Last weekend Bug (2y) was running around outside with all the joy and wonder that only a toddler can express while running. Papa and I were standing out there watching him, soaking in the awesome that he is. "We made that, can you believe it?" Papa said.
"Yeah, it's pretty amazing," I responded.
Then I used that line mothers too often use. "Well, mostly I made him. You provided the blueprints." We giggled a bit, but then I got to thinking about how unfair that was for me to say.
I'm not trying to belittle the work it is to be pregnant and birth a child. It is hard work. I've done it twice. I remember the nausea, the aches and pains, the sleepless nights, the jabs to my bladder, the birth, the struggles with nursing. But I also don't want to belittle the work it is to support a pregnant woman.
To say I mostly made Bug is to belittle all the times Papa brought me crackers in bed, massaged my aches, picked up slack in housework, cared for Josh (9y) more while I rested, held me while I cried about whatever set my hormones off that moment. The environment of love and support Papa provided, the reduction of stress because I had a partner I could count on, most definitely had an effect on Bug as he grew in my womb.
Once Bug was born, Papa may not have been struggling to nurse, but he was changing diapers, giving baths, going to work on very little sleep, and playing with the kids when he was home. Even now, he is out busting ass every day to provide all the income we need so I can be home with the kids. That has a significant impact on how our kids turn out.
So yes Honey, WE made that little ball of awesome running around out there. 50/50 Partners. I could not have done my part so well without you.
"Yeah, it's pretty amazing," I responded.
Then I used that line mothers too often use. "Well, mostly I made him. You provided the blueprints." We giggled a bit, but then I got to thinking about how unfair that was for me to say.
I'm not trying to belittle the work it is to be pregnant and birth a child. It is hard work. I've done it twice. I remember the nausea, the aches and pains, the sleepless nights, the jabs to my bladder, the birth, the struggles with nursing. But I also don't want to belittle the work it is to support a pregnant woman.
To say I mostly made Bug is to belittle all the times Papa brought me crackers in bed, massaged my aches, picked up slack in housework, cared for Josh (9y) more while I rested, held me while I cried about whatever set my hormones off that moment. The environment of love and support Papa provided, the reduction of stress because I had a partner I could count on, most definitely had an effect on Bug as he grew in my womb.
Once Bug was born, Papa may not have been struggling to nurse, but he was changing diapers, giving baths, going to work on very little sleep, and playing with the kids when he was home. Even now, he is out busting ass every day to provide all the income we need so I can be home with the kids. That has a significant impact on how our kids turn out.
So yes Honey, WE made that little ball of awesome running around out there. 50/50 Partners. I could not have done my part so well without you.
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