Men who say "We're Pregnant"

A while ago, I remember seeing a little blurb on facebook about a famous actress who took issue with men saying "we're pregnant." At the time, I wasn't pregnant, and I remember agreeing. After all, it isn't men who have to do the hard work of carrying the baby and giving birth to it!

But now, as I sit here seven months pregnant, I think I've changed my mind. You see, I never expected how much pregnancy would be a team effort for me and my husband.

In the first trimester, when I was going through weird food aversions he graciously changed his eating habits. I couldn't stand smelling him cook bacon or hamburgers, so those went by the wayside for a time. When I was tossing and turning to find a comfortable position at night, he dealt with the sleep deprivation it caused even though he had to get up for work at 5:00 am the next morning (and he is NOT a morning person). When I got weird pregnancy migraines that caused nausea and horrible pain for a couple days, he never made me feel the least bit like a nuisance.

In the second trimester, he gave me countless massages to help relieve the strain that carrying this extra weight puts on my legs and hips. And now, in the third trimester, I can't even believe all that he is doing for me. He takes walks with me, as I waddle along like a penguin and deal with contractions. He attends Bradley birth classes with me every week, and does the nightly exercises with me, coaching me in relaxation. He helps around the house, ties my shoes because I can't bend that far, lifts heavy things for me, listens to me constantly talk about labor, birth, and all my aches and pains, comforts me during hormonal mood changes, and gives me daily encouragement.

So if my husband were to want to say "we're pregnant" (which he wouldn't, because he would think it sounds weird), I would completely understand. Because to him, there is a huge emphasis on the "we." We are doing this together. It has been so clear during this pregnancy through his words and in his actions. I don't feel like I'm alone or that this is my "thing."

And as any pregnant lady knows, during this time, all the focus is on us, no matter where we go--church, the store, any friend's house. Everyone wants to talk about the baby or how you are feeling. And that's nice. It is. But sometimes I wish that my husband could get a little attention too, for all that he's doing. Because he is a huge part of this!

Maybe I'm the only one, but I think it would be very easy to get caught up in a self-focus during pregnancy. After all, we are going through a lot. But in the midst of it all, I don't want to take my husband for granted in all that he selflessly does for me and for our baby. It's so clear to me how much he already cares about our family, and that makes me beam from ear to ear.