Actress Daya Vaidya poses with her identical twin sons Jai and Dev, daughter Leela Grace,3, and husband Don Wallace in a new photo shoot with People magazine. During the shoot, the mom of three opens up about motherhood and much more. Check out highlights from the interview now!
On naming her kids: I told my husband early on that I would like to find Sanskrit names for our children to honor my father — who passed away in 2000 — and the values he taught us. He knows how close I was to my father and really supported me in honoring him.
Leela means “cosmic or divine play” and my dad used to speak of this concept a lot when I was growing up. I always thought it was pretty. Jai means “victory” or “victorious.” Blue is the film Don wrote, produced, starred in and where we met. Dev means “God or divine.” And Eshaan is one of the many spellings that means “Lord Shiva.” It also stands for “northeast” which symbolizes knowledge, prosperity and peace.
On breastfeeding the twins: I am exclusively breastfeeding both boys. With my daughter I’d researched breastfeeding and sought help from lactation consultants, so with the twins I felt prepared to really attack this challenge. I tandem nurse the boys on a breastfeeding pillow for twins when I’m home and take turns when we’re out. We’ve got it down now, but the first couple of weeks were tough!
On having a natural birth:
My pregnancy was considered high-risk, so most people don’t even attempt a vaginal delivery. But because of my allergies to pain medication — especially Fentanyl, one of the main ingredients in an epidural — it was very important and safer for me to avoid any medication or surgery.
Also, I didn’t want to numb any of my senses; I wanted to experience every moment — including the pain.
That’s what was right for me. It doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone and I’m certainly not judging anyone for their choices. I think we as women should support and celebrate one another, not feel threatened by another woman’s decision or birth outcome.
If someone is interested in natural childbirth, a great book is Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. A great and supportive website would be mothering.com.
On how daughter Leela is adjusting to having baby brothers: She loves being a big sister and is crazy about her brothers. She’s very sweet to them — kissing and hugging them constantly.
But her latest thing with the boys is getting us to tell them not to “hit” her or touch her hair. I think she got tired of Mommy and Daddy constantly telling her to be gentle and careful around the twins, so she loves hearing us say, “Now Jai, don’t hit your sister.” Or “Dev, don’t pull Leela’s hair.”
Check out more in the latest issue of People magazine.
Source: People magazine.
