Nathan's wife is the one whose opinion about this matters. If they are both on board with his choices, they are going to be fine. But more generally, I always

Nathan's wife is the one whose opinion about this matters. If they are both on board with his choices, they are going to be fine. But more generally, I always think of a statement I heard somewhere, to the effect that "You're not going to be lying on your deathbed wishing that you had spent more time at work." Yes, it is a luxury that we can even consider taking lots of time off. You could argue that it is foolish to take it — and you could argue that it's foolish not to take it. As a freelancer who happened to have an insane amount of work just as my second child was born (two years ago May 10th), I know it was not the best time for our family — in fact one of the hardest. In our case it was the right thing (adoption is expensive) and we got through it. But on balance, healthy babies are not all that expensive, especially your second one, and especially if the mother can nurse. You might as well spend that time together, because, unlike work, your time is not a renewable resource. So, congratulations and best wishes to the OP.