I was in denial.
But whoever you were, O Ye More Intelligent Poster, you were right.
It wasn't one monthlong fling.
It was one monthlong fling and three one night stands.
Ugh.
Take care of yourself first and foremost.
(((HUGS)))
Hang in there.
Their baby was born in Sept and they are happily househunting. He finally left 4/03.
D-Day, June 10, 2012
We laid out a basic timetable and we both now understand what was going on in our marriage and how both of us contributed to that atmosphere/environment/etc. He understands that he was not dealing with marital problems in an acceptable way and knows what he can do to correct that (namely COMMUNICATE HIS CONCERNS and not clam up and refuse to discuss anything for fear of hurting my feelings - he now sees how twisted that logic is).
He said he is sorry -- something I've heard maybe 5x in the 5 years we've been together.
He discussed his feelings, and I realized I haven't heard him talk about those in about a year -- the time period over which this has all been unfolding.
It feels so good to listen to my intuition again, to stop shoving it down and telling it to shut up. After "D Day," I convinced myself that the other red flags were nothing. He said some things that tickled the back of my brain, but I ignored them. I had an overwhelming feeling that he was still hiding something, but I tried to deny that to myself. But I was right all along. I just needed to listen to myself.
I'm so glad the truth is finally out and we can discuss this and he knows it was wrong and most importantly -- we can move forward together and bury this ugly chapter.
Unfortunately, it is not because any of us are more intelligent....but because many of us have been there.
I am sorry there was more, but happy you feel as though it's all out there now.
This jumps out at me though
It feels "rugsweepish" ( ya, it's a word, really ) to me. Almost like you are content to have the news, you talked and let's move on.
This shit is hard...really hard and the roller coaster is just beginning. You both are going to need IC/MC most likely and there is usually a long road to healing.
If you don't do the hard work and push everything aside to "get to ok" there is a huge chance history repeats itself.
Take care of you....
Almost like you are content to have the news, you talked and let's move on.
Oh gosh no! Sorry if I gave that impression. I know there's lots of work ahead - communication skills/work/improvement for both of us but especially for my husband, addressing and fixing our conflict intimacy style & level, and rebuilding trust.
It just feels so good to have the truth, finally! If I'm honest with myself, I knew something was going on on-and-off throughout the past year. I have an exceptional intuition if I do say so myself and literally had two visions in a week of him with another woman, and was able to force myself to ignore those. I mean, 'denial' isn't even a fitting word. And then I got the first truth and I attributed everything to that and still had a strong feeling I wasn't getting the full story, but I told my gut and my sixth sense to just pipe down and leave me alone. And now I know beyond a shadow of a doubt (remember that strong intuition - I didn't put my cards on the table but I had 3 very specific instances of similar 'flashes' of intuition/visions that were confirmed by him) that my intuition has always been trustworthy and right and precise. And now I can let it guide me again. I've been ignoring it for a long time and it's felt strange, since I used to let it chart my course.
I also feel optimistic about his attitude. HE started the conversation which has just about never happened...let me talk and heard me out...and apologized (again this has occurred annually at most!!) and said he knew it was wrong, told me why/how it was wrong, and his plan to change. (No prompting from me whatsoever. If you knew my husband, you'd fall over in your chair. This is hugely unusual for him. I've seen the man exhibit emotion like twice maybe and we have never had such an in depth conversation led by him about our relationship/marriage - this was / is a completely new leaf for him.)
I think we have excellent odds now. I do think immediate action is urgent: we are moving in 1.5 mos but when we arrive I would like to start IC and MC (heck he had a therapist to deal with his father's sudden death and I had a therapist to deal with my huge anxiety/OCD issues, and they're both still practicing in the area we're moving to, so it'll be perfect); in the meantime, I'm going to have him go through "Hold me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love" and "Intimacy After Infidelity" with me as both have excellent guidelines for improving communication & self-intimacy. We're also going to continue to improve/re-gain our bond by making conscious efforts to support each other & act lovingly towards each other.
Of course I'm still shocked, kind of -- when I asked the question ("Are you sure there's no one else you need to tell me about?"), the answer was in my head already. I'm mostly surprised I ignored my intuition, which I've relied heavily on for most of my life. I'll try to never make that mistake again.
Hang in there. I get the urge to try to fix things, but ultimately this is something YOU can't fix. He has to fix himself.
I can only control myself, no one else. I do not have that kind of power.
Anyway. I am coming out of shock now (stinks that I am somewhat familiar with the early part of the process) and feeling hurt and nauseous and dizzy.
(this following part is copy & pasted from an email I sent to a friend, sorry the formatting is weird)
The one night stands don't hurt as much as the act of him going back time and again to the same girl for a month but they do hurt. I mean, I'm nowhere NEAR his "last first kiss" now. I wonder unhelpful things such as, did he kiss them for the first time the same way he kissed me for the first time? It was the best first kiss EVER and I think of it for comfort sometimes, even now five years later. But what if it's been shared with four more girls since then? I think things like that they got to feel wanted, pursued, chased... he was excited for them and not for me. I'm so jealous, so deeply jealous that they got to feel like that. I can't remember (TMI TMI TMI you may want to skip the next phrase) the last time he's actually come to me with a boner vs. me, you know, encouraging it. He's been with 4 girls (not even including me! 5 including me!) in the past year; I've had sex with 4 guys IN MY LIFE. I wonder if they were hotter than me, better at showing enthusiasm. And I'm mad because I helped him get ready to go out every night! Told him if his outfit looked good, if he used enough cologne but not too much, if his hair looked good! Measured out protein and crap for him to bring along! I mean I know he would've done it himself if I was not willing to help but it's just the dichotomy.... Ask your wife who misses having sex with you SO DAMN MUCH (to be fair, I know I didn't communicate this to him; but, to be fair to me, he didn't tell me how he was feeling and why and what I could do to fix it) to help you, advise you, tell you if you look good, and then leave her at home and go and give another woman attention.
I thought being dieted down and looking HOT for the show (I'm an NPC Bikini competitor) would reignite our sex life. I thought that's all I needed to do. And when it didn't happen, I thought to myself, "Don't blame him or make him feel criticized. Just keep waiting. Don't make him feel bad about it. It's probably hormonal."
I mean, my hormones were fluctuating too. After I finished the prep diet (for last year's Bikini show) I had like a month-long period. That took my mind off sex for a while. Then I gained weight and felt disgusting in my own body, which, wouldn't ya know, is also a libido killer. And throughout the whole process, over the course of the last year, I've gotten rejected pretty often. I realize now that I shouldn't have thought, "Well I tried twice so now it's his turn," but at this point I don't want to risk rejection because knowing I'm getting rejected and so many other girls got a green light...it's like a body blow. I know I can't think of it like that but this is still so raw - I wish he'd told me right away so I could have healed from ALL of it all at once. I'd be 2 months further into the process now.
