The Itch

Honeymooning in Vail, Co. Best trip ever! 

Today we celebrate 7 years of marriage and I couldn't help but think of the 7 year itch. For those who are not familiar with the term, according to wikipedia, it's when happiness declines in your relationship after 7 years. There are many people who believe it happens. So I asked myself, 'Will this happen to my marriage?'

I came to the conclusion, and this is my personal opinion, that every marriage is so different that each will go through different phases. There will be times in your marriage that will seem harder than others. I don't believe that it's exactly after 7 years. It can be after 3 years, or 5, or 10. Each marriage will face it's times of challenge. And I do believe you will feel the happiness decline, but it will always be up to the both of you to boost it up. I can recall times with Gerson when I believed it could never go back to being good. I don't know why, I blame it on my hormones, but I didn't like him very much after Gael was born. He was always gone. I was always alone. And I blamed him for everything. But we chose to fix the problem and move forward loving each other more than we ever had. We chose love.

So if your relationship is going through an itch and you really want to overcome it, do the impossible together. Choose love.  Choose to fight for it. It will take a lot of work, but it will be worth it. Don't ever allow society to define your marriage's happiness.

Marriage is more than a big wedding or a piece of paper. It's a commitment that requires exactly that; staying committed mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We are committed wholly. Loving through it all, good and bad.

Lastly, on this day, I would like to leave a love note to my one only -

Gerson, Thank you for always choosing to love me. Even when I wanted to give up, you have never given up on us. I don't believe in always being happy, yet you have made sure to always bring happiness to my life. You're my biggest blessing! I can confidently say that after 7 years we are stronger than ever. Loving each other more than we ever have. Thank you for that... For showing me that our love has no price. 

Prioritizing Love

A fuzzy pic of us in bed wanting to nap and Gael crying away. :)

Growing up I often heard my dad talk about how he needed to love and care for my mom more because someday his children would leave.

Seriously, my sisters and I heard it so often that when we were getting married, it's definitely something each of us had planned to apply.

As the years go by, I love Gerson more and more. If you thought I was in love with him 10 years ago, I'm more crazy about him now. So when I got pregnant I never doubted it. I was so confident that my husband would always come before my children... And then Gael was born.

If you're a mother you will understand, but the minute Gael was born my heart immediately grew a love I never knew. A love so big I can't even put into words. The days went by and the love just grew even more. All of your mommy friends tell you about this love but until you have your child in your arms, you're like whoa! I didn't know this love! It's amazing.

As the weeks went by I found it difficult to balance. It's normal, I'm sure. But I just couldn't care about Gerson. I was like a kid with a new toy. I've heard many husband's get jealous and I'm glad Gerson was just a good sport about it.

Maybe it's cause we didn't just transition into the parenting journey, but we had also moved to a different state, and Gerson had begun his very busy job. However, I didn't think I could ever ever put him first ever again. Did anyone feel like this? I was pretty sure eventually Gerson would get tired and my marriage would go downhill, because in my mind and heart I couldn't see myself putting my husband before Gael as my parents taught us.

Now, I know it's a different kind of love. The love of a son and husband is totally different. And I'm aware that it's normal to give more attention to the child the first months because it's all new but I also believe that if you never choose to start balancing your time with each one it will take over and your marriage could go downhill. I've seen it happen.

Just like you choose to love your spouse even on days you'd rather not, you also have to choose to prioritize. You see, one day, as my dad would tell us, your children will leave you. It's biblical! They will leave and begin a life of their own. And you can end up being happy with your spouse or miserable. It's a choice that you make. Everything I give into my marriage is an investment. I've said this so many times in so many of the posts. I don't know how long Gerson and I will have together, but I'm praying for a lifetime of healthy and happy years. I choose to give into my marriage daily. All the years, good and bad times, prayers, time, love, attention, money, our children, sex, dates, romance, and much more. It's all an investment towards our marriage. I'm not obligated to give, it's a choice we make.

The thought of Gael leaving makes me sad cause he makes me so happy. But it's going to happen someday. Heck, I would never want my 30 year old son living with us! We want to raise, teach, and equip him to build a life of his own. And when that happens, I'm going to want my husband to be there. We can get so caught up in raising our children that when they do leave, we don't even know ourselves or our spouse anymore. I want Gerson and I to be in a healthy marriage when our children leave us.

