What is The Adventures of NinjaMan & NinjaChic? A SuperNinja couple in their quests of pregnancy and parenthood! ...But really its the everyday life of an Airman,his wife and their little boy!
Ninjas sounded so much cooler.

Friday, March 19, 2010

NinjaMan experiencing Sympathetic Pregnancy?

Lately, NinjaMan has not been feeling great lately. He's experiencing tummy aches, headaches, and even some nausea; never to the point of needing to see a doctor,but enough to have him feeling a little off lately.
Could it be he's experiencing Couvade (sympathetic pregnancy)?
It's definitely possible! The frequency of Couvade in modern Western populations ranges from under 20 percent to more than 80 percent of expectant fathers. Weird huh? Mental Health professionals speculate the cause of Couvade is jealousy of the woman being able to carry a child or they are selfishly seeking attention because they feel guilty for impregnating the woman.
Now, I will admit that I get much more attention than NinjaMan because I am carrying our child. People only pay attention to a pregnant woman because of the baby, once the baby is born, the baby gets attention/acknowledgment before the parents,so it makes sense that the woman gets more attention. This doesn't mean that the expectant father should be ignored, fathers play a very important role in both pregnancy and parenting. If it wasn't for NinjaMan, I'd have already fallen to pieces over developing Gestational Diabetes, he keeps me on my toes about what/how I eat and when I need to take a break to keep from overdoing things.
As much as I want to be pampered for being pregnant, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to give NinjaMan a little sympathy for his tummyaches or a nice backrub when he's tired from a long day. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" comes to mind when I think about Couvade. If I'm a little sympathetic and nurturing when NinjaMan is feeling a little off, then he will have the same concern for me during and after the pregnancy. I'm not just saying "Be nice so hubby will be nice to you", that's not the right reason. Be nice to hubby because you care for him and his well being, just like he cares for yours. NinjaMan doesn't expect me to go a bit out of my way to care for him, but he does know that I care about him and I do those things to show him that.
So my new goal is to show NinjaMan that I care and sympathize with him whenever he's not feeling great; in turn, I'm sure NinjaMan's confidence will get a little boost too!

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