WhileGabrielle Unionhas honed her skills over the years as a stepmom to husbandDwyane Wade‘s sons, the newborn life was uncharted territory before November. But she’s getting the hang of it.
“I suck at swaddling,” she admitsin the May issue ofParents, where she and 4-month-old daughterKaavia James(in Maisonette’sDoodle Collection onesie!) pose for the cover and accompanying editorial. “I don’t know whether to use plastic or glass bottles.”
“I never knew there were so many types of nipples. And installing a car seat is like taking the SATs!” jokes the actress. “I don’t have all the answers, which feels terrifying.”
Union might not havebecome a mom for the first timeuntil age 46, but she says there’s an “upside” to that in the sense that “I give myself permission to be human,” she tellsParents.
Thomas Whiteside
Gabrielle Union.Thomas Whiteside
Gabrielle Union and daughter Kaavia.
And costarJessica Albahas already made their shared workplace feel like home. As Union explains toParents, “Jessica outfitted my trailer like a nursery.”
“Together, we’ve re-imagined what Hollywood can be for working moms,” she says. (Alba, 37, has three children: daughters Haven Garner, 7½, andHonor Marie, 10, as well as sonHayes Alba, 14 months.)
Gabrielle Union.
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“Kaavia went through a phase of not napping. I was like, ‘When do I shower or pee or live?’ ” Union says. “So I had to get a little comfortable with her crying, which I had not been. And then I took the quickest shower of all time!”
NBA starWade took two weeks of paternity leavefrom the Miami Heat after the birth of their daughter, and now is “like a stage mom,” his wife jokes.
“He’s very hands-on,” Union praises. “When he’s in Miami and we’re in Los Angeles, he wants to know everything, from her poops to what outfit she’s wearing.”
Gabrielle Union and daughter Kaavia coverParents‘ May issue.
Union experienced theheartbreak of multiple miscarriagesand failed in vitro fertilization treatments — something that she admits made her feel “like a complete loser and failure” initially — but now, as she parents Kaavia, she sees a little girl who “represents thatmaybe there is a light at the end” of a difficult journey to motherhood.
“Kaavia really is the personification of hope for a lot of people like us, who maybe didn’t have a lot to be hopeful about,” she shares. “When you take people on the low points of your journey, it’s cool to let them be part of the joy.”
“Plus, she’s really cute,” quips proud mom Union of her infant daughter. “And has an uncannyability for making steely eye contact!”
L.A.’s Finestis set to premiere May 13 on Spectrum.
source: people.com