It's been a little over a year and I'm learning more and more how to balance my loves. I want my marriage to be my greatest accomplishment. Therefore, I will always choose to care and love my husband.

Happy Wednesday!

PS My parents were so sad when their daughters left. It took them about a day to get over it and now they're living the life! They get super happy when we visit them but happier when we go back to our home. ;)

Marriage is not to be taken lightly...

Throughout the years, I occasionally get the news from a friend, that she is getting a divorce.

It's always devastating to hear. The question I ask myself is did they give it their all? Now that they're going through this divorce do they regret not being a better spouse? By listening or communicating better, or changing those bad habits that their spouse hated, or sought counseling? Or maybe loving her better by making her feel special the way she needed to be loved. Would they go back and change... now that their spouse wants nothing to do with them?

By no means am I in a perfect marriage. Gerson and I argue. We disagree. We have our days that are not so pretty. However, at the end of the day we care. We care a lot about our marriage, that we apologize and forgive. We communicate and listen. We become selfless and think about the other. We make it work and sometimes even make some changes. We sacrifice and compromise. We do it cause we love each other and we're committed.

Marriage is not to be taken lightly. Marriage requires a lot of hard work. And what happens is that after a couple of years we get very comfortable. Sometimes life with our partner just becomes a routine. It even becomes boring. Our defects increase and feel like we don't need to change.

Men sometimes have the attitude of  " I conquered her already so I don't have to do anything else." Or even women don't feel the need to look nice, be sexy, and love their husbands' the way they need like to be loved. Marriage is not to be taken lightly nowadays. Divorce rates are high.

If you truly care about your spouse. If you truly honestly want to last forever, stop being lazy. Work at turning on that spark once in a while. Dream together like when you were young. Kiss often. Talk to each other and LISTEN. Stop taking marriage lightly! Stop putting more importance to things that will not be with you forever.

Gerson and I remind ourselves that at the end of this life, I can bet you all those things that we thought mattered are not going to matter. We matter to each other. We will be next to each other or at least thinking of each other when our life on earth is ending.

I conclude with this. Marriage requires hard work. I like to think of it as my dream job.  At my dream job some days are amazing and some days require more work than others. But my dream job also has awesome benefits that make all the hard work worthwhile. Marriage is similar. It has it's days but all the benefits and investments are worth it. Stop taking it lightly and always work towards making it better.

Happy Tuesday!

Supportive Spouse

This month has been a tough one for us.

Gerson's been in a trauma night rotation. He sleeps about 4 to 5 hours a day. Tries to spend an hour with us and works the rest. I swear I feel like a single mom who sees her baby daddy occasionally.

My husband has always been a hard worker. So working long shifts is definitely nothing new for him. However, I think the hours and lack of sleep is making him miserable. Quite honestly, we're both miserable with this rotation. We hate it. Gerson is such an optimist and I have never heard him express so much how he hates going to work. His highlights are only when he assist in a cool surgery and that he has Saturdays off.

Thankfully, this is over on Friday and he gets the weekend off (YAY!) and starts a new rotation on Monday.  What's funny is that these past weeks I didn't have the courage to write. I didn't know if I was going to survive being the understanding wife. Nor did I want to write support your spouse when I couldn't support mine. But now that it's almost over I will say that I'm proud the way we handled it.

Every marriage or relationship has their moments. Part of me was optimistic because I knew it was temporary. I would encourage Gerson when he was down. But only cause I knew it was one month. I don't know how I would have handled it if this was for the rest of our lives. But what I do know is that everybody goes through challenging phases. Couples go through fires. What's important is how you handle and grow from it.

Working as a team, together is my advice. We would have gotten nowhere if either of us dwelled on our misery and didn't care about anything else. Personally one of the best parts about being in a relationship is that you have each other. And although it's great to have one another during fun and happy moments there's nothing like having that support and backbone during hard times.

Support each other. If you're going through a fire, or if your partner is going through something be there for them. Get through it together. Even when it's not your problem, be the light in their darkness. I'm often asked why do you do this for Gerson? How could you support him financially in med school? How could you support him and move? How do you sacrifice your dreams to support his? And my answer is always because if it was the other way around, if I was accomplishing a career that required many years of school and training and instability, I have no doubt in my mind that he would do it for me.

I'm glad this month is coming to an end. My mind was running during these difficult days. I observed certain things in my relationship, learned much, and took notes which I plan to share with you! Hope everyone is having a great week. xoxo

Following Gerson.

