Ask Julie: How Can I Get My Baby's Father Back?

Q: My daughter is 3 now. Her father and I have been split up for almost 2 years now. Due to postpartum, hormones, stress, loss of a family member, and cancer health related issues I was having and needed treatment for. My emotions were too much. He had been dating a girl from his work for the amount of time we have been split up. I previously got engaged, and am now 7 months pregnant. This relationship failed. During this time of me not connecting my self and my previous EX fiance being too needy and clingy drowning every ounce of me. Playing games to see "how much I cared." I couldn't handle it anymore and shut my wall up. Trying to reason with him if I hadn't at one time cared I wouldn't be pregnant or previously engaged. Although that ended I feel relieved and not controlled. And our personalities were too different; I wanted the idea of him trying to fill the hurt.Although being my daughter is 3 my ex (her father) and I keep in close contact. And being through these last 7 months of pregnancy I realized I missed him. And he's whom I wanted and WANT to be with. Not someone who looks like him.These last 7 months also made me realize that the way my ex fiance was treating me was very similar to the way I was treating my daughter's father. Because I didn't have the confidence to believe he cared enough to be there through my emotional roller coaster at the time. And now that this has hit me in the face and my life is in a positive place and knowing I was never happier I want him back.Is there any advice you can give me on approaching my daughter's father in time, to take the steps to try and make things work?

A: Thanks for writing in. It sounds like the last 3 years have been extremely stressful for you on many levels, some of which you had no control over, and other stresses that you chose. I know your question is regarding getting your ex-boyfriend back, but I hope you'll consider that there are other things that need to be addressed before you get back into any relationship.Please get in to a therapist to explore why you are having such difficulty in love relationships. To find a qualified therapist in your area click here. We often replay our childhood issues in adulthood and my guess is that there are some deeper unresolved issues playing out here.  My biggest concern is not how you're going to get your ex back, but in you developing the stability and strength in yourself that your children will need in order to thrive, whether you're in a relationship or not.  Rather than focusing on getting your daughter's father back, I urge you to focus on being a strong person, and a strong mother for your children, and developing the confidence and the skills to maintain a healthy, long-term, committed relationship. Focus on being the kind of person that would attract a healthy and committed man to build a stable life for you and your children.Please, be cautious about having more children until you have a healthy, long-term, committed, stable relationship. Focus on getting healthy yourself for the children you already have before you focusing on getting your daughter's father back. Be the kind of woman he would want to be with. Once you've worked on yourself please get relationship counseling before you get into any relationship with your ex or anyone else.Take good care of yourself and your children!Julie Hanks, LCSW