From the team that wrote Fighting for Your Marriage, this book offers help for handling the tremendous impact a first child has on a marriage. Statistics show that first-time parenthood consistently erodes the marital bond, giving rise to many problems and disagreements that create major conflicts between husbands and wives.

Handling conflict : protecting your marriage. Four key patterns that can harm a relationship

Communicating safely and clearly : the speaker-listener technique

Problem solving

Ground rules for handling conflict Going deeper : dealing with core issues. The difference between issues and events

Unmet expectations and what to do about them

The importance of core values and beliefs

Commitment : the glue that holds relationships together

Forgiveness and the preservation or restoration of intimacy Relationship enhancement : maintaining the great things. Preserving and protecting friendship

Preserving and protecting fun together

Hello baby, goodbye sex? : protecting and enhancing your sex life Creating a healthy lifestyle. Managing fatigue

Managing stress

Warning : don't try parenting by yourselves

Roles and tasks : who does what?

Moving into parenthood is typically a time of great joy and excitement, but it also brings fatigue, stress, and conflict. From the authors of the best-selling Fighting for Your Marriage and A Lasting Promise, this unique and innovative guide offers indispensable advice on how to protect and preserve your marriage and take care of yourselves as you become parents. Based on scientific research and containing real-life examples, Becoming Parents challenges you to seize this opportunity to really thrive in your relationship and in parenting together as a team. "If you're having a baby, buy this book! It will give your baby the most important gift of all-parents who know how to keep their relationship happy, satisfying, and stable-the kind of relationship your baby can count on and learn from." —Diane Sollee, director, Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education "Marriages, like children, need constant care and nurturing if they're going to thrive and develop. This book offers all parents a clear, concise, and wonderfully insightful program that will go a long way toward making marriages?and families?stronger and healthier."—Armin A. Brott, author of The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be and A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years "Anyone can figure out how to put a diaper on a baby-but how do you keep your marriage strong and stable as you become parents? Finally, a book that teaches survival skills to help couples who are on the road to parenthood stay connected and happy."—Suzanne M. Lewis, Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator "Becoming Parents zeroes in on the problems that can strain a marriage and offers practical techniques to help couples talk and solve problems. Research-based and clearly written, this book will increase the joys and decrease the stresses of parenthood."—-Penny Simkin, coauthor, Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide