My wife and I took a short babymoon to the beach this weekend as a last hurrah before the sprout arrives. It was nothing extravagant or overly active, but a nice break from the wound-up norm of baby room prep and baby product research.
Everything was booked solid and we were lucky to get a room, but my wife and I ended up in a room with two double beds instead of a king or the queen that we have at home. As I was laying there this morning looking across at her pregnant outline sleeping in the bed next to me I wanted to climb in next to her and hold her and rub her belly. Granted she was only a few feet away, but I wanted to be next to her. Laying there I realized that as my wife has gotten progressively more pregnant that I have become more attached and protective of her. She may have gotten clingy, but I have to; I don't like being away from her at all.
Don't get me wrong, it was great not to be woken a half dozen times a night when she gets up to pee. There is actually something endearing about the manner in which she gets her decreasingly mobile frame out of bed, ensuring I have six hours of regularly-interrupted sleep every night. The commotion of her flopping around as she tries to get out of bed makes me feel like I'm sleeping next to a marlin fighting a fisherman's line. However, as the sport fish to which I'm married leaves the room, I know I won't be able to get back to sleep until she gets back. I have to check on her, even if just with a quick "you ok?" She always is, but I have to ask.
It's part of the whole process and I want to go through it with her. I wish I didn't have to trudge off to work every morning and could spend the day with her, but I do, that's my reality. That's why the babymoon is nice, it gives you both a little time together. But until such a time that I can spend all my time with her, I'm going to cling to that pregnant woman and let her know how much I love her.
Expectant fathers get clingy, too
Clinging on for dear life
Sometime between the fourth and fifth months of pregnancy your wife/ girlfriend/ baby-momma may become incredibly, somewhat annoyingly clingy to you. She will track your every move with the deftness of a bloodhound. She will be the human equivalent of a house-arrest ankle bracelet.
"What are you doing?" will be her mantra, even if you just answered her a few minutes before.
The key here is to be patient and communicative with her. Explain your plans to her as if she were your parole officer, because that's how she'll act. For example, if you're going out to mow the lawn, tell her what you're doing, how long it will take (always pad your estimate with extras, i.e., weed whacking) and check in on her a couple times during the process.
I was unaware of this phenomenon until I realized I felt guilty for ever leaving a room she was in. I felt as though I had been neglecting her whenever I wasn't within eyesight. The truth is, I don't mind. She's experiencing physical and hormonal changes which I can't possibly understand and a little bit of togetherness isn't the worst thing in the world. Just make sure you do have some time to yourself in the interest of preservation of sanity, and leave the room if you feel the need to yell or put your head through a wall to make the questions stop.
If you're not able to shake the round one who's following you around, try taking her to a movie. It's a great way to be together without having to listen to her.