A day to remember

It was around 1:00 p.m. on June 8th 1982 when I went to sit down when all of the sudden I felt very wet and that is when I knew it was because my water broke. I called the doctor to let him know what had just happened and he sent me immediately to the LDS Hospital.

I was not ready. I was due much  later on June 28th but they needed to induce me right away, I was going to have that baby in a matter of hours to avoid complications. I thought maybe a few hours but it was more than fourteen hours of intense labor and I was determine to go natural.

No epidural shot for me. I did what was in at the time. Something called La Maze breathing technique and I survived! at around 5:00 a.m. a beautiful baby girl made her debut. The nurse was amazing and her name happened to be Kristina. The next day another much older woman came to ask what we wanted to name the baby but we hadn't thought of a middle name yet. We knew the name if it was a boy but were not very sure on a name if it was a girl. Back in those days you never knew the sex of the baby.

We only knew that if we had a girl her first name would be Cristina after my little sister, Maria Cristina who was still born so we picked the shortest name we could think of because Cristina and Van Leeuwen were both long names. I wanted to name her Isabella but that was too long so we opted for Ines.

In retrospect, I think we were rushed. It was like we had to have the birth certificate done right away and we din't have much time to think of a name. That was a good lesson to learn to not let people pressure you that way. Later I thought Marie would have been a good name or May since that was Shirley's middle name or June since she was born in June. But Ines it is and she is the only soul with that unique old fashion name of Cristina Ines.

Fast forward to today, June 9th 2017 I find myself living abroad in the Philippines and as I think of that day 35 years ago, I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to become a mother for the first time to the most beautiful, perfectly formed smart, talented, fun, loving and so compassionate sweet daughter of God.

When I think back to the very moment I held her in my arms, to when she took her first steps on our West Temple home to her first day of School at Canyon Rim Elementary and all the way through all the rest of her school days, soccer games, gymnastics, ballet dance recitals, girls scouts, cheer leading try outs, volunteering at the Children's Center, to her wedding day, graduate school, all the way through the current day as she herself is also a mother of three, every instant has been a blessing in my life to know she is mine. My love for this child is endless and so are her gifts.

Cristi like she likes to be called is always helping people with parenting issues. She has a passion for parenting that goes back twenty years. She rocks! We are so thankful and so proud to have her as part of our family forever and what an honor it has been to be her mother.

Con amor,
mami Vero