According to Rodriguez and Adamsons, first-time parenthood is one of the most common transitions experienced by couples as 1,000,000 first-born infants are born to U.S. couples yearly (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). (Rodriguez & Adamsons, 2012a) . The decision-making process that couples can be described anecdotally through many variations which include couples reporting that they knew they were born to be parents, others who due to circumstances of passion found themselves in the role or others who carefully plan finances, careers, and other factors before they choose to be a parent. Rodriguez and Adamsons explain that the previous ideas of adults transitioning into parenthood have been re-imagined in the past years as professionals have distanced themselves from the notion that parenthood is to be seen as a "crisis" faced by couples but rather as couples transitioning into the role of parent via pregnancy.(Rodriguez & Adamsons, 2012b) Rodriguez and Adamsons continue to state that additional research supports this view by reports from Belksy and Rovine, (1990) "that 50% of couples had either unchanged or improved marital relations after the birth of their first child" and Instead couples studies have reported the opposite of a crisis and cite Shapiro, Gottman, and Carrere (2000) who also found a third of mothers reported an improvement or no change in …show more content…
Rodriguez and Adamsons go on to explain that the expectations couples have about parenthood have an impact on their roles and can be either inhibiting or promoting a successful transition into parenthood.(Rodriguez & Adamsons, 2012a). This can be assumed in the anecdotal stories we are told by couples who decided to accept the mantle of parenthood when they explain they dealt with a myriad feelings and questions. One of the most important feelings experienced is Happiness which engulfs couples as the joy of holding their child or planning for the future they will provide for their child as they grow up into adults. Another key emotion is the anxiety associated with being a parent; Are we ready?; will they go to college, will they be healthy, will it be a boy or a girl? pink or blue? a baseball glove or ballet slippers? will they love me? will I love them?, will I get this right?. These roles and feelings are wrestled with by parents over the period of pregnancy of 9 months as they prepare to transition into parenthood where tangible measurements can be made in things as "baby bumps" and ultrasounds. Rodriguez and Adamsons have even referred to previous research by Ruble et al.,1990;Wylie, 1979 who reported that there was a link between prenatal expectations and postpartum satisfaction