Hey gurlz.
My husband was called 6 days before my daughter was born and told he would be going to Iraq for a years tour. He left when Emma was 6 days old for training at Ft Hood. I was able to visit him for weekends most of the time he was gone. Now hes gone to Iraq. Hes been gone over 2 months now and I still dont know how to handle it all. I have an 8 month old baby Im trying to raise on my own and worrying to death about my husband in a war zone. I do so good, until I get home, then I cant do anything but cry, worry, stress. I know this isnt good for Emma either bc she doesnt understand and when we are at home she cries alot. When Ryan was home ( 6 days) before he left, Emma only wanted him, she was attached to him bc he was the one who sit with her and held onto her while she was in the Oxygen tents,etc...while i was passed out! Then on the weekends she wanted her daddy. she loves Ryan to death, in fact she has one of his shirts she carries around with her and sleeps with. But i dono how to keep them close? I guess I have a lot of questions....

1) he was in the national guard, not supposed to be deployed, WHY did it have to happen ?? lol jk I know the reasons!

2) How do I cope with the fact my best friend is thousands of miles away in a major combat zone where our guys are killed everyday?

3) How do I keep Ryan close to Emma? I mean where when he gets home she wont cry and be scared of him???

4) Also, how do i help him deal with the fact she wont just go right to him...?? if she doesnt i mean???

Im confused. Can you tell???

Like I said, He was National Guard, so this owuldnt happen, now he is gone and i have a new baby to raise... things happen at the worst/best of times. I love my lil girl and i wouldnt take anything for her, even if i do have to raise her on my own, but man sometimes i get so stressed and wish he was here to help me......

He was just told he wont be home until September, so all together, weve got a 20 month deployment now!

Well unfortunately if you go into any form of military and whether your active duty or reserves there is a chance you will be deployed and if you think you wont then you're kidding yourself.

Keep pictures of him around and show them to her all the time.. tell her that he is daddy. If he can since he's already out there, you can see if maybe he can record some stuff for her so she can hear him.

Well unfortunately if you go into any form of military and whether your active duty or reserves there is a chance you will be deployed and if you think you wont then you're kidding yourself.

Keep pictures of him around and show them to her all the time.. tell her that he is daddy. If he can since he's already out there, you can see if maybe he can record some stuff for her so she can hear him.

He has read books onto tape for her so he can read to her at night....i know that national guard has that chance i was just kidding.....lol....

Always talk about Daddy and show her pictures of him daily. Him reading the books to her will help also. When he calls if she is awake let her listen to his voice. It is hard but you will be fine in the end.

DH hasn't left yet, but our baby will be a little over a month old when he leaves for an 8 month deployment, but I plan on either having DH make a video where he says "goodnight Preston, I love you!" on it or just having a picture of him and every night having him say goodnight to Daddy. I know the baby won't actually be able to say anything, but you get the point. We're going to say goodnight to Daddy every night before we go to sleep.

Awww, my hubby is deployed too, this is our 3rd deployment in 4 years of marriage, I have a 7 and a half month old baby boy and I sometimes ask myself the same questions you seem to have. What I did was the same thing the other girls have told you, I taped Zach reading some books and I play that tape every night for a little bit to Ryan, so he can see his daddy's face and hear his voice. Hang in there, I know it's rough but we're all here for you! :hugs

I'm going through a similar situation... My husband is deployed to Afghanistan, and we have a 6 month old little girl. He left when she was 3 weeks old, came on on R&R when she was 4 going on 5 months old, and now he won't be back until just before she turns a year (literally, like days before). I was worried when we went to get him at the airport for his R&R that she wouldn't recognize him and that he'd be hurt and what not, but after about an hour, she remembered who he was, and acutally reached out for him (the first time she's EVER done that before). So now that she's older and understanding more, I took a video of her and him together and he's telling her he loves her and he'll be home soon and what not. She LOVES watching it... I also talk to her about him a lot and show her pictures. It's hard to deal with, but you can do it! and as far as worrying about him being safe... my biggest way I keep my piece of mind is I had him promise me that he would come home to me and our baby girl, and so whenever I start worrying, I just remember that promise he made... and also... DO NOT watch the news...it's my enemy during deployments! lol hang in there! :hugs

:hugs :hugs :hugs :hugs

I think the girls have give you really good ideas. Good luck! put pics of your hubby everywhere!