We used to be such a “hands-on” couple.

Little tokens of affection, random I love yous left on the kitchen counter.

We made an effort to remind each other every day how much we meant to each other.

Hard times in our lives would come and go, but we would talk things out, build on it and be stronger in the end.

As the years went by, without even realizing it, we started to lose sight of the important things in our relationship.

We started living in a rut.

Hard times would come, and instead of talking things out, we avoided those type of conversations, just wanting to live in the “happy bits” of our lives.

But the day our son, Nathan, was born, our lives came crashing down.

We couldn’t live anymore in limited happy bits and avoid the rest.

We had to learn the deeper meaning of love.

We had to learn the true meaning of love.

We realized our love for each other, and for him was unconditional.

Those words—unconditional love—do not make sense until the day you have a child of your own.

All the love my husband and I had for each other was now dispersed into this little boy.

Suddenly our world of two, became a world of three.

Our moments of sullen arguments, avoiding conflict was over.

Nathan forced us to have those “uncomfortable” conversations.

We couldn’t just “move on”.

We had to talk things out, as this little person depended on us to work together as a team.

It was no easy task, it was hard to talk uncomfortable topics through.

Many long sleepless nights were spent with us arguing/crying/fighting to work things out for the sake of our child.

But we did it and we are stronger for it.

Our marriage was saved without us even knowing it needed saving.

A year down the line, I find myself smiling.

I never thought I would be here today saying a tiny little human being with half my DNA and half my husband’s DNA has been the reason our marriage was saved.

And it was definitely worth saving.