Just Before The Birth Again- Japan- Pregnant- U... ⚡

Japan has a word for this feeling: Ma (間). It’s the space between things. The pause between the inhale and the exhale. The silence between two notes of music. Right now, my entire body is Ma .

But this time? Just before the birth again, there is no sprint. Just before the birth again- Japan- Pregnant- U...

My firstborn, a toddler with gravity-defying hair and a love for onigiri , is napping in the next room. He has no idea that his world is about to split in two. I look at his small hand, curled around a plastic shinkansen toy, and I feel the guilt already. The quiet, universal guilt of the mother who dares to love another child. Japan has a word for this feeling: Ma (間)

If you are reading this from a coffee shop in London, or a living room in New York, or a similar apartment in Osaka—take a breath. The waiting is the labor, too. The waiting is the work. The silence between two notes of music

That is the miracle of the second birth. You are not just bringing a child into the world. You are bringing a sibling. You are exploding one universe to create a larger one.