trial court erred in not ordering the mother to pay child support.
The parties were married in Illinois on February 10, 1990. At that time, the mother was a registered nurse and the father was a trauma surgeon. Two sons and a daughter were born of the marriage. At the time of the divorce, the older son was 12 years old, the younger son was 8, and the daughter was 7. The parties lived in Illinois until 1999, when they moved to Mobile.
The mother testified that the parties jointly decided in 1990 that she should leave the nursing profession to care for the children. The father is the director of trauma surgery at the University of South Alabama; he earns $290,000 per year. He testified that it was nota joint decision that the mother stop working and that he had asked her to return to work. The father testified that the mother could earn $45,000 per year as a nurse.
The mother testified that the father had a tendency to go out drinking after work in Illinois and that this behavior continued when the parties moved to Mobile. She testified that on their wedding night the father was so intoxicated that they were not intimate. The mother stated that a few days before her delivery of the older son she suffered from preeclampsia and an infection with a fever and a cough. She stated that she telephoned the father, who was at a Hooter's restaurant, to ask him if he would pick up some medication for her.