A Letter to a New Father-to-be
I’ll never forget how wrong I was about hormones! Before the pregnancy, I used to think that though they were real, using them as an excuse was just that - an excuse! WRONG. I quickly learned that my wife was no longer my wife - but rather a “creature” that looked like my wife, but didn’t act the same anymore! To keep things at bay, I had to get smart and learn these rules: don’t eat her food, don’t disagree (or do agree, you’re not right either way!), don’t argue, and don’t expect logic or fairness. Just ride the storm out, don’t take mean words straight to the heart, and try to be there for her. To the father-to-be reading, always remind yourself that it’s the hormones talking and she doesn’t really mean it! “Yes honey, you are right. Do you need a snack?! I am a dumb man!” I’ll never forget the puking… the horror… I remember just how sick Rachel would actually get every day. God, she had it rough! I would feel so bad for her and there wasn’t much that I could do to help. Granted, we eventually figured out why - twins! Regardless, all the little tricks to help with nausea didn’t work. I did learn, however, to take her to smoothie king. Sometimes it would stay down... but most of the time it would just come back up! I still wonder just how much money we “wasted” at that place. Pro tip: never actually tell her that she’s wasting money! Remember, hormones! To the father-to-be reading, watching your wife go through morning sickness is not fun. It’s not fair to her and you don’t have to go through it. So do what you can to help, try all the tricks, and buy her all the food that she craves, even that which may get “wasted”. I’ll never forget how quickly I became a reckless maniac driver. Didn’t I know there was precious cargo in the car?! But in all seriousness, I had to learn to drive as smoooooothly as possible, and as safely as possible. I also had to just let her critique my driving and let it go in one ear and out the other. To the father-to-be reading, drive as safely and smoothly as possible. Don’t upset your pregnant lady. Remember - hormones… I'll never forget when our creepy old roommate Frank [...]