MAYA POV
It's been 9 months and two weeks' worth of pregnancy and Carina is going crazy. We've tried everything, walking, hot food, sex... and our little guy is just too comfortable. Our OB (Jo) has booked us in today to get the birth to progress finally. The appointment is at 10 and Carina has been dressed with her shoes on since 8.
We'd decided that Isabella should go to Mason until our little man arrives. Isabella was excited to have a sleepover with her favourite uncle, it's a descriptor which is given to both Andrew and Mason – depending on who she sees first.
Over the last month, Carina has been struggling with moving. The big bump on her stomach obviously holds so much weight that she can hardly stand up straight. We've fallen into a routine where she'll stand in front of me and lean her whole body against mine (her back facing me) and I'd snake my hands around her waist and slowly lift her stomach up for a few seconds. The sigh of relief that leaves my wife's body is my only confirmation that I'm actually doing something.
The trip to the hospital was easy – just like it had been years ago. The room assigning and the care from the doctors and nurses made it all the easier. Jo had just returned from her maternity leave and was more than happy to keep Carina as her patient throughout. It's a heartfelt moment seeing the connection the two friends have – they've both delivered each other's babies.
Once the birth was induced, there was nothing that could stop our son from entering the world. It almost felt like Carina didn't have to push, he just needed to get out of there. The birth was easy... there were no complications and Carina's breathing was better than last time. As I caught eye of our son, I wondered about how our daughter would react to the news, to the sight of a new human. She's never been around babies, we've kept her away from Jo's purely because our daughter has a superpower for collecting germs from anywhere – babies and germs shouldn't really mix, at least for the first few months.
I guess I didn't quite understand the reality of having another child until Allesandro (that's his name) was comfortably asleep in my arms. There was a moment similar to the moment I had with Isabella, there was a sense of calm and an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness. But this time things would be different, this time only three people knew that Allesandro had entered the world.