2012 On a plane heading to Shanghai

I cannot believe my time in Anchorage, Alaska has come to an end... At least for now.

I survived two months in this beautiful freezing state. My husband daily worked from 14 to 16 hour shifts. I didn't have a car. I couldn't go out for strolls with the baby due to snow that would break my stroller. And as much as I would have loved to go and ski or visit other places, it's kind of difficult with a baby, a busy husband, and no transportation.


As I packed and got things ready, I received a notification that the airline I'm traveling with upgraded my seat. I knew I could upgrade but decided not to because my husband for some reason isn't a member of their frequent flyer. We had selected our seats in the very last row to sit together.

I called the airline asking them if they could either put me back to my original seat or upgrade my husband. The customer service rep looks at my husband's account and says Sorry, it looks like he's just a regular guy. Obviously this guy lacks phone etiquette or simply professionalism. What he meant to say is your husband is not a star member or has a regular account. I kind of wanted to joke along and say "My husband's everything but regular! He's the most amazing, intelligent, handsome person you could ever meet in your life!" But I held my tongue. After a couple of minutes, he asks me Ok ma'am, are you sure you want to sit at the very back versus the front? 

You see, this guy doesn't know that it's in my nature to follow my husband. I do it willingly. I do it because I absolutely love him! I don't care if the other side is luxurious. I don't care if following my husband means going to the freezing cold state of Alaska or the hot desert in Arizona miles away from my family I love and miss daily. He's my home now. He's the person I've chosen to do life with. And I have no regrets.

And so many times it's hard for me to leave who or what I love just to follow him. So I wrote this blog to always remember that yes, I will sit all the way to the back of the plane just to sit next to him. It's who I am.

Change is good.

10 years ago

Change has been on my mind lately. In my heart as well. Hence, the previous blog post.

Relationships go through change. It's part of life.

When I think about Gerson and I 10 years ago, I don't think I would recognize us. We were so different. As a couple we were two corny and cheesy romantics that couldn't get enough of each other. The things we would say to each other we probably wouldn't say anymore.

I've learned to embrace where my relationship is in the present. Right now. Yes, we're still romantic. We still have very special moments and  love each other more than we did when we first met, but I don't wish to go back. I don't see this change as a bad thing. I love where Gerson and I are right now. We've learned to accept and simply be ourselves. When we started dating, we might have been two people oblivious about everything (and everyone) but each other, however, I wasn't as confident. I didn't know if we were going to last forever. I didn't know if we would build a life together. I just knew that I had a hot boyfriend who was crazy about me... and hoped it would last.

Ask me now if I think my marriage will last. Without a doubt I will answer YES. We've invested years of trust, loyalty, love, growth, and maturity.

I was only 20 years old when Gerson and I began to date. We dated 3 years. And celebrating 7 years of marriage in November. I hope I've grown in these 10 years! No one wants to stay the same for that long. As an individual we desire to grow, excel, achieve, and improve.

Well, as a couple you should as well. Remembering how lovely it felt when he first kissed you. Or the first date. All the firsts are special and should remain in our hearts forever. But don't look at those special times wanting to go back. Move forward in your relationship. Build other memories and most importantly always love each other. Just because it's been 10 years, doesn't mean your relationship has to be dull and boring. Yes, we get comfortable with each other but always while your relationship changes and grows, continue to know how to love your partner.

Indulge him/her. Love him/her. And change will feel good.

Make Your Grass Greener

Have you ever seen a couple and thought, I wish my husband was as romantic as her husband or I wish my wife wore dresses like his wife.

Or you see a couple and think if only we were as rich as them or as good looking as them. I'm sure it's happened. I'm in the happiest relationship and sure we've occasionally had an envious thought. But what I've concluded is that there's no reason to desire such things. If you don't like where your relationship is going then do something about it. You have the power to change things!

If you don't like the way you look, do something about it. If you don't like that although you have two incomes yet you're always broke, don't wish for more money, get some financial counseling to learn how to manage your finances.

Stop wishing that your marriage or relationship could be better if only... It will not. So many people think the grass is greener on the other side but it really isn't. You can make your grass greener. If someone has a greener grass, it's probably because they've invested in it. They fertilize and water it. They take care of it.

