Guests at the Birth

Quinn's birth was a party. I had some of the most important people in my life in the room with me as Quinn was born. Tim, my mom, Kristie, Calli and my friend Emily, who was working in the room as a tech.

In my hardest moment, I leaned on these people, and they brought the kind of strength, spirit, peace and energy that I needed most. It was beautiful. And Kristie and I felt strongly that there was a powerful force and reason for 8-month-old Calli's presents in the room. Calli was Quinn's strength.

My mom will hopefully make it there for the birth, but since she will be on Quinn duty at home, there is a chance she will miss it.

My sister has two angels now, and is not as mobile. She and I cry about it all the time, but we are realistic about the fact that we will not always be able to be there. She will head to town when mom leaves.

So the birth party will be different this time, but I think it will be equally as powerful.

Tim will be in the main control seat, of course. I could not do it without him. And then I have asked two very special friends to be in the room with us. Lindsay Purdie and Lizza Nelson.

Lizza and I have been friends for almost 10 years. We met in Europe on a Study Abroad. We both were learning and growing a lot. We are not the same women we were when we met, and yet we are still totally in love with each other. Maybe even more so. I love her outlook on life, how she learns, how she balances mind, body and spirit, and how she rolls slowly through her days in order to make sure that the most important passions, feelings and needs of life are always taken care of. She's not afraid to fail or ask for help, and she really loves Jesus and his atonement. Lizza and I can go months without talking, and it is like nothing changes. We change and our friendship changes, but our love is always there and always strong. Lizza had a natural home birth with her last baby. That is amazing. She brings a lot of skills in her bag of tricks.

Lindsay and I have been friends for 4 and half years. The first time we talked, I came home and told Tim, "I talked to this girl tonight, and she made me feel better about everything." Talking to Lindsay has always brought perspective and peace. She shares, and she encourages the people around her to share. Together we process or strengths and weakness, the good and bad around us and all aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She cares about every detail. She's not afraid to say, "That was awkward." She asks for help. She gets mad sometimes just like every good and real woman should. She tries new things, and she loves both the good and bad days of motherhood. She is also madly in love with Quinn.

I'm obviously really passionate about both these women. I love them a lot, and I consider them family.

To me they represent growth, friendship, peace and grace, and those are the feelings I want in the room when McKenna joins us.

Fingers crossed that everything will go well, and that everyone will be able to make it on time. But the special part about this is that even if they don't make it in time, it will still feel like they are there. I am so lucky to have an amazing team of women in my life all over the country. No baby will have more hearts with her at her birth than my angel, McKenna.