Let’s start with a few questions. Women, what do you expect of your partner during pregnancy? Men, what do you expect of yourselves?
Now let’s assess how much we actually know about men and pregnancy. How men feel and change, both physically and emotionally. What do we know?
Are you searching for solid answers past “being there” and “sympathy weight”? Me too.
Gender reveals. It’s a pregnancy milestone. One that you spend countless hours wondering about. The ultrasound date nears, the anticipation grows. You make plans around it. A gender reveal party. A carefully crafted social media post. And however it happens, it all boils down to a singular moment. That moment you open the envelope. That moment you cut the gender cake or those colored balloons rise from out a big box. It’s a moment you can’t recreate. A moment that stays with you forever.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be like that. Except when it’s not. Take ours, for instance. Ours…malfunctioned.
Let me explain.
When you’re expecting, things change. They change hard.
There’s the obvious stuff. The stuff you can see. Like your partner’s belly. Maybe you’re developing some belly of your own. You might paint a room. You may consider a new car. A bigger place. That stuff is normal. That’s to be expected.
What I didn’t expect was the mental change. This new inner voice that’s appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Let me give you an idea of what I’m talking about:
Your image of man. A man’s man. Think about it. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? If you’re like me, it looks something like this:
Or maybe this:
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