One Thing I Never Worry About

In pregnancy (and after), there is one thing I just don't feel I'll ever have to worry about. That might not seem like a lot, but honestly, in arguably the most worry filled time in a woman's life, it's pretty substantial.

I never worry that my husband won't be a good father.

My hubby isn't perfect, but I can truly say with an abiding trust and respect: Andrew will love our children in a way that every child should be loved by their daddy.

How do I know this?  The most important way is that he already loves our child unconditionally. But I think, also, once you get to know someone's general tendencies and witness them in a series of circumstances and events, some surprising, some not, you can get an idea of how he'll respond to something as life changing as a child. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we'll both struggle to find our new identities as parents, making plenty of mistakes and praying we aren't doing anything permanently damaging along the way. But if I'm being honest, I think Andrew will be less tempted into frustrations and more prone to respond compassionately than I might be.

What this doesn't mean is that he'll always know exactly what to do (I'm still trying to convince him that a baby on a motorcycle is unacceptable...). It doesn't mean that he won't get angry, that his anger will never get the best of him, that his lack of sleep won't effect him, or that the new dependence another human being has on him won't be a significant adjustment.

But it means that, when I've had a long day and feel like throwing my hands in the air, I fully trust that he'll be there to calm me down and take over (when time allows).

It means that after nights filled with tears, he'll make me laugh and remind me not to take it personally that baby won't x, y, or z.

It means that he won't compete with our children for my affections or attention, and would find it laughable that any man would.

It means that he'll *want* to be with our child, want to hold him or her, tell me to "Look! Look what the baby's doing now!"

It means that when I get scared or anxious about bringing a new life in the world, I just have to remind myself that Andrew already loves it so much, and that somehow makes it a lot less intimidating.