On Being A Single Mom....

Tricare called me yesterday to see if I have post-partum depression. Really? Does my insurance company care? They also wanted to know if my husband made it home for the delivery. Answer: No. My husband got here nearly a week after I gave birth to our son, but more on the actual delivery later. According to the representative from Tricare nearly 10% of new mothers have a spouse who is deployed. Isn't that a little ridiculous? How many wars do we have to fight? How many lives have to be sacrificed before enough is enough and we can have some peace? How many husbands and fathers have to miss not just the birth of their son or daughter, but also all the many milestones in the lives of their children? I thought being married meant I wouldn't have to be a single parent. I never considered the fact that I would be a single parent when my husband was deployed. And yes, I am doing it alone. There is no live-in help, no baby nurse, just my son and me and it has been that way since our first night together in the hospital just a few short hours after an unscheduled c-section. I'm proud of my husband for sacrificing for his country, where I run into trouble is that he's not actually sacrificing for HIS country in this case. He's sacrificing for someone else's country. My patriotism appears to be limited to situations in which I feel like he's contributing to the protection of our freedoms not policing someone else's country. So sometimes I get frustrated. When the baby is crying and I can't console him. When I haven't eaten all day moreless showered or combed my hair. When I've finally gotten the baby in bed and I still have bottles to wash and laundry to do and yes that long awaited shower to take, I wonder, what is it that me and the other 10% of new moms not to mention every other military family with a deployed parent, sacrificing for?