Talk and listen to each other. If you think your sex life sucks, read on the subject. Talk to your spouse about it. If your relationship is going downhill SEEK HELP. Everybody can use marriage counseling. So many spouses want to save their marriage or improve but they do nothing about it. I know several friends who had the strongest desire to save their marriage but the husbands did not want to change things. They didn't want to seek help. They didn't care about the other person. They only cared about themselves. That's not how a relationship works. You can not be in a healthy, happy relationship only thinking of yourself. You want change, make it happen.

 Communicate with your partner about the changes in the most postive way. I believe in change. In the 6 years I've been married, I appreciate when we sit and talk about our failures or downhills. We don't judge or criticize. The times we've attacked each other, in never ends well. So we instead listen and see how we can be of help to improve and change such areas. Sometimes it's changing as an individual and other as a couple. But it's so important to communicate and encourage one another.

My last tip is learn from healthy marriages. I don't wish to be like my parents, but they have a beautiful marriage that inspires me to learn from them. Meet with older and wiser couples and learn from them.

It's Monday... The perfect day to start becoming a better WE. ;)

My Birth Story

This week I have decided to write about my little love... Gael.  I'll start with my birth story although it's 8 months later.

As many of you know, I worked for 2 years in San Antonio with an organization that allowed me to work closely with pregnant teens and women. That also gave me awesome connections in having the opportunity to not only inform myself but meet doulas and midwives. That being said, I knew that I wanted to try and go natural when having my first baby.

That's right. No meds. No induction. All natural. Thankfully, I also had a really great pregnancy. The first 12 weeks I had some nausea. And chicken would make me sick. But overall, I felt great. On my 37th week appointment I mentioned to one of the midwives that I had been itching. They had to run blood work, and because the results would take some days to arrive, I had to go in daily to have the baby's heart rate monitored. It was horrible cause I would spend most of my time at the hospital. The results finally came in on my 39th week. And my bio acids showed to be a bit high so the midwife said they were going to have to induce me. I was devastated. I called Gerson (he was in Arizona) crying telling him that this was not going as planned. However, this did mean Gerson would make it to the delivery since I was being induced.

Well, it was 2pm and the midwife asked me to arrive at the hospital at 6pm. I called my mom asked her to pack my bag and meet me at the hospital at 6. I drove myself to Houston's Galleria and walked like never before. I was sweating so much! I was going up and down the stairs. I had accepted the fact that I would be induced but still wanted to try and go natural.

When I got to the hospital my mom was there. We spoke with the midwife and she explained that she would give me an ambien so I could have a good rest. And cervidel to soften my cervix. I quickly googled cervidel cause I had never heard of it! I asked my midwife if this would help prevent induction in the morning. I so badly didn't want petocin. I didn't care so much about the epidural but I knew petocin would get to the baby and that's exactly what I didn't want. Well she said sadly it wouldn't. That I would need to be induced and they would start the petocin at 9am. Gerson arrived that night around 10pm. And my mom decided to head home and rest for the big due day.

Around 5:30 that morning, I started feeling cramps. By 6am I mentioned to the nurse that I believed I was getting contractions cause they were stronger than cramps. Around 6:30am  I had dialated up to 4 cm. I started to feel the contractions getting worst. So I asked Gerson to read me a Psalm. He had the audacity to ask which one. In my head I thought "I don't care! One that applies!"  But I calmly said "It doesn't matter" So he began to read one in Spanish. I read my Bible in English, so my Spanish comprehension in such state literally went out the window. I asked him to stop.

By 7am I was at 7cm. I remember Gerson smiling! He thought I was progressing so well and was happy that I was indeed in active labor and didn't have to be induced. My midwife was also smiling. I was the only one not smiling. I didn't care if it was 7cm, I was in so much pain!

That whole hour I was in transitional labor which is the worst. All I knew was that contractions were back to back and I couldn't catch a break. I asked my midwife for the epidural and her exact words were "You don't want it, your pain wants it. " I remember asking for music and that didn't work. I would just focus during contractions on this red little cross on the bed remote. I honestly didn't care about natural birth anymore. I wanted the meds! So they suggested I go to the jacuzzi/bath tub. That helped so much! I can't imagine going through those last contractions on the bed. I lasted about 30 minutes in the tub. But then I got too hot and asked to get out. As I got out of the tub, I felt like I needed to use the restroom. My doula said that I didn't need to use the restroom, those were signs that I was probably ready to push.

