Love At First Sight – Meeting My Firstborn’s Father — From The Start, Postpartum Doula

Before we were married, my husband and I served as Lieutenants in the 27th Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg. In April 2005, my platoon’s training schedule included an exciting training event – conducting the Air Assault Obstacle Course. This obstacle course is excellent and includes an obstacle entitled The Tough One – a combination obstacle including a high/decent climb, some balancing, and a cargo net. This is the ultimate obstacle in the entire course. Additional safety personnel must be in place for Soldiers to attempt this obstacle. Of all the obstacles on the Course, this is the obstacle most likely to result in an injury. In order for our Battalion Commander, COL (Ret) Michael P. Crawl, a young butterbar 2LT, to allow me to run the Course, I had to receive guidance and mentorship from an older and wiser 1LT in the Battalion who ran recently . this – 1LT Haravitch. So a week or so before my Obstacle Course training event, 1LT Haravitch and I went on our blind date, set up by none other than our Battalion Commander, to the Obstacle Course. 1LT Haravitch drove off in his red Neon. Honestly, all these years later, I don’t remember much about their trip. Except…we talked about a question (I can’t remember who asked it) – “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” To which she replied – “married to two men and a dog, probably living in New Hampshire.”

It wasn’t until May 2005 that we went on our first real date. During our courtship, we did many things that helped strengthen our relationship, most of which allowed me to determine that, yes, he was indeed the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We have talked about having kids and pets and we want both, but not right away. We are both Active Duty Army and enjoy our jobs but don’t know if we will make a career out of it (ie serve at least 20 years). We both love hiking and camping and outdoor activities in general. We had similar views on spending money and financial stability. We had some differences (I liked sports, he didn’t care) but for the most part, we were compatible in big things. We learned about each other as people and as a couple. We experienced several telling times during our courtship; experiences that allowed us to see each other and predict how others would handle similar situations in the future.

We even moved in together, it was like a dress rehearsal for our future life. Quick disclaimer: don’t get me wrong, I know a family that is against cohabitation before marriage. I can see the benefits of something like that, as well as the negatives. This article is not about living together before marriage. Someone else could have written that article! So, back to the dress rehearsal. I own my house (which he helped me move into…that’s another story for another day) and he rents to her. His lease was up at the end of December 2005. We were scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan at the beginning of April 2006. So, he was instead trying to figure out where to live for a few months and what to do with his stuff, we just decided it made the most sense (financially and otherwise), for him to move in with me. So, he did. We lived together for about a month and a half before he proposed. Then, during our deployment timeline, we traveled to San Jose, CA (my hometown) and got married in my parent’s dining room in March 2006.

During our boyfriend/girlfriend phase, we had a few occasions where we interacted with children, but not many. I am an only child, so no nieces or nephews by my side. My husband has an amazing younger brother but he was in college and had no kids when we met and dated. My husband has younger second cousins ​​but we were able to interact with them a few times when we were dating. We had a few friends at Fort Bragg who had children, but for the most part, we weren’t exposed to small children while we were dating.