This post is dedicated to my wife, who unlike several couples' blogs I follow has not been a contributing writer thus far to this space. Driving like a crazy person all over the Southeast for the past two months has given me a lot of time to ponder things that sometimes get glanced over in my busy day to day life. The quality of this woman is definitely an overdue subject for a post.
She has really been a trooper through this whole process so far and I couldn't be more proud of her and certain that I married the right woman.
Early on it was tough for her. She got sick, A LOT. She was losing weight early on in the pregnancy because she couldn't keep food down. There was a point when her meal would consist of a bite of a pork chop and 5 lima beans....literally. On several occasions I recall her having a window where she felt okay and thought of something she really wanted to eat. At that point I was like, OKAY and ----->BAM out the door to get whatever it was, hoping she would be able to get a full meal down. It was always hard to see the dissappointment in her eyes when after one bite of an egg roll and a sip of egg drop soup, she knew that was it, no more food.
Luckily this period of sickness has passed and she has regained her appetite and ability to eat small portions and keep them down. Interestingly her sweet tooth has disappeared totally. I could only hope that as a pregnant female or just as a male for that matter craved healthy things like cucumber, celery, carrotts, just plain. When a pregnant wife says to you, "I want celery," then celery it is, as much as you like!
Then there was the whole early scan scare discussed in earlier posts. Even with our dual thoughts, fears, and anxieties, she was always there to be a rock for me after I had done my shift of doing so for her. We say often that we make an okay team, and believe me, she doesn't blink when shouldering her part of the load, and then some.
Through all of this, growing belly, sleepless nights, uncertainty, fatigue, and sickness, she still gets up every morning at 5:15(ish) and leaves the house by 6:00(ish) ;) to drive an hour and work a full day lifting patients who are paralyzed on one side, teaching a recent amputee how to walk, and encouraging trauma patients as they regain use of their shattered limbs on the road to recovery. She does this, every day, and with a smile on her face. She doesn't complain about the work, doesn't complain about the drive, doesn't complain about being the sole breadwinner for our fledgling family.
The most she ever says is, "I'm tired today."
The most she asks for is a nap when she needs it and she has a blanket and a dog that are always happy to oblige.
I know she will be a fantastic mother, there is no doubt about that. She comes from a family of top-notch loving human beings and has amazed me every day for the past ten years leading up to this point with her honesty, love, moral compass, work ethic, and endless optimism. I couldn't ask for better qualities to be instilled into any child much less my own.
No matter what I try to do to help out, as a husband how can I repay a woman like this who in addition to doing all the admirable things above is carrying my first child??!!! I feel like it is a futile effort. With this post being a very small testament of my appreciation I'd also like to add: Thank you, I love you.
Glowing at about 19 weeks.