When she checked me she excitingly said "You're done! This baby is ready to come out!" Now this is when we all smiled! I was so ready for this push. I had read and heard so many stories of how pushing could take hours and all I thought was "I refuse!" I truly feel like I got this supernatural strength. I was determined! But what sucks is that you have to push while getting contractions which is horrible pain. So for the first seconds I hesitated and that's when I finally felt like crying. Through out my labor I never screamed or cried. I remained so calm that all the nurses and midwife kept telling me I had such great composure. You know, when you're feeling so much pain, you don't care about any compliments. You could  have told me I won a million dollars and I wouldn't have cared. I felt like I was going to die!

So when they asked me to push I cried "I can't! I can't!" And the nurse looked at me and said "Yes you can! Now listen, inhale, and push!" And I really did listen to her. I asked her to show me one more time and probably pushed a couple of times and my little Gael was out!  I was so happy! So so happy... that the labor was over!

I truly feel like God knew and blessed me with the desires of my heart. The nurses calculated my labor was approx. 3 hours long. It was such a fast labor. And I'm grateful that I experienced it the way I had desired, natural.

Gael Adrian Pineda was born a day after his daddy's birthday, July, 10, 2012 at 8:07am. He weighed 7lb 4oz. He truly has become the light of our home. We love how he's changed our lives!

Feelings

Gerson and I had a long distance relationship for the most part when we were dating.

The year we were engaged we were living only 4 hours away from each other. One afternoon I received a usual text saying " I miss you. " and then he added " I feel like having a drink with you. "

That evening as I got off from work, I'm walking to my car and there he was waiting for me. He had driven 4 hours to have a drink with me. I now realize that this man loves to surprise me.

We went to have dinner and he drove back to Dallas. I always cried when he left. We both had this desire to just be together. Married. No more distance cause distance sucks!

If you've been married for several years, do you remember that feeling? Not wanting to go home. Just wanting to be with that person all day and night. Driving miles just to see that person you love even if it was for a couple of hours. Cause to you it was worth it.

Those are the first stages of a relationship and it's beautiful. I like to remember those feelings with Gerson. Relationships change and grow. We now have the privilege of going home and waking up next to each other.

Don't ever take that for granted. There's nothing wrong with remembering even if your relationship is in a different stage. Personally, it's a reminder for me of how blessed we are to have found each other .

My 20's

Chicago 2009

So this week I turn the big 3-0.

I feel young and great but I do realize I'm entering that next level. It's exciting. I also remembered just yesterday that at 20 years old was when Gerson and I became friends. I spent all of my 20's enjoying birthdays with my love.  Therefore,  I've decided this week to share some of my "love story" memories with you.

One of my favorite anniversaries was when Gerson surprised me with a trip to Chicago. It was the night before, I was heading to bed and he said "I wanted to tell you at midnight but since you're going to bed I want to tell you that tomorrow at 6am we are going to Chicago as an anniversary trip!" I couldn't believe it! I thought well I have to call my boss and he had already done that for me. I stayed up til 4am packing. It was so exciting! All week he had told me he had made dinner plans for that weekend but I didn't know they would be in another city. It was so fun and special!

Actually, something I learned from this trip was that it's almost vital to take a weekend getaway with your loved one at least once a year if possible. Not a full vacation where you sight see and stuff. Just a mini getaway where you can go talk, reminisce, eat good food, and make love. No distractions, no worries, just feeling the love you have for one another. The place doesn't even matter. It's sort of like a little honey-moon. And I'm sure you're thinking I can talk, eat food, and make love in my own house, which you can, but there's something about just getting away. Even if it's 30 miles from where you live. It becomes about just the two of you. I recommend it!

Well, that's one of my favorites memories especially since I love surprises!

HAPPY MONDAY

Hershey's Kisses & Reminiscing

  

How was your Valentine's Day?

We had a great one. Very low key. Stayed home. Gerson was thoughtful and sweet as always. And as always Gerson included with all the little gifts Hershey's Kisses.

There are certain things that Gerson has done from the beginning of our love story. Ever since we were dating, on a special occasion, he would show up to my apartment and then eventually to our bedroom with breakfast and goodies from La Madeline. There's no La Madeline where we're living now, so he may have to change it. But another thing he does on Valentine's day is provide Hershey's kisses with my gifts.


