Commence phase 2

My wife and I are not great believers in waiting three months before telling people you're pregnant. We consider our jointly held opinion on this to be reasonably well-qualified, having previously suffered the not uncommon - but nevertheless devastating - tragedy of miscarriage. On that occasion we questioned whether we had been foolishly premature in our glee, but ultimately concluded that the support and sympathy of those who knew what we had lost was invaluable in overcoming it.

Now why would I bring this up now?

Indeed. We're only about six weeks in, but our family oven is once again accommodating bun. My wonderful wife is up the duff redux. Our daughter is to be a big sister. And we are very much delighted about this.

Of course there are fears and worries to acknowledge before they can be rationalised away. How the Dickens are we going to afford to sustain such an enormous family? The savings upon which we relied during my wife's previous maternity leave are now somewhat more meagre as a result. Already we have embarked upon a frenzy of commerce: desperately selling off the less valued members of DVD and CD collections which had grown better appointed than self-respecting parents of two can afford. Besides which, we have no family silver.

Mercifully, many of the major expenses will this time be unnecessary. We already have the cot, buggy, toys and clothes (provided our new creation is either female or develops an early curiosity for cross-dressing). The daunting prospect of rearranging all the bedrooms, upon reflection, pales in comparison to the full moving house experience to which we subjected ourselves last time.

Crucially, the biggest fear presented by our first child barely registers on the scale this time around. This concerns the dread that I suspect all first-time parents feel but struggle to articulate, and that many parents of more than one fail to appreciate the lack of: that of simply having what it takes to be a parent. Well I am still very much aware of the terror I felt (but struggled to articulate), regarding my ability to take on the basic responsibility and selflessness required by fatherhood. I'm not sure how, but so far it seems that I am capable not only of making these sacrifices, but of enjoying them. I refuse to mask my pride in this fact, and I enjoy its implication: this is one big worry I need not feel this time. As for my wife, I was never concerned about her capacity for selflessness in the first place.

So, all things considered, whilst I am aware that we have opted for a smaller than average gap between child one and child two, I am confident that our reasons for trepidation are vastly outweighed by those for joy, delight, optimism and that sort of thing. For a long time, my wife and I have been in agreement that our daughter would benefit from the company of a sibling. Their closeness in age will surely mean that this benefit is all the more keenly felt.

So, in summary: Yay! We have once again successfully procreated! Does anybody want to buy a CD?