San Diego keeper Kailen Sheridan had good reason for missing the Wave’s game in Portland, the first game she didn’t play all season. Her wife, Dominique, gave birth to their first daughter, Skyler Rae.

When we spoke, however, Sheridan was still weeks away from meeting her kid.

In the second installment of "Most Valuable Parent" presented by Bobbie, Sheridan shares how she and Dominique navigated pregnancy, taking on “sympathy” exercises, and how her dog, Koda, will handle being a big sister.

So your wife is due in a few weeks. How are you feeling? How's everyone doing?

Everybody's good. We're doing really well. I'm definitely a little stressed out, but that's normal. We’re just anxious to meet this little one and get them in the real world and be able to help. I feel a little helpless right now.

Can you talk to me a little bit about that, feeling helpless while your wife is pregnant?

I know that she's going through so many changes, and it's hard on her body. She's tired and I want to be able to support her. There really is not a lot I can do other than just get her the food she wants or rub her shoulders, those kinds of things to make her comfortable. I want to be involved and be as supportive as possible. That can get difficult towards the end here now where things are really heightening.

How have you been preparing yourself for the baby to come?

I've been in extreme nesting mode, which is good for me. I'm cleaning and doing as much around the house as I can. I feel like I can never get it the way I want it. I’ve got to fix that. I’ve got to clean this. I’ve got to make sure it's all ready for when the baby comes. It keeps me busy and has me just doing as many things as I can to keep myself a bit distracted because that anticipation does creep up on you.

As you’re getting into nesting mode, how are you balancing that with the season?

It gives me something to look forward to coming home after training, honestly. We had to put together a nursery and so we've had to get a lot of stuff sent here. It's just exciting to get home and open the box, put things together and imagine the little baby in the crib. I think about coming home and doing that after practice every day, and it's just something I really look forward to right now. I've done it all, so now I'm like, “What do I do?” I'm just waiting. Nothing but time.

I saw an Instagram post of you doing the sympathy exercises with your wife, which was so funny. What did you learn and how did that come about?

I had seen somebody else do it on social media, so I was like, “Oh, yeah, I'm definitely gonna try that.” That's been my whole thing: how can I be of any kind of assistance in this process where it's really her body. I just want to be a part of it and help. I thought it was going to be really funny, and honestly, the hardest thing was putting shoes on. It was so embarrassing, sitting down and having to tie my shoes was winding me. Everything else was hard, but we knew it was gonna be hard. But that was just ridiculous.

What have you seen in your wife as she's experienced all of those things – the discomfort of tying her shoes, the back pain or whatever it may be?

She's so strong. It's wild. This last week or so, she's been having no complaints, just living her normal life, working out and going and getting things done. I’m like, “You could just chill, you know. You don't have to do everything.” She says, “Oh, I feel fine. I feel good." I can't imagine. I'd be like, "I can't go anywhere. I got an extra 25 pounds strapped around me" all the time. I've been asking her to be honest with me about how she's feeling and how I can help. I think that vulnerability has been really powerful for our relationship as well, and allows me to be there for her. She is really, really strong and really independent, but it's also allowed us to really connect, like “How can I be there for you and tell me the truth.” That has been really nice, and it's just gotten us so excited for this little one to come into our lives.

As a queer couple, there's obviously a lot more planning that goes into having a child. When did you two start having this conversation and what went into the decision to decide to pursue pregnancy?

We have talked about it in our relationship multiple times, even before getting married – our views on kids, maybe making a plan and communicating on how we want that to look. As for timing, with my career, it's hard to really time that. Having to go through all the steps to actually have a child, it does take a lot of planning. We both knew after being married that in a couple of years, we wanted to have kids and that she was going to carry first. One of the things that was really important to me when I was deciding about San Diego was how they were going to support my IVF dreams. What is it going to look like if I'm in San Diego and I want to start this journey? We had already planned that before I signed that contract because that was important for us. It made the move a lot easier, knowing that we were getting married and then in a couple of years, that was going to be on the table and available for us. It's really a big testament to the club and what they were able to do to help me live out my dreams of being a parent.

I was just learning about the process of IVF and what it was going to take and how it impacts my body. I decided to freeze my eggs towards the end of the season. We created embryos as well, and froze them. Our plan was that when we came back to San Diego [after the offseason] and we were settled back into preseason, that's when we were going to start trying to have a baby. Even that process is very unknown, and you're going to have to try a few times usually. You never know how long it could take. We actually got really lucky and on the first try, Dom got pregnant.