Which always takes us back to when Gerson was pursuing me. We were just friends and ended up going to the same party. I had no idea he was going to be there. But he loved the way I looked and even remembers a necklace I wore that night. Well, my sweet and corny husband interrupted a conversation I was having with a friend, who was a guy, and bluntly asked "Can I give you kiss?" My friend obviously felt awkward. So I just gave him a "you're so lame" look and extended my hand towards him. I knew Gerson was always full of corny jokes and pick-up lines. He then handed me a Hershey's kiss.

Oh what a bliss to reminisce. :)


HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

My 1st Valentine's Day present from my Valentine. ;)

Wishing everyone a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! This is a day to show love. Go and love on your loved ones! xoxo - Adri 
                                                            
To My Valentine: Today we celebrate our 10th Valentine's Day together. I remember them all.  There's no other man I would rather travel my journeys with than with you. My heart loves you solely and sweetly. No regrets, no turning back. Each high and low has molded our relationship in some way. And our love only keeps growing.  Love you always. 

He Completes Me.

A lady once told me that her life began when she got married. Now many of you may find that romantic, but I thought it was sad. It made me wonder if she was just a dull person. I absolutely love being in a relationship. I love marriage. I love monogamy. But I want to believe that I was happy way before I met Gerson. I was complete before him. Gerson did not define nor complete me. Honestly after listening to this lady, I just thought about my life and marriage. Was I wrong for not feeling the same? Did I not love my husband as much as she loves hers?

 I came to the conclusion that only God could do such thing. He has given meaning to my life. I love Gerson with my whole heart. Words can not even express how much love I have for him. He's made my life so much richer and beautiful. But my life began when I came to know God. He's given me purpose and love like no other. Thanks to Him I have been able to live an adventurous, blessed life. And because of Him, I am in a healthy marriage.

I know Valentines Day is approaching and we all get drawn to this lovely holiday. Even I do. But if you don't have a date or a boyfriend don't get all sappy and sad. Enjoy it! Go have fun with friends and family. And if you're in a relationship enjoy it as well. Do something sweet and special. We know nobody needs one day to love someone, but it's just for fun. You can love today and tomorrow! 

My advice is simply this, whether you're married or single, don't ever depend on someone to give significance to your life. That is a huge responsibility to give to an imperfect human being who will fail you. Allow God to give meaning, purpose, and definition to your life. He created you. He can complete you. 

Same Team. Same Side.

Several years ago, I was hanging out with a friend on his birthday. While we hung out he received a call from his dad. When he hung up he told me "I guess my dad forgot my birthday." I could not believe it. How could a parent forget their child's birthday? Well, my friend probably didn't like my reaction, so his response was "Adri, he didn't do it on purpose. He's probably busy and will remember later." Surely enough, his dad called him back within that hour to tell him happy birthday. "He didn't do it on purpose." has helped me so much in my marriage. I often think that Gerson and I make a great team. Actually, now more than ever, as parents I feel like we make a strong team. I know he's got my back. We do things being considerate of one another. However, it's not always perfect. There are times when we can't come to an agreement. Sometimes we argue. There are even times when he has made me so upset or has hurt me. But after all is said and done, I remember that he has my best interest at heart. He loves me and wants the best for me. He does not intentionally do something to hurt me. Very few husbands wake up saying "Today I am going to do something horrible to piss off my wife!" (vice versa) We all make mistakes. Have you ever thought about how you're also imperfect and have unintentionally hurt your spouse? Don't be so grudgeful. Have positive thoughts about your spouse. Remind yourself that both of you have made mistakes in your marriage and neither wakes up wanting to hurt one another. After all, you're both on the same team, same side.

Enough With the Hiatus!

Hey guys! I've missed writing so much. But with all the transitions that happened in one year, I think I had to take a break. Today however, I looked at my calendar and realized it's February 1st! What better month to break this hiatus than on the month of LOVE. ;) I've been keeping notes of so many love lessons I'm learning in my very own relationship. Having a child can really challenge your marriage. Not that Gerson and I had the perfect relationship (NEVER), but the first months are kind of tricky. There's just a lot of emotions...the wife is hormonal and the husband is, well, horny-onal. It's just different. And although I believe that every relationship deals with it differently, it can be challenging. I'm so glad weeks before having the baby, a good friend of mine told me "your marriage will change just don't freak out... it will go back to normal." So Gerson and I didn't freak out. We knew our lives had change... and it was for good. We took it day by day. We are doing the best we can for us and our baby. We give time to each other, to ourselves, and to our baby. It's important. At the end of the day, it's all good. I'm happy to be back and ready to share with you my lessons of love. ;)