I am absolutely amazed by the compassion and dedication my wife has.
For the last 4 months (not to mention the 41 weeks before that) my beautiful wife has spent every single day caring for our baby girl. You probably don’t fully understand with that means without some qualifications, so let me elaborate.
Our daughter is breast fed. That means the sole source of nutrition our daughter receives comes from Jess. Every meal, every 2 hours (give or take), every single day, comes from Jess. On top of that, Jess doesn’t pump. That means that not only did Jess produce every single ounce of nourishment for our child, but also that every single drop was fed to her directly by Jess. There were no I-don’t-feel-goods, not-todays, maybe-some-other-times, i’ll-wait-till-tomorrows, or can’t-someone-else-do-its. She’s never had a break. Not even one. Without supplementing the baby’s food or pumping breast milk, Jess really can’t be away from our daughter for more than an hour and a half, tops, and even that is rare. And, it goes without saying that we don’t employ any form of day care or nanny service either. While I try to spend as much time with my little girl in the evenings and on weekends as I can, Jess is also the primary care giver 90% of the time, if not more.
I am so proud of her for sticking through this because she knows that this is what is best for Celeste. She knows that no one can produce anything more nourishing to our daughter than she can, and that no other method of feeding creates the bonds that our daughter deserves, and that no one is more fit to raise our child than we are. It’s even more amazing because she has known all along that at any moment she can ask for a break, no one will think poorly of her or as though she hasn’t done her part, and she can go right back to it when she’s ready. But she’s never asked for more than a few moments to take a hot bath.
As incredible as she is I’m very grateful that this first stage of formulative years is coming to an end. She deserves a break and I’m looking forward to seeing her have one, to doing my part, and to enjoying a break or two with her.
My wife is simply amazing.