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 .
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. Just before the birth again- Japan- Pregnant- U...
I also know that my toddler will be waiting at home. He will be eating okonomiyaki with his grandmother. He will look up when I walk through the door and say, “ Okaeri ” (Welcome home) before he even looks at the baby. Japan has a word for this feeling: Ma (間)
But just before the birth again, there is this. A quiet room in Japan. A full belly. A heart that is breaking and healing in the same beat. The silence between two notes of music
This is my second pregnancy in Japan. You would think the second time is easier. You would be wrong. It is not harder, necessarily. It is deeper .
In a few days, I will no longer be pregnant. I will be a mother of two. The house will smell of formula and laundry detergent. The toddler will have a meltdown. The baby will cry.
Soon, there will be chaos. There will be the midnight taxi ride to the hospital. There will be the sterile smell of the delivery room. There will be the primal roar that surprises even me. But just for this moment, there is silence.