To have a toddler and a new born is a hard work especially at the start.

Mia seemed to be shocked by the fact we left her upon the birth . Although she had always been a good sleeper at night, after Josie's birth, she suddenly started waking up and crying hard for mum and dad.

Mia loves babies even before Josie's arrival. It is great that Mia loves Josie so much that she wants to be cuddling and kissing her all the time.

Mia had a terrible cold when Josie was born. I don't want Josie to catch cold, but what can you say and stop Mia from cuddling her little sister.

Of course Josie got a terrible cold on day 3, and so did I.

Besides, being a toddler, Mia's still working on her hand-eye coordination and often she pokes Josie's eye even when she tries to be gentle.

When I was holding Josie breast feeding, Mia often got jealous and jumped on top of us(!) from behind.

I thought a new born baby was a lot of work when the first child was born. Now having a second child, I feel the older one is the hard work.

Good news is all those worries and stress have been getting better day by day. Mia and Josie are having more good time together these days.

When my darling is holding Josie, often Mia asks to be picked up and says 'Mia AND Josie on dad's knee!'

Mia climbed in Josie's bassinet one day.

When a baby is born, 'she' becomes a 'mother', 'he' becomes a 'father', or 'only child' becomes a 'big sister'.

When a new family member arrives, we sometimes experience a difficult time to accept the new role.

But the great thing about family is that we love and care each other, accept the change at its own pace, and keep enjoy living together in a new form.

The plan was "I will pick my mum up from the airport. When my mum gets used to living here with Mia, my darling and I will go to the hospital for the birth",

but it didn't go as we planned.

My serious contraction started while my mum was on her international flight to New Zealand.

My darling quickly arranged our Kiwi friends to look after Mia and to pick my mum up from the airport.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

I heard that my mum was worried when she couldn't find me at the airport on arrival. I can imagine how upset Mia was because her parents suddenly disappeared and a strange Japanese woman started living in her house.

Therefore, I was worried about Mia and mum all the time- even between my contractions.

The paediatrician told me to stay at the hospital for at lease 2 days after my delivery as I have an issue of irregular antibody, but we tried hard and left the hospital in a day.

Arriving at home, my darling and I left Josie in the car and went inside. We gave Mia a huge cuddle first.

I was surprised how heavy and big now Mia felt(!) after caring for a new born baby.

My mum stayed for two weeks afterwards. She was a great help looking after us all.

Mia attached to my mum so well that it made it hard to believe I worried about them much before.

As Mia was born overdue , I guessed the second baby would be late- but she wasn't.

My water broke while in bed at 11 p.m. on May 26th.

I was hoping that the real contraction wouldn't start till next morning, but they started at regular intervals around 1 o'clock that night.

They were 30 minutes apart to start, then progressed into 5 minutes apart by 5:30 a.m.

My midwife came to our house and examined me early in the morning. She said my cervix had already dilated 7cm.

We quickly woke Mia up and asked our friends to pick her up and look after her.

My darling drove me to the local hospital which takes about 30 minutes- after a torturous series of driving on rough country roads, we finally got there.

Then the doctors decided to transfer me by ambulance to a bigger hospital which is standard procedure because my first birth was a caesarean.

It was a two hour trip in an ambulance with siren and lights flashing. My darling chased the ambulance all the way at crazy speeds!

It was a horrible trip because I was fully dilated (10cm) and was being told not to push in the ambulance, I was in terrible pain.

Once I started pushing on the arrival at the hospital, a little flap of membrane was in the way and the baby couldn't come out.

I was given an epidural to relax for a while.

Midwife said "If things don't progress soon, we will have to consider C-section".

I didn't want to have a C-section and wanted to keep my spirits up, but I doubted many times that I could have a natural birth.

I started pushing again around 4 p.m. on May 27th, and safely gave birth around 6 p.m.

I cannot forget the feeling of joy when the baby finally arrived naturally,

Since I experienced terrible pain and slow recovery after last C-section , everything after natural birth this time seemed to be really easy.

We went home the day after Josie was born because I worried about my mother and Mia back home.

We feel so sorry for the families and friends of the thousands of people who have been killed by this disaster and for those still in danger.

Thank you for all the emails we have had from people concerned about my family in Japan. Fortunately, they're all fine. I am still worried about people in Sendai I know but haven't heard from yet.

The earthquake in Japan occured while we were still worrying about the after effects of the one that happened in Christchurch on February 22nd. Christchurch isn't known for earthquakes and the first one in September 2010 was an unpleasant surprise for everybody.

We were particulary worried about these earthquakes because my darling is from Christchurch and his parents and brother still live there. Fortunately they are all ok and so are all our friends that live there. Thanks again for all the concerned emails we have had from people.

We live in the Far North, as far away from Christchurch as you can be in New Zealand, so we weren't personally effected at all.

Both my darling and I were living in Osaka when the big earthquake hit Kobe in 1995, so we have some idea how terrible these disasters are.

It seems natural to first worry about people we know directly but then you worry and feel for everybody effected.

It also makes you appreciate the importance of family and friends and then makes you feel closer and more concerned about all humanity.