For Dr. Alex Morgan, the occasional chaos of fatherhood is worth the reward.

Balancing rigorous hospital shifts with a house full of toddlers isn’t easy — but there’s certainly more of an urgency to get home since becoming the father of a 10-month-old baby boy, a 3-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son.

“The best moment of my day is just arriving at home,” Morgan, of Grove City, said. “My kids always come outside to say ‘hi’ and give me a hug. It’s like being greeted by a puppy — just pure excitement.”

Another physician from Gibsonia, Dr. Michael Astolfi, a pulmonary and critical care doctor at Butler Memorial Hospital, is the father of two — a son who is 2 ½ and a 3-month-old daughter. He agreed that one of the most joyous moments is the first interaction each day with his son.

“My son is usually up around 6:30, and when I walk into his room, he’s bouncing up and down with this big, infectious smile,” he said. “He says, ‘Hi, Dad,’ and in that moment, everything else disappears.”

While Morgan has gone through the experience three times now, he says the feeling of holding each of his children for the first time are cherished memories.

“There’s nothing like it,” he said. “Looking into your child’s eyes for the first time is something I’ve never experienced in any other part of life. You don’t know what the future will hold, but in that moment, it’s just you and them. It’s surreal.”

Despite years in medicine, nothing could have prepared Astolfi for the emotional roller coaster of seeing his wife give birth.

“I work in critical care — I'm used to stressful situations — but nothing compares to watching someone you love go through labor,” he said. “You’re helpless. You just hope everything goes right.”

Even as a physician who has been around the labor and delivery floor, Morgan said nothing prepared him for the overwhelming emotion of becoming a father himself.

“I’d seen births before, but when it’s your own partner and your own child, it just hits different,” he said. “I really feel for new dads. It’s a whirlwind of emotion all at once.”

Morgan said he now understands some of the sacrifices that had to be made after those precious moments.

“I definitely have a lot less free time than I once did,” he said. “But I wouldn’t trade any of that for my kids, not for a second.”

Fatherhood, he said, has altered his perspective.

“It forces you to think less about yourself,” he said. “There’s no choice. These kids are so dependent on you, especially when they’re babies. You have to give everything you’ve got.”

With a growing family and a wife, Emily, who stays home full-time with their children, Morgan says teamwork communication is essential.

“Kids force you to build a real partnership with your spouse,” he said. “We’ve developed our own rhythm. I usually give the kids their baths at night; she’ll often handle bedtime. It’s not cut and dry, but we’re in it together.”

Astolfi also praised his wife, Angela, for her dedication to the family unit.

“My wife’s amazing; she has so much patience,” Astolfi said. “We’re a team, and she really guides me through the infant gauntlet, if you will.”

In the coming years, both fathers hope they can instill some life lessons that stick with their children.

“I want them to know how much I love them. I want them to hear it, feel it and see it in how I treat them,” Morgan said. “That’s what really mattered to me growing up, and it’s what I want to give them.”

Astolfi kept it simple: “How to be a good person, and how to work hard.”

As for any advice to new dads celebrating their first Father’s Day?

“It only gets better,” Morgan said. “No matter how hard it is in the beginning, as your relationship with your child grows, it becomes more beautiful than you could ever imagine.”

“You have to appreciate the little things, because once a day passes, you never get it back,” Astolfi said. “Your child becomes the center of your world. You revolve around them — and it’s a good thing.”