When my sister told me she was pregnant, I was so excited. I knew that I would never have kids, but I was sure looking forward to having a little niece or nephew to spoil. She was scared right from the start because she did not know the first thing about kids. I didn’t either, but I assured her we would learn things together. She and her husband got the nursery ready, had names picked out, and had the car seat bought, and I took care of the labour bag essentials as my gift to her.

She was very thankful for that because she told me she would not have even thought of packing something special for the hospital when she gave birth. She just figured she would need a change of clothes, and the hospital would provide everything else. It is not like I was a wealth of knowledge …