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Eden Grace Salisbury
June 3rd, 2009
12:14 a.m.
… While not the typical birth story that I write as a doula ~ I would love to share a few
thoughts with you surrounding Eden’s birth and what I have seen as your miraculous
steps, as her parents, into life with this new little one.
My ?rst phone call from you, Darci, was full of ‘explanation.’ This is who I am… this is
what I am about… this is where I’m at… this is where I hope to be! You shared so much
of yourself with me from the very start and I was blessed, blessed by your heartfelt
openness and blessed by your seeking nature.

At our initial meeting together at your home, you and Irv expressed that you were
looking for something di?erent with this birth ~ not something beyond the result,
because you had ?ve beautiful sons already ~ but something beyond your experience.
We talked through your previous birth stories, your hopes and goals for this birth, and
your reasons for hiring a doula and wanting to go into labor more naturally. You told
me, Darci, that you felt like a ‘failure’ at birth, having seen so many women give birth in
a way that you knew you wanted for your own journey. Peaceful. Con?dent. Trusting.

At our second meeting together, we talked through comfort measures like massage,
counterpressure, and positioning in labor. You met our back-up doula, Sherry, and we
chatted about what a birth plan might look like for you and Irv. There was also time to
talk through fears in labor, tensions, anxieties, and how to put those things to rest with
faith, knowledge, and healing. It was a time of ‘exploration.’

In the days and weeks leading up to your birth, I saw you walk through a period of
‘excitement.’ You were trusting your body and your heart in a way that you had not
done before. Initially, your plan was to take castor oil at 38 weeks… that shi0ed to 39
weeks as the days passed. Before I knew it, you were saying that you would wait until
40 weeks and one day, when your doctor was back on call. And last, but not least, you
were convincing your doctor to wait, not inducing until the last possible agreed upon
time, so that your body could do this thing called ‘labor’ ~ naturally. I stood in awe at
the transformation in you, and blessed by the faith and support that Irv demonstrated

At 12:02 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3rd, when I received my ?rst phone call from Irv, I
was not surprised. I am quite use to phone calls at that time of night. Irv let me know
that it was time, and could I please meet them at Highland? What did surprise me was
when I received my second call from Irv at 12:32 a.m., in the form of a voice mail, while I
was en route to Highland Hospital:

“Hey, Julia, it’s ~ ah ~ Irv. Umm, well ~ baby happened in the car. Umm, they’re, ah…
they’re actually putting them into the ambulance right now and loading Darci up, so
we’re going to be coming that way. Ummm ~ bye.”

This was a time of ‘emergence’ for you both. Not emergency, emergence. The details,
you know, were fast and furious – with a 45 minute labor and a delivery in the van,
while sitting in the neighbor’s driveway. Amazing. What I saw when I met you at the
Hospital, was the ‘emergence’ of a girl. A beautiful baby girl. A labor tried, true, and
natural. A couple… Peaceful. Con?dent. Trusting. And very, very happy.

God orchestrated the events of that amazing birth, and you both served as acting
directors. You knew exactly who you were, what you needed to do, and how to do it.
That precious baby girl couldn’t have been born into more con?dent or caring hands
than her own parents. I am so proud of you, and so in awe of how the Lord not only
heard and answered your prayers, but He went beyond what you could have imagined.
You have received a blessing, and in the acts of obedience and faith, you have in turn
blessed so many others with your journey.

Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of your lives over the past few months… I
look forward to watching your lives unfold over the next few years together. It’s an
adventure!

Much love,
Julia

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