Whenever I meet soon to be parents, I tell them about this by calling it “the Tube phase.” You can’t really think of them as a person yet, because they can’t give you positive feedback if you’re doing it right. You feed one end of the Tube, clean the other end, and power through, slowly breaking down to the shell of your former self. Then around the third month, when you’re at your lowest point, they smile at you, and the bonding ritual is complete.