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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Needing to get to that deeper stage in our relationship

6 replies

Niks · 15/05/2007 10:35

I am in a conundrum - firstly I am 8 weeks pregnant which blows everything completely out of proportion anyway and makes you an emotional volcano but this specific little niggle started a couple of months ago before I started feeling like death warmed up and crying at the Simpsons...
DP and I have been together for a year and a half - I have a dd who is nearly 8 whom dp has taken on as his own since we moved in together last July and they are great together - her natural father has never been around and we have just put in for dp to adopt meg as a step parent. As a family we do things together and live happily.
However - emotionally and sexually dp and I seem to live on the peripheral of relationship and never delve deeper. He has never told me how much he loves me or made me feel really treasured or adored, even at the beginning. In previous relationships I have always been very sexually active and liberal and have enjoyed fantastic sex with my partners as they have made me feel attractive and sexy. Dp doesn't ever look at me in a way that remotely suggests he acknowledges me a woman let alone fancies me. This has led to me becoming almost asexual and has certainly impacted on my sex drive in general which has gone from demanding sex a lot to not caring if I have it or not. His way of initiating sex is to roll over and stick his hard on in my back and moan slightly which is making me physically revolted. Where is the tenderness and the intimacy? I feel like we are lacking that deeper intimate connection whereby we meet eachothers emotional and physical needs openly and honestly. I rely on close friends to meet my needs to talk about my feelings as I am met with sarcasm and an emotional berlin wall when I talk about things I am passionate with dp. We talked about this a couple of months ago and I suggested that his mum walking out on him when he was 10 had something to do with his emotional inaccesability but he doesn't seem to have done anything about trying to make it right. What it has done to me is turn me from a very passionate, gushy, emotional person to a closed, hard bitch and I hate it. We talked again last night but yet again it seemed to be me who did all the talking and I tried to encourage him to talk and say if he understood what I was trying to convey to him and if he agreed or if he thought I was being unreasonable and all he seemed concerned about was that maybe he was incapable of showing emotions ever and seemed to suggest that I was expecting rather a lot from him. All I want is for him to show an interest in how I feel about things and for us to talk occassionally about how we feel about eachother rather than have the equivalent of chattign about the weather in relationshop terms!!
He is a very intelligent man and is very giving and caring - he provides for me and dd but I can't get past this need for our relationship to get to the level where we are secure about how we feel about each other and can discuss our feleings openly and without fear of ridicule or dismissal. Surely he should be able to tell me how he feels about me or am I asking too much from the man and should instead settle with the niceities of skirting around the peripheral of the relationship and not demand the intimacy I require?
Phew.... good to get that little ditty off ones chest.

OP posts:
mylittlestar · 15/05/2007 11:10

Do you think perhaps you're just not compatible in the bedroom? Him being a great partner and step dad can't make up for there being a lack of a 'connection' and lack of physical and emotional closeness. That is something you need. (And should get!)

Would relationship counselling help you to get to the bottom of the issues and give you some practical ways to deal with them?

It's not like you're trying to get the 'spark' back. That worries me, because it appears that the spark has never been there in the first place... You may have to ask yourself not only will he change, but can he... And if he cannot be the person you need, on every level, what will you do?

Sounds like a difficult situation. Especially with you being pregnant and on an emotional rollercoaster anyway.

{{{hugs}}}

Niks · 15/05/2007 11:56

It is a tricky situation and the pregnancy is rather an elephant in the room - if I am not getting what I want out of the relationship now what is it going to be like when the baby arrives? Wed were both thrilled when I found out I was pregnant but now this situation has risen it's head again and I'm not going to let it go away until it's resolved it's kind of peed on our bonfire a little.
I think his worry is that he can't be emotional but I think if he's capable of falling in love with me (assuming he did...?!) and of buying a house and becoming part of my family then surely he can articulate how he feels? Once we have achieved that deeper level of trust and sharing our thoughts and becoming intimate with each others feelings then the sex will work itself out as I will have the confidence to ask for what I want.
I can't quite get my point over I don;t think: basically it;s about delving deeper into conversations and drawing out how the person feels rather than just having that 'weather' talk about how our days were and leaving it at that. I sit and talk to him about his work and ask him questions, ask him how that makes him feel etc and we have a proper conversation. Whereas he seems to be content with asking me a question and accepting the answer when there was so much more to be had from that potential conversation - does that make sense? It's like he doesn't want to know how I am feeling about things - or simply isn't that interested in how I feel about things. I do think sometimes it is that - he doesn't care and would rather sit down and out the tv on rather than have me whitter on about how I feel. I guess that just makes him a man but I have never had that experience before in an adult relationship and can't believe this is it...

OP posts:
mylittlestar · 15/05/2007 12:29

I completely understand where you're coming from regarding the 'deeper' conversation and the effort we put in compared to some men being happy with a 1 word answer then watching tv! I guess that could be applied to men or women though, some people just aren't really that bothered and would rather veg out on the sofa than have a meaningful chat or discussion...

But if you're 100% committed to this relationship, which you obviously must be, then you're right not to let this fester and eat away at you. It's not like you can just turn around now and say 'we're not compatible, please leave'...

So you need to try and find a way to make things better. I really do think counselling, having someone help and teach him how to open up and give you what you need, could be a good option. Sounds like you've tried your hardest to talk and tell him what you want and it's not making any impact. So in that case, you probably do need 3rd party help xx

Niks · 15/05/2007 12:34

It's certainly an idea - I think I'll suggest it to him and see what he thinks. I've been told that Relate are brilliant so it may be an idea to contact them to see how they can help us.
Thanks xxx

OP posts:
mylittlestar · 15/05/2007 12:36

hopefully there's some people on here too who can understand how your dh feels. may help you to hear the perspective of other people who find it hard to discuss feelings and emotions...

hope so xx

mylittlestar · 15/05/2007 12:36

"dp" sorry!!

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