Recently I have found myself talking about good things that have resulted from Ben’s birth and life. It’s now less eight weeks until the birth of a new baby so a good time to focus on the positive.

One of these conversations was about carrying Ben. Ben is almost 18kg which is very light for an almost-six year old but quite heavy for someone who can’t support any of their own bodyweight. He has various pieces of equipment to sit or stand in but every day there are dozens of transfers to be done: from bed to changing table, downstairs to specialist chair, out of chair to changing table, back in to chair, in to wheelchair, out of wheelchair, changing table, upstairs, in and out of standing frame, in and out of bath, etc etc. This is just the basics – if we spend the day doing things away from home there will probably be more lifting – so Ben can sit on top of the sculpture in the park like Max, or to be lifted so he can see animals over the fence, or in order to sneak up on people in the woods.

We are just on the cusp of getting a hoist to help us with some of these transfers. A hoist is a machine which attaches to a sling underneath Ben and lifts him up. We have known this is coming for a while and I find myself surprisingly philosophical. I strongly suspect Ben won’t mind – he loves swings and hammocks (and zipwires) so I don’t think he will mind repeated suspensions throughout the day. I know there is only so long we can ask others to lift him and we have a responsibility to provide an option that doesn’t endanger back muscles.

It’s the mediation of my relationship with my son through equipment that I resent. At the moment I often lift Ben like (for want of a better description) a baby, with one arm cradled under his neck and the other under his legs. He always looks up when I do this and I can look down at his beautiful little face, and he often has an expression of pure joy and comfort. Should anyone else infantilise Ben I will hate them forever (or close), but I am allowed. I have been carrying him this way for almost six years. One of the joys of early motherhood is the physicality of it – small boys who know your body better than you do and want their skin on yours. It is sad that these moments will be slowly replaced by the attachment of a sling to a hook, the pressing of some buttons and the whirr of a machine. I must find a way to keep the physical connection, for us to both remember the joy of him being on my lap.

James does most of the outdoor carrying – he is the one helping him climb trees – but I do my fair share of the lifting, including carrying Ben up and down stairs at home. Earlier this year, before I was pregnant, we realised that if I was going to continue doing this I needed to be strong so in addition to running a bit I started seeing a personal trainer who focused on weights and strength. No-one should get the wrong idea about this – my default position is inactivity and I didn’t voluntarily run outside until I was 32. I am no gym bunny. My relationship with the trainer involves him encouraging and/or forcing me to stop being so pathetic while I deny eating a loaf of sourdough bread every week. I do not look like someone who spends a lot of time exercising (because I don’t).

But what began as a way to continue lifting Ben has been a revelation. Partly because it’s time spent doing something completely different to wiping small children, but mainly because I didn’t realise how empowering it would be to feel strong.

Then I got pregnant and as my bump has grown I have carried on lifting Ben and training at the gym. Nothing feels more satisfying than lifting (admittedly small) weights, surrounded by grunting men in vests, in the male-dominated section of the gym. Or continuing to be able to do all of the things I would normally do with Ben while 31 weeks pregnant. Ben is very accommodating of being literally pushed aside by a growing bump. I get a bit out of breath as we get to the top of the stairs when I’m carrying him, but I can do it and I will carry on for as long as I am able. There will inevitably be a month or so post-birth when I can’t lift him and even holding him might be tricky, so I’m making the most of it while I can. I am extremely appreciative of having this body, which is making its third baby and still able to carry its first.

I have been going through a phase of obsession with the author Kate Atkinson and came to re-read a book of hers recently. I had forgotten how utterly unsuited the storyline is to me right now; I had to abandon it after a scene about a mother being murdered in front of her children precipitated some particularly heartfelt weeping. But just before that I read this passage:

‘ Their mother was wearing Joanna’s favourite dress, blue with a pattern of red strawberries. Their mother said it was old and next summer she would cut it up and make something for Joanna out of it if she liked. Joanna could see the muscles on her mother’s tanned legs moving as she pushed the buggy up the hill. She was strong. Their father said she was ‘fierce’. Joanna liked that word. Jessica was fierce too.’

Kate Atkinson, When Will There Be Good News?

I want to be strong. And when it comes to caring for my kids, I want to be fierce.