Click to see all the pics on Flickr

It has been a long 40 hour day.

Today my second daughter Maya was born at 7:24 on 31 Jan 2012 at 3070g and 50.0cm. The birth took about 7 hours. My wife was amazingly brave. No meds, all natural, just like last time. I did the best I could to alleviate the tension with sarcastic humour. That has probably killed some men in the delivery room. My wife is different, and that is just one reason why I love her.

Maya is brilliant too. She is super cute. Her eyes opened right away. She poops like crazy. And she is tiny. Adorable. Sasha is treating her very well (at least for now). I can’t believe the tears that filled up my eyes. The second time around has definitely been a very different experience, and I am such a big softie now.

Speaking of being a big softie, one thing different this time around is my weight. Last time I was battling anxiety, and was extremely thin. After the birth of Sasha, I was so tired and had dark rings under my eyes — I looked like I was just freed from Auschwitz. This time on the other hand, I do have the dark rings, but it looks like it is from engaging in an all-night eating marathon. I felt only a twinge of anxiety this time. Most of all I think it was sympathetic pregnancy. Either way, I am a fat bastard. Good thing I got a cool scale for Xmas (though don’t expect me to hook it up to my Twitter account).

As is tradition (in that I did it before my first daughter was born), I let my hair grow for the duration of the pregnancy. My hair grows slowly, but it got pretty scruffy. This time I took it to another level and grew my beard too. Just like last time, I shaved it all off once the baby was born. See the evidence below.

Anyways, it is time to sleep. Thank you all for your congratulations. We are looking forward to 2012 and all it will bring.

[vimeo 35949275 w=500 h=667]

Kiai from Chad Kohalyk on Vimeo.

UPDATE: Job not done yet. Wife suffering from after pains. Back to massaging her. I guess I can sleep when I’m dead.