Dara's Birth on her Birthday

Her due date: 01 April 1995

Being pregnant with numero cinco

proved to be less easy than

say numero quatro.

For one thing,

it had been four years between

and I was older and tired.

But I was still very much excited to have another sweet baby 

in my arms again.

I had been wanting another baby for some time.

Just the previous year,

in exactly the same month,

I had a miscarriage at sixteen weeks.

So that I became pregnant again so soon

after the miscarriage,

was an absolute joy for me.

We decided to have a home birth

with Pamela White in Phoenix, Arizona.

She is a wonderful midwife and was just perfect for me.

So, because of a spiritual experience I had had

several years earlier,

I was expecting a Boy.

But Pam suggested it might be a girl

based on the faster heartbeat at one of our prenatal visits.

My heart though,

was set on a boy.

I even had his name chosen:

Drew Kellen.

As March 31st drew close,

I was bent on having this baby on his due date

April 1st.

So I did everything I could to bring on labor--

ate mexican food,

chinese food,

drank my raspberry leaf tea,

used evening primrose oil,

and kept busy!

I walked and walked and walked

most of the day

on April Fool's Day

and finally, exhausted,

plopped my big baby tummy into bed

for the night at 9pm

convinced that a baby was not coming

any time soon.

I put a towel on top of my sheets

just in case though...

I was in a deep sleep

when I felt a "pop" down below

with a warm flow of water

following.

I sat upright in the bed,

knowing my water broke

and looked at the clock across the room:

11:59pm!

April Fools! 

The baby was coming!

I noticed my husband wasn't in bed next to me,

and as usual,

he was out in the familyroom watching TV

or had fallen asleep on the sofa--

I called to him for help

but he couldn't hear me.

For fear of waking the other sleeping children,

I took the towel with me,

and headed towards the hallway

so I could, albeit, quietly, yell

for him to get his attention.

That worked, thankfully

and he made the call to Pam

so she could make her way to the house.

She contacted her assistant, Kelli,

and they both showed up at the house

around the same time.

But, the bad thing was that I wasn't contracting.

So Pam told me to go back to bed

and try to rest up for a long day ahead.

I did go back to bed,

but I really couldn't sleep--

I was excited to the MAX!

My adrenalin was pumping and I was so stinkin' happy

to be having this baby!

A few hours later,

we all got up,

had some breakfast--

husband made us homemade waffles and strawberries--

and the weather was so nice,

I walked around the backyard 

as the contraction waves began to come along.

I will always always remember the fragrance of

orange blossoms in the backyard that day.

Such a sunny happy day.

The other kids had been taken over to the MIL's house

for the duration of labor

with the hope that they could return in time to see

the birth.

So I labored alllllllll dayyyyyy long

and wasn't in alot of pain really.

But I was getting tired.

And Pam saw that and decided to give some herbal extracts

to kick my labor into a higher gear--

remember my water had broken at midnight,

so she was concerned about that--

well the extracts worked...

my body reacted perfectly to them.

The kids came home after dinner with the granparents,

and I thought it was pretty good timing...

still not totally dilated,

but close.

There was lavendar oil burning,

Enya playing (perfect labor music for me!)

and I sat on the sofa quietly breathing away the contractions

until they were getting really tough to just "breathe away"--

I voiced this to Pam

who said, 

"Just dance with the next one."

I answered, a wee bit curtly:

"I do not feel like dancing."

She smiled at Kelli and the husband

and suggested that as soon as the next wave was over,

I walk into the shower

to help me relax.

I was afraid to move from my seat on the sofa--

I knew

that once I stood,

it was going to hurt!

But she was so good,

she talked me into it--

the husband got the shower water nice n' warm

and as soon as the next contraction washed over me,

I stood,

peeled off my robe

and walked straight into the warm shower

wearing my socks!

The water was a sweet release--

exactly what I needed!

The next contraction came quickly,

and I felt the baby's head ready to crown

in the shower!

Perfect!

As soon as that contraction was over,

my team led me to the birthing stool 

all set up in my bedroom

and I sat down with a warm towel over my shoulders

on the birthing stool.

The MIL got the oldest kids out of bed,

and the husband fetched the sleepy 4 year old,

and they all came in to watch the birth!

Two contractions and there was a baby!

I looked down at that beautiful face

and then down at the bottom

and asked,

"Is this a GIRL?"

"YES!" said Pam.

"Oh my. What are we going to do with a girl? What are we gonna name her?"

Lots of names were thrown out--

"Darlene"

"Dana"

"Darla"

"Dena"

"Deanna"--

and then a name surfaced that I had seen in a baby book ten years earlier:

"Dara." I said.

"Her name is Dara. It means "compassion" in Hebrew."

I got a few shakes of the head, but I stuck to it.

I don't know how long after the birth we chose her middle name,

but it wasn't too much later that we decided on 

"Cristine"--

without the "h" like it is traditionally spelled because her dad is dyslexic

and he'd never remember the "h" anyway.

So that's how we got Dara Cristine into this world.

She came in alert, wide-eyed, and happy.

Of all of my children,

she is the most creative,

the most adventurous,

the least inhibited and self-conscious.

She is not timid or shy--

but is an all out there kinda young woman.

She received her Young Women's Recognition award

earlier this year, as was her goal, to receive it before she graduated 

high school.

She recently applied and was accepted to Brigham Young University-Idaho

in Rexburg, Idaho.

She has a full, rich life ahead of her

and I am proud to be her Momza.

Pics from her Life:

 Dara aka "Daisie" with her BFF, Nana

"Guhl Powah"

 Dressed for the youth trek to Wyoming

 Playing "Monkey on the Ground" @ St. James Royal Park

in London, UK.

 She didn't like clothes in 1998--

Nottingham, UK

 She did LOVE sheep though!

Wales, UK

 Her baptism day with Dad

Colorado Springs, CO

2003

 She has probably 100's of this same self-taken photo face

 Flyfishing? Oh yeah.

The Platte River, Deckers, CO.

2011

 Daisie is probably Dean's best friend.

He loves playing with her.

 In  Spring Creek, 

Choteau, MT.

Ready for church,

Meridian, ID.

2008

 Senior Pic 2013

Senior Pic 2013

Likes:

Sushi, "Buffy: the Vampire slayer",

sleeping in, Dakota--our black lab,

manis and pedis, hair and makeup,

giving makeovers to her friends,

parties, road trips, inspirational quotes,

total romantic.

~~~

Interests:

History--specifically The Holocaust,

Creative Writing, Drama, Choir,

travelling, service, hanging out with friends,

~~

Goals:

A college degree (not sure what, yet)

serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2014.

Wife and mother someday,

and a career.  Girlfriend wants to work!

Happy 18th Birthday, Daisie!