Like most couples when my husband and I discovered we were expecting, we went out and bought some books. The typical stuff: What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Your Pregnancy Week by Week, etc… The books were supposed to help me not only figure out what kind of freaky things were about to happen to me and my body but also explain a lot of the freaky things that were already happening and I was completely mystified by. (If you are pregnant or have ever been, you know what I’m talking about; all those things that nobody actually talks about that all of a sudden come as a complete shock when they start happening to you, no matter how knowledgeable you think you may be or how much you may have paid attention in Sex Ed. Don’t worry, I won’t go into detail.)
The books were pretty helpful but unfortunately they also had an unintended side effect: it turns out they’re basically like a menu of maladies that my husband is now choosing from. One day he starts complaining of dizziness. The next day he has back pain that came out of nowhere. All of a sudden, he’s having these crazy dreams that disturb his sleep. Nausea? Yup. Leg cramps? Of course. Fatigue? Well, duh. What’s next? I guess I’ll have to consult the books and see what to expect. That’s right folks…my husband is stealing my pregnancy symptoms!
Now, you can call these “sympathy pains” all you want but I’m not buying it. I call it stealing my thunder. I also call it highly annoying. Isn’t this my time to be pampered? Shouldn’t I be the one to have all the reasons to take to my bed and eat bon bons? (What are bon bons anyway? Do they even still make them?) The only upside to feeling like crap for all this time is that I’m supposed to be waited on hand and foot! Instead, I now have to share the misery with my husband who, I’m sure, will somehow find a way to also make the actual labor all about him. Oh, this is going to be a very long pregnancy.
Maybe he watched the movie "Junior" too many times
LOL! and good luck!
First of all, congratulations! Even though I remember the early months of pregnancy when I basically wanted to pop everyone in the mouth who dared utter the word “congratulations” in my cranky and nauseated presence. Just wait until you go into labor. My husband got faint and had to sit down because when the doctor said to me, “Okay now, push! Push! One…two…three…four,” he was next to me going “NNNNNRRRRGGHHHH!” and pushing right along with me. It’s still kind of a sweet memory.
Congrats on your expected little one. As for bon bons, yes they are still made. My faves are the ones made with vanilla ice cream covered in dark chocolate. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about it – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonbon
Pick your own symptom and hide the book!
Wife,
This is actually a GOOD thing–at least according to the “experts,” like Scientific American, which reports that “there are studies suggesting that men who have DEEP EMPATHY toward their pregnant partner and are prone to…symptoms…end up with strong attachments to their child.”
(Yes, I added the ALL CAPS)
Just sayin’…
Signed,
Husband
I have sympathy for you… but do count your blessings. My husband didn’t read a thing. He actually tried to argue with me that a full term pregnancy only lasted 36 weeks… 9 months x 4 weeks per month = 36 weeks.
Yes, that’s my non-female husband, with zero sisters, trying to tell me about my own body’s ability to grow a child.
I’m glad I didn’t argue with him, however. We had twins that were indeed born at 36 weeks!
-Melissa
are you sure he’s not pregnant too? Have you given him a pregnancy test?
I think you should take this one and run with it. Make him pee on a stick and when it comes out negative tell him that since he’s not preggers he can’t have your symptoms. Is he going to start drinking from a bottle when your baby is born too?
Bon bon typically refers to a chocolate or a truffle confection. The term bon bon comes from the French and is actually simply a repetition of the word good. The bon bon to the French is a chocolate covered candy or truffle, often with a butter cream or fondant center. Sometimes bon bon merely refers to any candy, not necessarily covered with chocolate. The fictional idle housewife so often portrayed with a box of bon bons would probably have been eating the French style bon bon.
Congratulations on your second child. Clearly you already have one.
Awesome! This is going to be quite the journey for you. The MORE pregnant you become, the MORE annoyed with your husband you’ll become, so you’ll still have plenty of things to write about!!! God Bless you both on this new adventure.
I normally don’t agree with you but this one should be yours. He needs to grow a pair (well use a pair since we know they work) and man up. He can whine when he has his child’s puke in his mouth.
Yeah for you both! He needs some quick healing in that symptons dept…
Tsk tsk. Just don’t end up telling us when you get to the hospital to deliver that you had to push him in the wheelchair instead. I think I saw that on “I Love Lucy” perhaps.
LOL just wait! When I went into labor and said “honey, it’s time to go now” he said “can’t I just sleep for one more hour?” and then while on the way to the hospital, during the middle of a contraction he looked at me and (trying to be funny) said “man! my knee REALLY hurts right now!”….they mean well, they just don’t think before they talk sometimes
Congrats on the baby!
I totally know what you mean-I am dreading getting pregnant for this very reason (well aside from all the child related normal concerns)!
However, my husband has managed start the process early… he gets “sympathy pains” whenever I am sick, stub my toe, ect. ect.
It started before we were even married and I would describe some ailment that I had. Next thing I knew, miraculously he would have the same symptoms. It drives me crazy!
I do not understand it at all…
Could be worse. He could be taking photos of you, posting them on a blog somewhere, and snarking about how pathetic you are being.
Says the man!
My husband is doing the exact same thing lol we actually had a DISCUSSION about it because it was getting out of hand ! Lol he is better with it now but boy oh boy it took a while!