What About the Man: The Sick, Pregnant Woman

In my last post, I shared my initial anxiety, fear, and surprise with finding out my wife, Faith, was pregnant.  However, that was nothing compared to dealing with a sick, pregnant woman for the next eight months.  Yes, you read that right.  Faith was sick for the entirety of her pregnancy.

Men, if you know nothing about pregnancy and you will be dealing with it in the near future, pray with all your might that your wife either experiences no sickness or only deals with it through that twelve to sometimes fifteen week window.  Otherwise, kiss your life good-bye for nine months.

Women, please feel the pain behind the following words you will read.  You need to understand what your man is going through for those nine long months or you may not ever get the real us back!  It's not just about you!  Just accept that statement and move on. 

I know many women deal with terrible sickness, but let's sympathize with the man for a moment.  When women hit that sick stage of pregnancy, men are now forced to deal with two life-changing realities.  First, fatherhood is in the near future, which is scary enough.  Then, men must watch as women endure their terrible sickness, and we're unable to do anything to help.  Because most men are loving, tender beings (maybe a little sarcastic), we say, "Can I make you dinner?"  A woman's response might be, "Yes, I'd like barbecue chicken."  Of course the man complies and makes a wonderful meal.  They sit down for dinner, and the wife says, "I'm not in the mood for this anymore.  Can we just order pizza?"  What!  Did she not just tell him one hour ago that she wanted barbecue chicken? "Wow," he says, "I'm glad I made this whole meal for you."  That's the wrong response, because now she thinks he's trying to make her feel guilty.  The night is going nowhere but downhill.

Unfortunately, for all parties involved the above scenario occurs all too often during pregnancy.  Women, you'll say you want Mexican, and when the food is ordered, you can't "handle the smell" and you have to leave.  You tell your husband in the morning you want to go out on a romantic date, but when he comes home for dinner you're in your pajamas exclaiming how tired you are.  Now it's Friday night, you've told everyone else you can't do anything because you're going out with your wife, yet here it is 7:00 and she's ready for bed and your stuck watching episode after episode of Netflix shows or playing video games by yourself.  And, let's be honest, you thought you would be getting something else that night too, but that's not happening.  Women, seriously, suck it up!  We have to suck it up (weird term) the entire pregnancy, so you can do it for one night! 

So, Women, please find it in your heart to remember the man when the terrible pregnancy symptoms hit.  If it's your friend who's pregnant, when you see her don't just say, "How are you," but turn to the man and ask how he is doing as well.  Make us feel appreciated.  We're not just specks of dust to be trampled upon for nine months!  Men, keep pressing through.  There will be an end.  Faith was sick for the entirety of the first pregnancy, something very abnormal.  She was better for the second pregnancy, and by the third pregnancy she was sick probably for only five months, still longer than most women.   However, I survived, and you will two. Now, Faith is back to the wonderful, beautiful woman I married.  Find support.  You'll need it. Next time I'll share what that support looks like.  You'll want the women to read that one!

For the the many who don't know me, some of the words might sound harsh, but I'm 5'8" tall.  I have nothing else to hold on to but the sarcasm.

Financial Tip of the day:
As weird as you feel about it and as much work as you think it will be, use coupons.  Seriously, it's not that hard.  You don't need to keep a fancy notebook, huge binder, etc., but if you start learning how to use coupons effectively, you will save hundreds/thousands of dollars a year.  Start small.  You'll increase your usage as you get the hang of it.  The $1.50 you'll pay for a Sunday paper is a great start.  Once you get comfortable find websites that will help you. Southern Savers is an example of what's out there!  Another thing you'll learn is that many grocery stores have special coupon weeks.  Harris Teeter, for example, a major grocery chain in North Carolina, offers weeks of double and/or triple coupons.  For example, if something costs $3.00 and you have a coupon for $.99, that coupon is tripled and you get the item for free!

Discussion Points:
In order to enhance the blog, I'd like to create some communication/dialogue and your thoughts and advice.
1)Men, what else have you experienced during the "sick" part of pregnancy, and what tips can you give to help us survive it?
2)Women, what are the things we tend to say/do that make the "sick" stage even worse?
3)What are some good coupon and money-saving sources and websites you've used?