Stephanie Kline's Reviews > And Baby Makes Three: The Six-Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy and Rekindling Romance After Baby Arrives

It's not entirely this book's fault that it didn't really resonate with me. Maybe I expected too much. As a new mom of a 4 1/2 month old, I have certainly seen first-hand how life with a newborn can impact a marriage - even one that seemed like the most solid, can't-touch-this kind of marriage. My husband and I were surprised that it was easier for us to use tense words with each other, and to feel more frustrated in our relationship once our son arrived. Although things have MUCH improved now that we've gained some footing as new parents, I was still curious about this book and the kind of wisdom it might offer... namely, how to make marriage a priority after baby. I was hoping for tips and tricks, tried and true advice from other new parents - that kind of thing. Instead, this felt much more like a general marriage counseling book (not that I've read one of those).

This was mainly about how to communicate effectively, and how to diffuse arguments. It was about seeing the other's side of a situation, and controlling your tone when speaking. It was about opening up for more heartfelt conversation, not taking things too personally, managing expectations, etc. Overall, the vast majority of this content just didn't apply to me.

I also felt like too many of these examples maintained a very traditional husband/wife role -- man works/wife stays home with the children. That made a lot of this hard to relate to as well. Both my husband and I work. I feel this should be updated to reflect the more common husband/wife roles of 2020.

Anyway, it wasn't a BAD book, but it wasn't what I expected. I think, in general, I know the answers I'm looking for though - and maybe they don't require an entire book to be written on them.