I was recently talking with a friend of mine, a fellow Army wife, about our television viewing habits. My television time is pretty anemic. When I tune in, it's to watch news, HGTV, City Confidential (I adore Paul Winfield's voice), Army Wives and 24. I have the new show Damages on DVR. The previews looked interesting so I decided to tape it. I haven't watched any of the episodes yet, though. My girlfriend mentioned that when her husband left for his first deployment, she tried to watch the news but found that it only served to upset her. She tuned out and, to this day, has never tuned back in. Her husband deployed quite frequently in the past and is TDY constantly these days.
She went on to relay a story that interested me, and I wonder what you think about it.
She mentioned that her battle buddy was pregnant during her husband's first deployment and she kept her eyes glued on the news. When her baby was born, she was very fussy and restless. She was pregnant during a subsequent deployment and didn't watch the news at all. Her second baby was born with a sunny disposition.
By no means is this a scientific study, just one wife's experience. There could be a host of other factors at play here, but my friend swears that the remote control made all the difference. Her friend stayed agitated and fearful while watching the news and she believes that the baby picked up on the constant anxiety and it affected the baby's demeanor. On the flip side, with the second baby she was much more relaxed and that helped shape her second child's demeanor.
Scientific or not, I found the conversation interesting and it made me wonder how other spouses who were pregnant during a deployment fared.
