James Van Der Beek Had A “Break Down” During His Wife’s Labor

New daddy James Van Der Beek, who welcomed daughter Olivia with wife Kimberly Brook in September, admits that there was a point during his wife’s labor where he felt completely overwhelmed.

“It’s not easy to watch the person you love go through that,” explains the 33-year-old actor. “At one point in the middle, I had to excuse myself and secretly take 20 seconds in the bathroom to break down, wipe my eyes, beat my chest and man up for her.”

“There’s a reason they don’t let men give birth,” says the former Dawson’s Creek star.

Kimberly, who began dating James in 2009, also opened up about her difficult labor experience: “Once we got to the hospital, it took 15 hours before she arrived.”

It was the four and a half hour of pushing that was the hard part. I got to the point where I thought I might literally pass out while my body was uncontrollably pushing."

Her efforts did not go unrewarded, of course! Shortly after Olivia’s arrival, James took to Twitter to gush about their new little girl: “I apologize in advance for any obnoxiously precious new-dad tweets that may follow. I'm under her spell...”