ABC/Image Group LAIn her new book, Live in Love: Growing Together Through Life’s Changes, Lauren Akins offers an all-encompassing look at her life with husband Thomas Rhett, including the struggles they’ve overcome in their eight-year marriage. 

One of those struggles came after the birth of daughter Ada James in August 2017, three months after adopting two-year-old daughter Willa Gray from Uganda. Lauren reveals that she experienced postpartum depression following Ada’s birth and felt distant from Thomas. 

“It’s so hard to explain, but I started feeling like I just missed him. I felt estranged from my husband. Even when he was in the same room with us” Lauren explains in the book, according to E!. 

The couple got a true wake-up call when Thomas and Lauren each received a delivery.  His was a pair of Gucci shoes and a tuxedo, while her package contained Lysol wipes.  She said it further made her feel as if family was something her husband “did on the side,” with his career his top priority.  Lauren at one point even stated, “I think I hate you.”

The two eventually worked through their struggles via marriage counseling, where they learned to communicate effectively with one another.  And when Lauren returned home one day to find Thomas already there and having done the dishes, she knew they had reached a turning point.  

“It wasn’t just about doing dishes. It was about wanting to share my life with an equal partner — the man I loved — and not allowing some old-fashioned stereotypical view of how marriage is supposed to work get in the way of making our marriage actually work,” Lauren concludes.  “For both of us.”

Lauren continues on her virtual Live in Love book tour through the end of August.

By Cillea Houghton 
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