“Enjoy your marriage first,” I'd often hear whenever I expressed to my desire to start a family shortly after our wedding.

“A baby will change everything - your marriage will be over,” I was even told.

Well, here I am, one whole year post-baby, two years post-marriage, and more blissfully happy than ever before.

How is that possible, you ask?

It all starts with a little thing called perspective. Add in a bus-load of gratitude and stir gently. Don't forget to throw in a heaping amount of realness to the recipe, and you have yourself exactly the opposite of what you'd expect.

With all of that, my marriage is everything I didn't think it would be since this baby entered our lives.

My courtship with my husband started out extra passionate, incredibly fiery, and now that I think back on it- completely unsteady. We gave ourselves three whole months to get to know one another before I said yes to his proposal, and before ever having gotten to know life past the dating stage, we were planning a wedding.

Our first year together was spent in that haze of infatuation, totally clouded by emotions, passion, and sheer shock that we had found each other. It was a whirlwind year of fancy restaurants, parties, long days on the beach followed by longer nights out on the town. I thought we'd live this way forever- and I could not have been more wrong.

From the moment our daughter entered our world – the love between us just felt… different.

Although it was no longer about just the two of us, living in our teeny love-bubble, the air between us suddenly carried an air of compassion, understanding and respect – three things we so desperately needed in our marriage.

Things fell into place. Out of nowhere, the ground beneath us became much more steady. Safer, even. Ironic, considering we now had another life to be responsible for. That’s where perspective came into play.

The late nights out turned into late nights in, learning about shared responsibility and balance. With each, “You sleep babe, I’ll get up this time,” I fell even more in love. And I learned that this person loved me just as much in return. The compassion I so longed for in my marriage had finally made its entrance.

Instead of the “let’s get out of here,” looks from days past, I suddenly began catching my husband looking at me with admiration - a look that always seemed to say, “Wow, she gave me a child.” I was so much more than someone he enjoyed looking at. I was now the mother of his daughter – and the respect he gained for me could never be replaced by anything from before baby. It just couldn’t.

The petty arguments, the ones that led to the best make-ups, were gone now. Life became all about finding a compromise that would work best for our child.

There was no more “his way,” or “my way.” It became about “us”, our new little family, and the weight of that responsibility filled us with so much.

And just like that, marriage after baby became everything I never expected, but everything I always needed.

A writer, entrepreneur, radio host, and powerful motivational speaker – Michelle Dempsey, owner and founder of Michelle Dempsey, Very Well-Written, has one goal in mind: empowering women from all walks of life with her incredible personal life story of overcoming adversity and using the lessons learned to achieve success. Internationally published and known for her ability to connect with readers on a deeper level, Michelle has successfully united her passion for business and writing and developed a thriving career, offering writing and editing services, business coaching, branding expertise, and content marketing to business of all kinds.