As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be

Bodhi woke up this morning at 5 a.m. He’s been sleeping through the night for a while now, usually starting his day between 7 and 9. Today’s unusually early beginning can likely be attributed to some new enamel ripping through his gums. I gave him baby tylenol and some milk and held him in my arms. And despite the early hour and even though he wasn’t going back to sleep, there was nothing else I would have rather been doing.

One of the things I have relished the most about having a brand new, super mellow baby girl who sleeps all the time, is having her lay on my chest and cuddling and kissing her to my heart’s delight. This is something I have not been able to do with the B-man for quite some time.

Sometimes when we’re at the park, or even at home, and I lay flat on my back, Bodhi climbs onto me like this.

And then, for just a fleeting moment, he rests his head on my chest and I hug him and it’s seriously one of the best feelings ever. But in a flash, before I can barely blink, his head pops up and his crawling and climbing and exploring recommences. He’s a busy guy and he has things to do.

His already hasty departure from babyhood seems to have been expedited by Sasha’s arrival. He’s a veritable giant compared to her.

But this morning was different. Once I realized he wasn’t going back to sleep, I sat down and held him across my chest with his long legs dangling onto the couch. And I snuggled him and hugged him and kissed him on his forehead and scratched and massaged his back. And he didn’t try to wiggle out, he didn’t flip over, he didn’t arch his back.

He just laid there. Calm, peaceful, content. He even closed his eyes.

And when he did, I smiled and closed mine too.

Sasha Bel Chhabra

Our baby girl was born on May 23rd. She’s five days old. Her name is Sasha Bel and she is sweet and precious and adorable. She is much more mellow than her brother was when he was first born. She’s pretty much always sleeping. She smiles in her sleep all the time. When she does cry, she sounds like a duck.

This is her.

Kate started experiencing contractions early last week. They were irregular, often strong and mostly short lived. By midweek, they had stopped altogether. After we saw the doctor on Friday, they started up again. This time they were stronger and more regular. The doctor told us she was 3 cm dilated and that we’d likely be having a baby that night or the next day.

So we decided to go see Star Trek.

Figured it would be a good diversion from the contractions and probably one the last times we’d be able to see a movie in a while. Sweet movie, but those of you who have seen it would probably agree that the first scene is precisely NOT what a woman in labor should be watching. Kate was not happy and found the movie to be louder and more stressful than she would’ve preferred, being in labor and all, but ultimately gave it a hearty thumbs up.

I drew her a bath when we came home. The contractions continued regularly. While in the bath, she felt a need to push and it was then we decided to head over to the hospital. We were both very calm and deliberative as we prepared our things. Almost as if we had just done this a year ago. 

We got to the hospital around 10:30  and she was at 4 cm. We settled into our labor and delivery room, Kate got her medicine and we waited..And waited. And waited some more. We tried to get some sleep, but we were anxious and I found it difficult to sleep on a thin, hard couch with no pillow. It was a long night.

By morning, she was only at 6 cm. Baby was doing great but had not moved down too far. Kate’s doctor showed up at around 9 and broke her water. As soon as he did, Kate began to rapidly dilate and the baby’s head was suddenly visible. 

It’s happening now. I grab a leg and the nurse grabs another and I tell Kate to push. One push and her head comes out. I continue to cheer on my beautiful and strong wife. One more push bubs. She gives it all she’s got, and the rest of our baby girl slithers out. 

And just like that, we had a daughter.

My friend Omar aptly described my perspective on our second baby in two years. Less romanticized but just as amazing, overwhelming and beautiful.

Bodhi is adapting well to having a baby sister. He is such a good kid. Such a pleasure to be around. So happy. He kisses his sister and shows us her nose, her mouth and her ears. Then he shows us his own. 

The past year, hanging out with Bodhi alone, and together as a family has been the best of my life. I am so excited to have a beautiful baby girl join us on all our adventures. In her first five days, she’s already made it out to Willard Park and the Tilden Little Farm. If she’d ever wake up for once, I’m sure she’d have a blast with us.

But I’m certainly not complaining.