Buzz was that the couple were superstitious and had been wanting a baby for long so they preferred to keep the happy news under wraps

Manoj Bajpayee and his wife Shabana Reza have a bundle of joy but till yesterday the couple preferred to keep mum about the new arrival!

Shabana delivered a baby girl on February 23 at a private nursing home in Santa Cruz. The couple has named her Ava Nayla Bajpayee.

After Hitlist reported yesterday ('Mommie Diaries') in which Manoj was spotted at a baby store at Waterfield Road, Bandra, checking out the stuff on display, guess the actor finally decided to make it public!

All this while Bajpayee preferred to keep mum about the baby. Buzz was that the couple were superstitious and had been wanting a baby for long - so they preferred to keep the happy news under wraps.

Says a source, "The new parents are overjoyed about the new arrival but had kept it quiet because that is the way they wanted it!"

The source adds, "Manoj has always been a very private person. He is not the one to flaunt this. In fact they shifted from a bigger hospital to a private nursing home in Santa Cruz to stay away from glare."

The actor had come to Mumbai for the delivery and taken a break from the shoot of Aarakshan that is happening in Bhopal.

It is also a coincidence that both daughter and father have a common date Manoj was born on April 23 while Ava Nayla Bajpayee is born on February 23.