being told I wouldn't be able to have kids, we were blessed with our second baby girl and because of complications, our last, but no prouder daddy with his sweet girl right after they handed her to him." -Caroline Ross 34 of 45 His Very Own Miracle Slide Text:"We struggled with secondary infertility for five years. Here is my husband holding our little miracle right after he was born." -Laura Tucker 35 of 45 Ecstatic Father "My husband's first reaction was unexpected: he was bawling as they were using forceps. He was front and center watching everything. He said he never wants to see that happen again. But once he was out he was so elated!" -Jessica White 36 of 45 Daddy's Baby Girl "My husband was the first to hold, carry and Kidd our baby girl Layla Grace after the C-section. The look on his face was incredible and made me fall even more in love with him. Such an amazing memory!" -Karina Scheren 37 of 45 Instantly Mesmerized "Our son, Gavin, came into this world on July 29, 2014. He was crying pretty hard (probably hungry because he was a whopping 10.1lbs!) This picture is the first time my husband saw him. As soon as my husband starting talking to him, he turned his head and stopped crying." -Stacey Noble 38 of 45 In Awe "Here is my husband smiling at our second son, who will be two in July. We had just found out that he didn't need surgery. He needed antibiotics for umphaliticis (umbilical cord infection). The doctors didn't know what was wrong with him for a few days. He couldn't eat, kept throwing up every time he was given my breast milk and formula." -Diane Martin 39 of 45 So Much Love "A few hours after being born at home, Kai was rushed to the hospital with daddy in the ambulance. This was a few hours after he got an IV, just looking into his dad's eyes. So much love in this photo." -Tanyalee Pearson 40 of 45 Happy Tears "I'm a photographer, but turn that duty over to my husband when our babies have been born. Minutes after our second son was born, my hubby handed me the camera because he wanted a picture with our new babe. Talk about multi-tasking! We always keep the gender a surprise. We already had a boy and a girl at home. I love the happy tears in his eyes here. Daddy was hoping for another boy!" -Sara Tysver 41 of 45 A Great Dad "When we discovered Camden was deaf, he was nearly 13 months old. It was devastating news to both of us. Having no medical background and no experience with hearing loss, my fiancé, Carson started from zero and began learning sign language. We learned about options, and Carson researched Cochlear Implants and hearing aids, and surgery -- and we discovered hope. Carson has missed work for endless appointments, slept on hospital couches, and sat in waiting and held my hand while I cried. He has asked silly questions when he needed answers and he has made countless animal sounds in hopes our little Camden will repeat them. He never stopped playing his guitar for Camden, because even when he couldn't hear it, he loved to feel the strings vibrate. 'Daddy' was the first sign that Camden learned to sign to us. Carson is a great dad who makes me a better mom." -Nicki Koons 42 of 45 Wonderful Father "This photo is one of my all-time favorites of our family. This was the first time our oldest son met his brother, and he was a little bit intimidated by the hospital environment, so I was holding Warren while John held Merett. The look in John's eyes as he is looking at Merett captures the wonderful father that he is." -Kathy Parker McElreath 43 of 45 Bonding With Dad "This photo makes me smile every time. I had a very long labor that ended with a cesarean. While I wanted to much to meet my little girl, it was awesome to have the opportunity to see Christopher bond with her while I was getting stitched back up. Those two make my life the amazing ride it is." -Amanda Sims McLoughlin 44 of 45 Love at First Sight "Xavier was so nervous during the whole labor process and then that nervousness turned into awe. It was clearly love at first sight, I had to capture that moment." -Ketsia Poteau-Hanquez 45 of 45 Delivery Room Surprise "We did not know the sex of our baby going into the delivery of our second child. This picture is the moment that we both realized that we had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. This moment was even more profound since we had worked extremely hard to experience a life-changing VBAC and this little girl was the first girl grandchild after having 6 grand boys in the family. Clearly my husband is amazed and shocked all at the same time! (Her big brother was thrilled too!)" -Amanda Olson Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit