Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Husband or hormones? Who's to blame?

15 replies

DMN2019 · 14/05/2019 14:11

Hi,
I've really struggled during the first three months of my pregnancy. It's my first pregnancy and the sickness prevailed all day for days. I spent a lot of time in bed which was quite depressing.
Before I found out we were pregnant we were abroad at a family wedding where my husband danced with another woman and was very friendly and flirtatious with women in general. I was extremely hurt and ready to take a break from our marriage when we returned. Life happened and I found out we were pregnant. We saw a therapist to try and overcome issues and he is extremely sorry. Says he was being sociable and not flirtatious but understands how he's hurt me and says it will not happen again.
My husband is great with words. I always feel like he knows how to apologise and I tell him that his words mean very little when his actions are the opposite.
He is also a football fanatic and enjoys drinking and the smokes when he's drinking. I expected it all to die down when we got married but it didn't. My first year of marriage was an absolute disappointment.
He says he's sorry about taking me for granted and sorry about his behavior. He says things will change but I don't believe him.
I have thoughts of leaving him all the time and I feel really trapped in a marriage without trust. I don't know what to do, I don't know how to forgive and since I've been pregnant I really dislike him quite gravely. I have no idea how to make things better. I just want to take my child far away from this man who keeps toying with my trust.
Am I Being Unreasonable? Are my feelings heightened because of hormones or should I follow my gut and take myself away from him?

OP posts:
Bringmewineandcake · 14/05/2019 14:30

If you were ready to leave him before you knew you were pregnant, and he hasn’t improved since finding out....why would you stay?

bluebluezoo · 14/05/2019 14:36

So

A) you didn’t like his behaviour before you were married but hoped you could change him
B) you don’t like his behaviour now you are married to the point you wanted to separate.

It’s not hormones, it’s you. He doesn’t, and can’t, meet your expectations because that isn’t who he is.

Either readjust your expectations or let hime find someone who wants him, not some fantasy husband.

Tbh what’s wrong with a bit of socialising at a wedding. It’s not like he slept with them.

storm11111 · 14/05/2019 17:09

First of all 'friendly and flirtatious with women in general'

this demonstrates to me that your significant other was not trying to cheat on you or be unfaithful but was having a good time and being friendly to everyone including women

(the problem comes when he is being friendly and flirtatious with a particular woman, not women at large.)

he obviously feels it is appropriate to be like that with women in general and you do not. whether or not he was flirting and whose in the right/wrong in that particular situation its impossible to say without being there.

I think honestly when you say 'the first year of marriage was an utter disappointment' its just not going to get any better and sadly you should not be together.

However, as you are understandably hormonal and emotional, my advice to you if you decide to leave is to react to things when you are calm and not to respond off the bat or you may do/say things you might not have given the chance to think it through.

ANewDawn10 · 14/05/2019 17:11

Agree with the first poster. Maybe separate for a while and see how he makes good on his words?

MrsTerryPratchett · 14/05/2019 17:14

You married him expecting him to change. I married mine hoping he'd stay the same. It's not surprising you've been disappointed.

Houseonahill · 14/05/2019 17:22

blurbluezoos response was worded harshly but is ultimately right, you shouldn't marry someone hoping they change. If he was outgoing and socialable before you got married that isn't going to suddenly change because he's married.

If you aren't happy then leave, life is too short to be in a miserable marriage.

Dutch1e · 14/05/2019 17:43

I spent my entire pregnancy plotting to leave my lovely SO (and I'm pretty sure he would have been secretly pleased, I was a horror).

After the baby was born the hormones settled down and we continued our happy life.

Unless there is abuse, I'd ask couples not to make any big decisions during pregnancy or the first 2 years of baby's life... it's a tumultuous time.

VampirateQueen · 14/05/2019 17:44

Tbh when I was pregnant with my 1st, I hated my DH (he was my DF at the time) every little thing he did annoyed the hell out of me. Afyer having my 1st, I couldn't love him more, he still does little things that annoy me, but he is a seperate person to myself and neither of us are perfect, I bet I do loads that annoy him too, but we love each other. I didn't get the same feelings with my second though. So it could be hormonal, or it could be your not suited. Nothing he does actually seems that bad in the grand scheme of things, he just hasn't lived up to your expectations of what married life would be like.
You said you found out you were pregnant when you got back from the wedding, so we're you pregnant at the wedding but didn't know, or did you fall pregnant after the wedding?

Samind · 14/05/2019 17:48

Agree with vampire. Maybe he needs to know what your expeciations are!! Pregnancy is horrible. I was an arsehole for the first trimester. Everything made me angry!!

Be direct and tell him what you need for him. Just tell him directly that his words and actions don't match up. Be kind to yourself too! I have no idea what would help with sickness either but hopefully someone will come along with some good advice

Loopytiles · 14/05/2019 17:50

Do you trust him to be faithful?

It sounds like you have decided to keep the baby, but not whether to remain in the relationship or be a single parent and seek to agree to co-parent with him but to split up as a couple. Couple’s and/or individual counselling might help with the decision.

