Watching your Husband grow into a Dad

Without wanting to induce any sickness to those ladies who might be reading this whilst pregnant, I’m hopelessly in love with my husband, Little Pickle’s Dad (LPD). He really is one of a kind, and I honestly have no idea how I ended up being so lucky. He’s without doubt the kindest, most caring, selfless man I’ve ever met who never fails to make me laugh. He’s handsome, scrumptious and I already know he’ll be the best of Dads. I’m also slightly worried our future children will like him more than me but that’s probably the subject of a whole new blog post…

LPD and I in 80s fancy dress, not long after we got married.

At the start of this pregnancy, I was worried becoming a parent wouldn’t feel real for LPD for months. Even before we got that all important positive test result, I already felt different. I felt pregnant. My body was changing and adapting, preparing me for what was and is to come and so the journey to becoming a Mom is very tangible for me. Although not massively, life has already slowly started to change.

But LPD isn’t subject to those biological changes. For him, nothing physical has changed. To begin with, I thought this would mean he’d just carry on with life as normal and wouldn’t feel the effects of becoming a Dad until the birth. I was prepared for that. I think he was perhaps prepared for that too! Especially in those early weeks when there were no outwardly signs of pregnancy.

What I was perhaps too naïve to realise of course, was that just because he hasn’t been experiencing any physical or biological changes himself, it doesn’t prevent him from making the all important transition to Dad status emotionally. As we’ve been progressing through this pregnancy, I’ve been noticing the most wonderful of differences in him, and it’s magical to watch and observe. It fills me with joy and wonder to see the man I love get so excited about our new future family life together. It reassures me that we’ll be a good team!

LPD helping out one of my foster sisters with the Monkey Bars last year.

Every day he asks me what Pickle is up to. Initially I told him to just download the Ovia app for himself to check but when he didn’t, I realised that the reason he asks is to give us a shared moment every day where we’re both be thinking about our little one and can marvel together at the rate of growth and incredible things this little bundle can already do.

I’ve blogged previously about getting upset with him wanting a new job (The Cyclone of Pregnancy Hormones), an obvious sign that he’s just wanting to provide the best he can for our expanding family and already feeling the responsibilities of being the main income earner whilst I’m on maternity leave.

In the last week, I’ve seen how much he’d love to be able to feel the baby moving like I can. He quite often asks to listen to my belly, convincing himself that he can hear Pickle ‘splashing away’ in there. I love watching him put his ear to my bump and concentrate, and whilst I’m still fairly sure he can probably only hear my stomach gurgling, I adore him for trying!

Playing on the swing, LPD having fun with my current two foster brothers.

He’s going to be an absolute natural.