If it wasn’t for my husband

As I write this blog, I am cooking dinner after a busy day working in the Simulation Center and my husband is with my dad picking up a very special order for his pet shop, Rocky and Maggie’s.  Now, I don’t want to give the impression that I cook every night, because usually Bill does.  I enjoy cooking but often find myself too exhausted to do so after a day working in the NICU or Simulation Center.  What I love about my husband is how much he is willing to share responsibilities and also how sometimes he is not.  And when he is not, what I mean is because he is taking care of those responsibilities for us. What most people may not know about us from the TV show is that we both work hard, but Bill works harder.  He is the one who manages the house issues, the finances, often the grocery shopping, and yes, all the paperwork for adoption.  Because he owns his own businesses he has a more flexible schedule.  But its not just that, I know he does these things to try to make life easier for me, because he LOVES me.  And of course I LOVE him.

While we were dating, it didn’t take long for Bill to realize how bad I was with keeping up with personal things.  I had no problem keeping up with work and academics, but anything personal came last.  I think this is a common trait for many doctors.  As a fellow in neonatal intensive care, we worked up to 80 hours a week, often up to 30 hours in a shift.  As an example, one weekend while we were dating, Bill had planned to visit me and I asked him to come a day early because I forgot to pay my gas bill, had no heat (and the high was 30 degrees in Pittsburgh) and couldn’t get out of work to be home during the day for the gas company to come turn it back on for me.  It was not because I couldn’t afford to pay the bill, I just kept forgetting.  I still can’t believe he wanted to marry me when he realized how bad I was with keeping up with the everyday stuff: my fridge usually had only take-out left overs and a few “science experiments”, my mail piled up for days, and if it were not for having a cleaning lady, I don’t know what state my apartment would have been in.  Somehow he overlooked these minor flaws…

Today, our relationship continues to be in a state of taking care of each other.  If it were not for Bill, I know we wouldn’t have a family.  He was the one who talked daily with the doctors, insurance companies, and Center for Surrogacy to make making a baby possible.  He knew my medication regimen and both my and our surrogate’s fertility cycles better than me.  And now that we are moving on to adoption, he is the one who is tirelessly completing all the necessary documentation and paperwork to make adoption possible.  I know with my crazy hours it would have taken me 3 times as long to get through this long process.

So today I am writing this blog in appreciation of my husband… the most intelligent, motivated, and hardworking man I know (and handsome to boot).  If it were not for him, we would not be so close to having a family!

Sometimes I think we forget to appreciate the loved ones in our lives who support us so much!!!! Tonight I am appreciating Bill!