This Man Told His Wife They’re ‘Both’ Suffering Through Pregnancy And Doesn’t Know Why She’s Mad
Since men physically cannot experience pregnancy, it's pretty widely accepted that husbands need to cut their pregnant wives some slack. Yes, having a pregnant wife can be hard on a husband who is also probably working full-time—maybe taking care of other children too—while trying to help out their wives however they can, but it's still not the same as being the pregnant one.
One man, however, told his wife that since he worked so much they were "both" pregnant, and now he wants the internet to weigh in on the situation.
Pregnancy Takes A Serious Toll On A Woman's Body
Pregnancy is a unique experience for women that—while it produces something wonderful and joyous in the end—can be very difficult to go through. Even if you have an "easy" pregnancy, you're still dealing with swollen feet, changing hormone levels, morning sickness, cravings, pregnancy brain, or all your energy being sucked away by the baby you're growing. And those are just the basic symptoms!
So, What If Your Husband Said He Was Pregnant Too?
You might not think that any husband would imply that him working long hours at his chosen career is the equivalent to being pregnant with your fourth child, but that's what one man seems to have done!
Seeking Advice
At first, we thought this might be one of those situations where couples make a pregnancy announcement and claim that "we're pregnant" and his wife was upset, but this story is much worse than that.
He Had To Have Known How This Would Go
As a general rule of thumb, if you have to turn to strangers on the internet to weigh in on your relationship problems, chances are you probably already know the answer to the question you're asking.
This Isn't Their First Rodeo
"Every single pregnancy we've been through my wife has been a complete nightmare." The man posted that this is the couple's fourth child together, with this being the wife's third pregnancy as they have a set of twins.
How Kind Of You
"Some things I can deal with, like waking up to the sound of her puking her guts out every morning." So her morning sickness is so severe that it literally wakes up other people. How nice of you to tolerate that behavior from her.
This Doesn't Seem Like She's Asking That Much Of Him...
"When she starts demanding I go to the store every day to get her snacks or set up her foot bath thingy because her feet are swollen, I get a little impatient." No matter how upset you are about soothing her swollen feet, she is more upset.
Cravings Are A Part Of Pregnancy!
We're willing to bet that just about every man who has ever been with a pregnant woman has at least one story of him running out in the middle of the night to fulfill a pregnancy craving. It just comes with the territory.
It's Not A Competition
It shouldn't be about who makes more money or who supposedly works harder at their job. No matter how many hours you work, this husband will still never be able to truly understand how physically demanding it is to be pregnant.
So You Both Contribute? Good For You.
The husband adds in that he certainly still helps around the house, which really no one would have been questioning because everyone would assume a husband is helping to raise his children and make life for his pregnant wife easier...
Should Someone Remind Him What "Being Pregnant" Means?
No one is denying that this man is helping around the house or thinking he doesn't work hard at his job, but it feels like he's overlooking the fact that his wife is still working and helping around the house as much as she can while a baby is growing inside of her.
His Mother-In-Law Comes Into The Equation Too
Calling him "useless" might be a bit harsh on the mother-in-law's part, but you can kind of see where she's coming from... Her pregnant daughter is working, taking care of the three kids she already has, and trying to help in the house as much as she can, while her husband wants to play video games for an hour every day.
Grandma Is Just There To Pick Up The Slack
This husband should also be able to see that if his mother-in-law is frequently at his house to help his wife with their children, it's probably because his wife has asked for her to come over. She's clearly looking for help and doesn't feel like her husband is willing to help her.
Now We Get To The Main Event
All of this was just the lead-up to the moment that this husband is actually looking for opinions about. Everything else was just the introduction—and boy did we learn a lot from it. But now we move on to the big problem.
Gee, I Wonder Why She's Upset?
We'll say what you're probably all thinking: if he doesn't want to have meatloaf for a third time that week, why doesn't he offer to make dinner for the family and choose something different?
Working Long Hours Is Not The Equivalent Of Breast Feeding
One could argue that him working more hours than her is actually hurting more than helping considering they have three other children to take care of, on top of her trying to do her own job. We don't blame her for not being ready to have a conversation with her husband yet.
"I'll Apologize If It Makes Her Happy"
What would probably make her happier than receiving a half-hearted apology would be if her husband made an effort to understand what her body was going through or how she was feeling.
Time To Hear From The Peanut Gallery
This husband turned to the internet because he claims he wanted to hear other people's opinions, and boy oh boy did people have opinions to share with him. However, it didn't really go in his favor like he might have been expecting.
Having A Pregnant Wife Isn't The Same As Being Pregnant
Once the baby is born and you're both equally taking care of a newborn, then you are absolutely entitled to talk about how tiring it is, but her body is the only one going through it right now.
The Completely Shocking Conclusion: He's In The Wrong
There was not a single person who agreed with this man's side of the story, or at least not a single person who was brave enough (dumb enough?) to comment that they agreed with him. He definitely didn't get the sympathy from Reddit that he was expecting.
A Clarification From The Husband
After the post blew up, the husband posted two edits to the story to clarify a few points, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference to the community. The ruling that he was at fault in the matter still seemed to hold up.
