Putting It Into Perspective

A note to the partners of pregnant women: no matter how much she fusses or acts annoying, no matter how many times she sends you out at odd hours to get specific foods, no matter how much cleaning or painting or furniture assembling she asks you to do, you've got it easy compared to the work she's doing growing that baby.

Husband has been amazing. He hasn't complained once. I try not to ask TOO much of him, but sometimes I just can't help it. When my morning sickness was really bad, I couldn't do hardly anything around the house. And now, sometimes Elise puts her little elbow in my hernia and it hurts so much that I just need to lay still until she moves. Husband always picks up the slack without so much as a sigh of resignation. His extra support means so much to me.

Believe it or not, being so physically and emotionally dependant on someone else is weird. At least for me. It's upsetting sometimes and it's hard to keep asking for help to deal with things that used to be no big deal a few months ago.

I know that a lot has changed for Husband during this process, and he deserves lots of credit and acknowledgement from me for all of his hard work. Husband at least has the comfort of still feeling like the same person, though. His body is the same, his emotions are still functioning on an even kilter, he isn't newly forgetful or feeling sick all of the time. He isn't getting punched and kicked and elbowed all day long. He isn't worrying about how his body will withstand childbirth or whether he'll get a sneak-attack punch to the bladder and pee himself in public. He does more around the house, but so much of his existence and what he expects on a day-to-day basis remains familiar. For pregnant ladies, every day can bring something new. Sometimes the new things are happy and sometimes they're scary, but not having the comfort of familiar patterns can be very disorienting.

Husband has done a lot of great things for me during this pregnancy. He's been so wonderful. And one of the best things that he's done is to acknowledge the hard work that I'm doing. Even when I'm lying down resting, my body is working very hard, and Husband knows that. It means so much to have that kind of support during pregnancy.