“Oooohhhhhh! Agh! Egh! Egh! It takes a looong time being born!” Keana says as she pretends to struggle going from the kitchen to the living room, and that pretty much sums up our current family state.

Five weeks. Saying it out loud scares us a little and then we smile and laugh nervously. Sure we’ve done this before. Keana’s birth wasn’t easy but we got through it and look at her—she’s perfect. Things have been hard but some things have been easier than we thought they’d be too. We’re still learning and figuring things out but that’s just part of the gig—that’s what parenting is. You probably learn more than you teach. So we’re ready for the inevitable end of these five weeks, right?

Sarah made a list and so mine got made too. I mean, I got my list too, but it’s different. Sarah’s list had things like rent birth tub, get baby clothes in order, sign up for “second timers” birth class. My list included get stronger to support Sarah during birth (mentally, yes, but also physically) and do whatever’s on Sarah’s list. There were a few other things on my list, but that’s the gist of it.

We’ve been gradually talking to Keana about what’s going to happen using the book Welcome With Love to help us out. Sarah and I both still can’t get through that book without crying. Iana’s agreed to be Keana’s main support person through the birth since I’ll be focusing mostly on Sarah, and our close friend, who’s also a newly certified midwife, will be our back-up until Iana can get here since Iana will be flying from San Diego. It sounds like a solid plan but you can only plan so much with this birth stuff, so in the end, you just gotta go with the flow and hope your little contingency plans are enough.

Monday night we took the second of two homebirth classes which is tailored for second-time parents. It was really good having dedicated time, just the two of us, to be reminded of some things, learn about new things, and begin to think about everything else. For instance different strategies on how to tell Keana about what to expect during birth and how to process it after. Also really good reminders like “you can do this”, “nothing is permanent so if something doesn’t work with the new family dynamic, change it”, and “remember to take care of the relationship with your partner”. It’s really interesting how some things are the same as the first time around but there are new unknowns- things we’re hearing about and that make sense- but things we know we can’t possibly understand until we’re face-to-face with them.