We heard it over and over again: a baby is one of the biggest stresses your marriage will have. It was something I worried about more when we were new into the adoption process, but as time passed I stopped thinking about how our marriage would change once we brought a baby home. When we finally adopted Willow, I did not have time to think about anything besides the immediate future in the whirlwind events that followed.

Once we were settled in, though, Nathan and I both realized how much our lives had changed already, and how much things would shift in the future. While I will never say that our lives revolve around our baby, she is certainly a huge part of our day-to-day and every decision we make, from our daily schedules to long-term plans. Only then did I begin to think about how a baby would change this 8-year relationship and what it would mean for us...