If at all possible, make sure both partners are taking identical amounts of leave. Take the same amount of parental leave as your partner (if you can). Lesbian and gay couples tend to divide housework in a more egalitarian way than heterosexual couples do. There is less data about same-sex and gender non-conforming couples, but there is some - albeit dated - evidence that biological mothers in lesbian couples spend more time doing child care than their partners do (though their partners still spend more time on child care than fathers in heterosexual relationships). All the experts I spoke with said that taking a transparent, proactive approach to dividing household work - including child care - was the number one way to keep the rage-beast of new parenthood at bay.
A WIFE AND A MOTHER GUIDE HOW TO
I spoke to three experts - including a New York Times-bestselling author, a sociologist and a relationship-focused psychotherapist - about how to keep relations as positive as possible during your transition to parenthood. Deeply unpleasant thoughts about your spouse will probably flit through your mind at some point during your child’s first year, mostly because of the extreme exhaustion infants create in their parents (there’s a reason extreme sleep deprivation is considered torture). I’m not alone: The majority of studies on marital satisfaction suggest that couples are less happy after they become parents, though the degree and length of unhappiness is more of an open question. I had a brief and fleeting desire to bludgeon him with a bedside lamp.
![a wife and a mother guide a wife and a mother guide](https://images.cdn2.buscalibre.com/fit-in/360x360/4f/ce/4fcee506a9556f54ee9db5e8d99b0cc8.jpg)
I had trouble falling asleep but had finally drifted off one night when my husband came home from a work event and woke me up. It was 90 degrees outside every day, and I had blown past my due date with no signs of labor.
![a wife and a mother guide a wife and a mother guide](https://www.easybabylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/breastfeeding-hormones-660.jpg)
![a wife and a mother guide a wife and a mother guide](https://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/40/70/1233182432-Mothers-Day-Greetings-Messages-To-My-Wife-2.jpg)
The lowest point of my marriage was probably when I was excessively pregnant with our second daughter.