When Julia nearly dies during childbirth, she expects her husband to be her rock during recovery. Instead, he becomes distant and starts disappearing every night after seeing their newborn daughter’s face. What could possibly drive a new father to abandon his family when they need him most?I almost died bringing my daughter into this world, and I thought that would be the scariest part of becoming a mother. I was wrong.The labor lasted 18 grueling hours. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

My blood pressure spiked, then crashed. The steady beeping of monitors became frantic alarms, and I watched the medical team exchange those looks that no patient ever wants to see.”We need to get this baby out now,” Dr. Martinez said, her voice calm but urgent.I remember gripping Ryan’s hand so tightly I thought I might break his fingers. He kept whispering in my ear, “Stay with me, Julia. Stay with me. I can’t do this without you