three days after i came home from the clinic, i was nursing sasha in front of the computer. after she finished and i burped her, i stood up and something hard fell from my lap onto the floor. what was it? my mother-in-law picked it up, and we saw that it was sasha's umbilical stump.

"what shall we do with it?" my mother-in-law asked me.

"let's throw it away, i don't need it."

"i think you should keep it!" she tried to urge me.

"but the clinic already gave me a piece. i'm sure i already have some."

"really? are you sure?"

"yes, they gave me a box with a small bag and it should have it."

"are you sure?" my mother-in-law needed to know.

"let's check."

so, i opened the box, took out the small white bag, untied the satin ribbon and dumped out a small circular plastic box into my hand. i opened it up and sure enough, there's a piece of umbilical cord in there.

"oh." my mother-in-law seemed a bit disappointed. "well, let's just keep this anyway." and she put the second piece in the plastic box. i carefully put the two pieces back in their place, making sure the ribbon is tied just so, and put the box away.

now i have two connections from sasha resting in my house...