Oh, that's amazing.

We had our expectations a little bit lower just because you get really excited. You go through this process, it's a lot of emotions. It's a lot of hormones. We had both been going through the hormones because I had gone through the retrieval and she was going through just the implanting of it. We were both just really heightened. We got really, really lucky and we have an incredible team of doctors. They constantly are checking in on us, even still. That has been massive for us because that process is so intimate and so challenging. It's hard to talk about it because you're so emotionally involved in it.

You have nephews and already are in full auntie mode. So how do you think having nephews is going to help you transition into motherhood?

Oh, they've definitely helped prepare me. They have a lot of energy and they've got me running around after them whenever I'm here or whenever they're here with me. They've shown me a little glimpse of what a high energy toddler will be. When they were babies, I got to experience that too. I changed my first diaper with Levi, so I got a little practice with the boys. That was helpful for me to see it and seeing them and other kids in the league and what their moms have gone through. It's inspiring.

Your baby isn't here yet, but how do you think soccer will prepare you for motherhood?

Oh, man. I've been joking that I feel like a mom at training these days because the team's so young and I’m trying to keep everybody in line. I feel like the teacher of a kindergarten class some days. (laughs) I think managing expectations of myself and trying to make sure everybody is happy and really feel like they're growing, learning, and becoming better people is what I'm looking for in training and at my club. That's similar to what you want to do with your child. How can you make them the best human that you possibly can? Give them the opportunities to thrive and be their best. I think it’s similar in just trying to make the people around you better.

Which teammates are you calling to babysit?

None. (laughs) No, I'm just kidding. I have some good teammates that would handle it well. Mel [Barcenas] has younger siblings, but I think I'll call Kennedy [Wesley]. She's pretty responsible… slash her mom would be able to come down and help. Kyra [Carusa] probably could do it. She's responsible and mature. Kenza [Dali] might take my dog, but maybe not the baby.

You know, there's a role for the dog people in this situation too.

Koda's about to go through a whole transition of her life, so she needs some extra attention from Kenza.

How do you think your pup is gonna handle this?

Honestly, I don't know. She definitely has changed throughout the pregnancy. It’s interesting to see. She's a little bit more independent and then protective at the same time. When we're in the home, she likes her own space. She has taken over one of our spare bedrooms. It's her room now, but if we're out and about and she can't see Dom, she gets very nervous and must have eyes on her at all times. She's really good with babies and kids. I have no doubt that she'll be good, but it'll be really cool to see how she acts when we bring the baby home.

The image of the stereotypical soccer mom often includes orange slices and mini vans. How are you redefining what it means to be a soccer mom?

It would be having my kid on the sidelines and showing them the amazing environment of a team and what it's like to have people around you that you can lean on, trust, talk to and just have your corner no matter what. Once it's their turn, I want to be there to support them. It might not be soccer, but at any sport or anything they want to do, just as long as you're giving everything you got, that's all that's all you need to do. But at first, I think it's going to be having them around a team, man. I'm just really excited for that.

As you're having a kid, are things or moments from growing up with your parents that are starting to make more sense?

A lot of things have started to make a lot more sense. I get it now, you know? I just see the sacrifice that my parents made for me and the time that they gave to me to make sure that I had the most opportunity and the best life that I could have had and what they kind of shielded me from. I know that there'll be sacrifices, but I think I won't be able to see it as that because I don't think my parents saw it that way either. They just wanted the most for me. My dad would show me what hard work looked like and how to commit to something. My mom would always show me to take a look and understand if you're really happy or not. Those are two really important qualities that really balance each other well.

What is a soccer moment that you cannot wait to show your child from your career?

I think at the end of the game, being able to run on the field together and have them be there when the whistle blows, that is gonna be one of the most emotional and exciting moments. I know I love it when my nephews are there. They don't care what just happened for 90 minutes. They are just really excited to play with me and to run on the field and say hi to people and run around with the girls.I'm really excited to be able to share that with my kid as well.

What does making your kid proud look like to you?

It's a hard one, because I think it's something that they'll realize later on in life and when they're older. Them being proud of me is, how I was able to change the environment around me for the better and really make a difference. It's easy to say winning titles and championships and all these things, and there's a level of pride in that, but I think being able to say, “My mom helped create change” is way more incredible. We want to continue to push women's soccer, women's sports, and I hope that one day, my kid can say, “My mom helped build this.”