Macdonald and wife Willow became the proud parents of daughter Juno Rose Macdonald in Dunedin last Wednesday.
The baby was home within hours of delivery and Macdonald is lapping up the role of proud father.
"It's awesome. It makes your own life pretty insignificant. You've got this special little person who is totally relying on you," he said.
"Willow is going great and is a bit of a natural mother."
Macdonald (28) did not intend to play against Hawkes Bay in Napier last Saturday, wanting to stay at home and help out with Juno, but once family offered assistance he left for Hawkes Bay on Saturday morning.
He walked into the team meeting with just under 90 minutes remaining before kick-off.
"To be honest, it wasn't about me wanting to play my 50th game. It was more about me wanting to help the team, contribute as much as I can to the team."
Macdonald said the team was disappointed with the performance against Hawkes Bay - it lost 32-10 - and had talked about what went wrong.
"That is what is good about this team . . . players have taken accountability for their actions. There is nothing wrong with how we have been going.
Sure, we haven't been getting the results but compared to last year we are leaps and bounds ahead.
"Some of the results have not been going our way but we are not far away. [We] just need to put on a bit of polish and finish."
Macdonald made his debut for Otago in 2002, among several debutants in a friendly match against Marlborough in Blenheim.
Also making their debuts for Otago that day were halfback Toby Morland, locks Tom Donnelly and James Ryan and prop Jeremy Aldworth.
"I've always wanted to play for Otago, growing up in Otago with that great Otago team.
"I remember going along to the terrace in the final in 1998."
Macdonald played most of 2002 with regular hooker Anton Oliver out injured and has been a regular fixture in the side ever since, apart from 2007 when he snapped an Achilles tendon.
"Anton was a great guy to learn from. Just about humility, working hard on your game and getting some real balance in your life.
"It was about working hard and sacrifices that eventually pay off."
Macdonald was drafted to the Crusaders this year, which was a good wake-up call that had got him out of his comfort zone, he said.
The Crusaders stint was a great experience, but he wanted to play for the Highlanders again.
The Crusaders trained no differently from the Highlanders, but just had a habit of winning, he said.
The game had become much faster since he started but the role of hooker still entailed fundamentals, such as scrums, getting line-out throwing right and doing the donkey work.
"But they have taken a few things out of the game, like rucking and even to a certain extent mauling, which are all things Otago forwards are known for."
Macdonald was brought up on a farm in Lawrence and his parents, Ray and Chris, still go to most Otago games.
He hoped to have his daughter at Carisbrook on Saturday, but said he would have to get permission from his wife.
