My husband and I were married five years before we had our daughter. The idea of having children was so exciting for both of us. But I also knew nothing would ever be the same after having kids . . . and I was right. I honestly didn’t think I could love my husband any more than I did at that time. But then we had my daughter and I fell in love with a completely new part of my husband—him as a daddy.
I remember being in and out of sleep after a fast and furious delivery. I looked over at my husband—the proud new dad, holding his baby daughter for three straight hours in the middle of the night, staring at her little face with so much love it was palpable.
And my love for him grew.
I watched as he took on Saturday morning wake-ups to let me get some rest. I found them snuggled up together on the couch, my daughter’s head resting on his chest, both mutually obsessed with one another. And my love for him grew.
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My husband cleaned and sterilized the many, many pieces of the darn breast pump because he knew I was exhausted after multiple nighttime feeds. And my love for him grew.
We added another little girl to our tribe when he was working a very demanding and stressful job.
He came home after a 12-hour workday with so much energy and excitement, I started to wonder if he was sneaking in naps somewhere. I watched him play and cuddle and make my girls laugh like no one else in this world can. And my love for him grew.
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I giggled at my husband wearing antlers, channeling his inner Sven, all for our viewing of Frozen 2. Dressing as a reindeer simply because it made my daughters completely giddy with excitement. And my love for him grew.
Having kids has totally changed my marriage.
It has tested (and retested) our relationship. And it has brought so much joy and laughter into our lives. I was right that everything would change because it certainly has.
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I look at my husband now and think about how different we are from the bright-eyed, well-rested young couple we were on our wedding day. I reflect on the fact that our marriage will only continue to change—that some of our best adventures still lay ahead of us.
And my love for him grows.