DMN2019 · 15/05/2019 14:33

Thank you all so much! All the advice has really given me perspective and after reading your responses and a few articles we sat down for a long chat. We are in separate bedrooms at the moment and he is respecting my space. We are planning on doing something nice over the weekend and he has agreed to try a yoga class on Sunday after which he can come back and hog the covers again. I don't expect him to come every Sunday but I think a calming and grounding activity together will help.

Thank GOD the football season is over for a bit, he said he has no matches booked for next season and wants to be there for the baby which has greatly alleviated my fears of having to manage on weekends while he's at the match and pub. I fully expect him to still watch at home with a couple of beers and see nothing wrong with that. So I suppose things are changing but just at a different pace to what I expect and sometimes that can be hard if not communicated.

He has made me aware of how he feels left out at my family's weddings because we are all very close, especially me and my brothers. He admits a part of it was for attention and we have agreed that I'm going to make more of an effort to make him feel included at family events and he will speak to me instead of lashing out. The truth is, I DO make a GREAT effort to make him feel included but obviously, it's not enough. BUT it's not a reason for him to be flirting and dancing with other women. Mainly because it's not what he would expect of me, he has admitted that he would be mortified if I behaved the way he did. It has taken 4 months for him to admit this!

I think we know the difference between socialising and flirting so we should follow our gut and call our husbands out if it's something we're uncomfortable with because there's usually a reason. That being said, everyone has different rules in their marriage and I think as long as they are the same for both of you, it's all fair. I agree that to some people this isn't a big deal, but as I said he would be uncomfortable with me doing it so I don't think my feelings were unfair.

@MrsTerryPratchett - quite rightly, some of us expect a change and others expect men to stay the same! Sometimes the things we want them to change don't and things we want to keep the same aren't! We have had a long chat about that as well and written down what we expect from each other so we are making our commitments clear. We discussed each point and how we could work on them (allowed ourselves 3 each). Let's see if it works! I have to admit I miss the affection, cards and flowers I used to get when we were dating and engaged but don't see all of that making a return. I know I need to let go of that expectation.

@VampirateQueen - Had no idea I was pregnant at the wedding, came back and tested positive. We must have conceived the ONE time we didn't use protection before we went away on our anniversary night (sorry if that's TMI). I would like to thank you and @Dutch1e, @Sammind - the first trimester was horrible and in week 15 I can really look back at how miserable I was. I do think men need to understand this phenomenon. We shouldn't feel guilty about not wanting to be with our spouses during this time but agree that no decisions should be made. Even the way he ate was infuriating me! After our in depth chat I feel better and know adjusting to each other during pregnancy can really take a toll on your relationship. I can see many more discussions to come and under no illusion that everything is fixed haha! I hope things have been reset though.

@bluebluezoo - your points are all valid and I suppose I expected a slight change just from boy to man sort of thing haha. He is making the changes now because he thinks life calls for it. I suppose they are slower than I would have liked but I am grateful he's catching up at least for the sake of our child. He gave his season pass away last weekend but hadn't told me yet. I am slightly speechless because I know what a big deal that is for him.

We know flirting when we see it and if it's something you both don't accept from each other then it's fair to be affected by it right? I don't think 'at least he didn't sleep with them' should ever be the answer to anything personally. I can see this may work for some people but I've had a very different experience with this school of thought and been burnt many times before. I've been in relationships before (in my early 20s - basically a decade ago) where I have thought that and quite honestly those are the ones where either one of us have ended up cheating because the actions of the other person keep toeing the line.

Again thank you all and hope your husbands and hormones are settling!

OP posts:
Loopytiles · 15/05/2019 15:12

So he tried to excuse his behaviour with OW.

DMN2019 · 15/05/2019 15:56

@loopytiles I don't accept his behavior with OW at all and won't stand for it whatever his reasons are. I have made it clear that he needs to communicate his feelings instead of lashing out as it is not acceptable. He has agreed, so I suppose I should give him a chance?

When we saw a therapist, after we were back from the wedding, he said he doesn't like feeling neglected by me (because of work/family/other commitments) and it makes him feel anxious (related to his childhood). I am aware of this now and he can speak to me rather than trying to attract attention in a hurtful way.

I'm still hurt by what he did but I guess it's a slow process overcome something that hurt you, no matter how small or big, regardless of the reasons. If you talk about it and plan a way to move forward I think we ought to give it a go. If it happens again then there is a real problem right?

OP posts:
Loopytiles · 15/05/2019 16:03

Strange how he never mentioned those thoughts and feelings before his behaviour with the OW eh!

So do you trust him to be faithful?

Also be aware that someone who thinks “feeling neglected” excuses shit behaviour may not be a good bet to have DC with, if you want DC.

DMN2019 · 15/05/2019 16:25

I do trust him not to sleep with other women yes. The flirting only time will tell. A part of me knows he loves the attention because he's a massive people-pleaser. If he continues to flirt with other women and hurt me the marriage won't last because I will start to do the same at which point I don't think we will have any respect for each other.

It was the first time we had therapy and never talked about these particular childhood issues as it just never came up.

I want my child with or without him in the picture. If he can be a good husband that will be great but otherwise he will have to just be a good father. Only time will tell.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page