Marriage is hard work. Statistically, my wife and I should have been divorced years ago. I was in college for my senior year of engineering school when “we” got pregnant. We decided we would get married in 4 months. My wife had our baby on her 21st birthday. Damn right I was scared and stressed. But our approach was divorce was not an option. Four kids later and 38 years of marriage, we could not be happier, but yes, those early years were hell. Granted, neither of us were abusing each other, which that’s a game changer. Maybe because neither of us had a divorce on either side of our families.
More than once our kids have told us “thank you” because they have seen their friends so f***ed up from their parents divorce.
Marriage is work. Having kids makes it harder, but so fulfilling.