The Best Thing I Did for My Wife During a Hard Pregnancy

What is the best thing you have done for your pregnant wife? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answer by Martyn V. Halm, father of two, on Quora:

When my wife was pregnant with our son, the pregnancy hardly seemed to affect her. We even went motorcycle camping while she was five months pregnant and she had to hold her leather motorcycle pants together with a big safety pin because they wouldn't zip up anymore.

Her second pregnancy wasn't as easy. After the first few months, she developed Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, which caused her pain when walking, and fluid retention caused her hands to swell painfully, making housework nearly impossible.

I took care of the daily chores, worked full-time, took our son to daycare, cleaned up after my wife, made sure the shelves were well stocked, and took care of my wife as best I could, but the thing she remembers most fondly are my calm reassurances, even when the hormones wreaked havoc and she became emotionally unstable, going from laughter to fury to tears in a heartbeat. I bore her verbal abuse calmly and kept our son occupied with playdates and other activities to shield him from seeing his mother's crying jags or impotent anger.

Although I told her that I knew it was the hormones and that it would be over once she delivered the baby, she still praises my fortitude in bearing the brunt of her horrible behavior.

After our daughter was born, all her symptoms vanished and she could pick up her life again. Our son was worried about her the first few months, having witnessed a few early explosions of fury when my wife was in a bad state, but he quickly realized his sweet mommy was back.

So I guess the best thing a husband can do for his wife is to be there for her, rain or shine.

• Child Psychology: What are the hardest yet most important concepts to explain to children correctly?
• Children: How do you teach kids grit?
• Parenting: When is it a bad idea to overexplain something to a child?